about file in /var/spool/cron/tmp

[Matthew_50]

Dear All,

we have a server, which cron daemon will abnormal frequently, I notice that there are about 186 empty files in /var/spool/cron/tmp, what are they for ? can i delete them ?

the behavior before cron daemon abnormal, always cron queue too large, then the daemon abort, but we only have 5 entries in root's crontab, and only root have the cron permission.

How can I solve this issue ? Thank you.

[Pete Randall]

The empty files are most likely (null) output from cron jobs - I have a bunch of them, too. They should be safely delete-able.

As far as your issues with the cron daemon - need more information. Can you expand on "cron queue too large", and "then the daemon abort"?


Pete

[RAC_1]

Those files are from cron daemon and are generated as errors files for diff. cron jobes.
You can surely delete those files.

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

could you post the /var/adm/cron/queuedefs file.

Robert-Jan

[Matthew_50]

#cat /var/adm/cron/queuedefs
a.4j1n
b.2j2n90w
c.300j1n

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

#cat /var/adm/cron/queuedefs
a.4j1n
b.2j2n90w
c.300j1n

300 simultaneously cronjobs is to high --> 20 is more then enough. change last line into

c.20j1n

and stop en start the crondaemon.

#/sbin/init.d/cron stop/start

Robert-Jan

[Kent Ostby]

Matthew --

It's probably fine to delete the null cron jobs.

To be on the safe side, check your system uptime and only delete the ones that have a date on them prior to your last reboot.

Oz