Crontab

[Dave Hartman]

Hi,
I'm trying to get some scripts to run using crontab. I've used the command "crontab -e" to make changes to the file.

I added something simple like:
49 10 * * * echo "Its working finally"

while logged in as root, but nothing seems to happen.
Do you have to restart the machine for the changes in crontab to work properly or is their something I'm doing wrong.
(Was trying to echo at 10:49am)

[Joel Shank · Accepted solution]

Hi Dave
I do it a little differently. First I save the current crontab using the command:
crontab -l > cronfile
Then I edit cronfile, adding/changing whatever you want.
Then put it back:
crontab cronfile
This has always worked for me.
Joel

[Dave Hartman]

Joel,
Thanks, it works fine now. Otherwise it looks like you have to reboot.

[jherring]

Using crontab -e is the recommended way to use cron.

try the following

* * * * * /usr/bin/date > /dev/console

every minute run the date command and display it to the console.

This will at least test to see if cron is working

You may also want to check cron.allow and cron.deny files
see man crontab for more info.

[John_Hancock]

Dave, a reboot is not required. cron rereads the crontab file once a minute.

We also use rcs (see the man page) to track changes to the crontab file.

John Hancock