title: Execute php script on server every 5 minutes
body: <p>I want to run a php script every 5 minutes that processes some simple mysql queries to identify potential errors and in case an error is recorded as a database entry the php script sends out an email.</p>
  
  <p>From my research, it seems like cron jobs (or task schedulers) usually take care of running scripts at specified times, however I cannot find this option anywhere at the hosting service I am using (who runs "Parallels Plesk Panel 11.0.9" as the management interface I can access).</p>
  
  <p>Therefore I tried the following "trick":</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?php
  $active = $_GET["a"];
  set_time_limit(0);
  while($active == 1){
      include 'alert_exe.php';
      sleep(300); // execute script every 5 mins
  }
  ?&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>To active the script I enter the url (".../alert.php?a=1"). This works fine for a couple of minutes, however it seems after 2 or 3 minutes the script stops executing.</p>
  
  <p>Any idea how I can prevent the stopping of the script or alternative suggestions how to achieve the automatic execution of a script every 5minutes (without being able to access cron jobs)?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks!</p>