runparts

Runparts, also seen as run-parts, is a small utility used on Unix-like systems to execute all executable files contained within a specified directory. It is commonly employed by maintenance workflows such as those in cron.daily or other cron-based directories to run a collection of scripts in a batch.

The typical purpose of runparts is to simplify running multiple scripts without writing a custom launcher. It scans the target directory, filters for regular files that have execute permission, sorts them (usually by filename), and executes each in turn, with each script running in its own process. Subdirectories and non-executable files are ignored. The environment in which each script runs is separate from the others; changes to environment variables in one script do not automatically affect subsequent scripts, unless the scripts themselves pass values along.

Options and behavior can vary by implementation and packaging. Common features include a verbose mode to report progress, and a test or dry-run option that lists the scripts that would be executed without actually running them. Some versions may allow controlling behavior on script failures, such as continuing after a non-zero exit status or halting, but this is not universal and depends on the specific build of runparts being used.

Origins and usage context: runparts is a small, portable utility that gained prominence in Debian-based systems as part of the debianutils package. It is often invoked by automatic task directories under cron, as a lightweight alternative to bespoke wrappers for running multiple scripts.

See also: cron, init and system initialization directories, and the general concept of run-level or timer-based script execution.