zypper also should avoid the output of escape sequences if operated in non interactive mode. Else you see output as the following. Von: root [root@mina.lan] Gesendet: Dienstag, 7. April 2015 12:18 An: root@mina.lan Betreff: cronjob@mina - daily - FAILURE running daily cronjob scripts SCRIPT: opensuse.org-online_update exited with RETURNCODE = 102. SCRIPT: output (stdout && stderr) follows The following NEW patch is going to be installed:?[0m o?[0mpenSUSE-2015-264 The following 6 packages are going to be upgraded:?[0m l?[0mibsolv-tools l?[0mibzypp p?[0mython-solv z?[0mypper z?[0mypper-aptitude z ?[0mypper-log 6?[0m packages to upgrade. Overall download size: 3.8 MiB. Already cached: 0 B After the operation, additional 12.8 KiB will be used. Continue? [y?[0m/n?[0m/??[0m shows all options] (y?[0m): ?[0my