I have this in my crontab:

```
* * * * * cd /etc && . ./cron.sh>>cron.log

```

In my cron.sh (which is executable) I have:

```
#!/bin/sh

echo "hello world"
export MyVar="abcd"

```

It runs both with cron and manually, however the environment variable is only set when I run it manually with the command:

```
. ./cron.sh

```

Can anyone please help. I know its something to do with source but I cant figure it out. 

This does not work either:

```
* * * * * cd /etc && sh ./cron.sh>>cron.log

```