I have written various scripts to launch Java server applications, which are typically run for 24 hours before being shut down (by invoking the same script with a different parameter).

The script relies on environment variables defined in a file: ~/<user>.env, which I source from .bashrc.

This works fine when invoking the script from the command line but if I want to add the script as a crontab entry I run into the problem where .bashrc isn't read.

My question: What is the best practice approach for solving this problem? I realise I could define a crontab entry such as:

* * * * 1-5 /usr/bin/bash -c '. /home/myuser/myuser.env && /home/myuser/scripts/myscript.sh'

... but this seems plain ugly. Alternatively I could source myuser.env at the beginning of every script, but this would become a nightmare to maintain.

Any help appreciated.