Executing events in MySQL without SUPER privelege (?) - mysql

Question

I have created events in my MySQL. They are working, but in order for them to execute, I need to
SET event_scheduler = ON;.
In order to do that, I need to get SUPER privileges. I get the following error:
Access denied; you need (at least one of) the SUPER privilege(s) for this operation
I try to grant super: GRANT SUPER ON *.* TO user#'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password'; and get another error:
ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user
I have contacted my host, and they said that since their host is shared, they were unable to add super privileges for my account.
Can anyone help me to find another way, so the events would begin to run? Account doesn't belong to me, so I can't switch hosts.

Answer 1

Cron jobs are likely the best on shared hosts. If you have access to cPanel, it will make your life a lot easier.
First things, first: Create your script. This can access the database, send emails, pretty much do anything that needs to be done. Please note that $_GET, $_POST, $_REQUEST, and $_COOKIE will be unavailable for the duration of the script, as this isn't a web request. You wont be able to set cookies, or view the information about the remote user (As there is none). You can however, pass variables through command line though, using $argv. See this post for more information.
This sample script will send out a newsletter to all users in the to_be_mailed table:
<?php
include('db.cfg.php');
include('newsletter.php');
$body = get_newsletter();
$result = $db->query("SELECT * FROM to_be_mailed");
while ( $row = $result->fetch_row() )
{
mail($row['email'], 'Nightly news update!', $body);
}
//Probably want to update the database again and set them all to sent.
echo 'Done sending emails!';
Debugging scripts can be difficult, as you usually don't have access to the output. Have a look at this answer and be sure to enable error_logs so that you can make sure your script executed sucessfully.
When using cPanel's Cron Jobs it makes your life easier by emailing the output to you at the end of execution. This makes it easier for you to track down bugs, and ensure your cron job executes successfully.
Next adding your cron job:
See cPanel's Cron Jobs for info on how to add a cron job for cPanel enabled hosts.
Non cpanel hosts: See this post. The gist is, you use crontab -e to add the task (This will open up an editor, and you would add in the following line):
# crontab -e
00 * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /home/USERNAME/myscript.php
If you're just getting started with cron syntax, this site is absolutely wonderful. It will give you examples, help with syntax, and help you figure out the schedule you want to run.