cron executable

[Donald Thaler]

where does the executable cron exist... i opened /var/spool/crontabs/root in a text editor (using exceed), but when i change the source it doesn't really change the executable version. i ran into this problem becuase exceed version 10 (using opentexts secure shell) opens the the crontab -e in a terminal window and not a text editor like it used to. their supposedly researching the problem, but in the interim if i need to change the crontab where would i find the executable version ?

[Raj D.]

Donald,
I think you are looking for the path for the crontab executable file:
It reside in /usr/bin/
i.e # /usr/bin/crontab

You can also type from the prompt:
$ whereis crontab


Hth,
Raj.

[Raj D.]

Also if cron is not running ,
do the following:
# /sbin/init.d/cron stop ### to stop cron
# /sbin/init.d/cron start ### to start cron


or type:
# /usr/sbin/cron

-to check:
# ps -ef | grep -i cron

Cheers,
Raj.

[Patrick Wallek · Accepted solution]

>> if i need to change the crontab where would i find the executable version ?

You don't. Changing the crontab just changes the file in /var/spool/cron/crontabs/. The cron daemon then picks up the changes to the crontab file.

There is no such thing as an executable crontab file.

[Steven Schweda]

As usual, some minimal system info might be
nice to see.

uname -a

> [...] The cron daemon then picks up the
> changes to the crontab file.

Not without some help, it doesn't. Which is
why one uses "crontab -e" instead of simply
editing the actual crontab file.

man crontab
man cron

> [...] their supposedly researching the
> problem [...]

"They're"?

[Pete Randall]

You can also just use "crontab -l > /home/me/mycronfile" to produce an editable file of your crontab entries. Then, after you edit that file (I use vi) you just use "crontab /home/me/mycronfile" to schedule your modified crontab.


Pete

[Donald Thaler]

the reference to they was 'opentext' who is now the supplier of exceed (formerly hummingbird)... i never knew that when you ran crontab -e that behind the sceenes it acutally ran the crontab process... so until opentext fixes their problem i have to run
crontab /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root to schedule the changes... thanks to everyone that responded

[Patrick Wallek]

Having just reread your initial description...

>>opens the the crontab -e in a terminal window

Are you sure that when it opens the crontab in a terminal, that that isn't actually opening in the 'vi' editor in that terminal? If it is vi, you should still be able to make your changes.

[Donald Thaler]

you were right it's opening it in a vi window.. it used to open using the editor that comes with the common desktop environment.. when i look at the env variables i see that editor=vi, would you happen to know what that should be changed to, to invoke the cde editor ??

[Steven Schweda]

> you were right [...]

So was "man crontab".

> [...] i see that editor=vi, [...]

Do you mean "EDITOR=vi"? (Or do you have the
only case-insensitive UNIX system in
captivity?)

> [...] would you happen to know what that
> should be changed to, to invoke the cde
> editor ??

Know? No. Guess: dtpad.

man dtpad

If I wanted exotic command-line options, I'd
create a script in a convenient place, and
then specify "EDITOR=that_script". Expect it
to need to pass a command-line argument.