Entries in crontab file

[Hoey]

Hi
I am about to create a lot of jobs run by cron.

Is there any maximum entries in the crontab file, if so, how many?

thanks in advance

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

I have heard that there is a limit but we run at least two hundred and have not got a problem. In saying that once there are thousands of jobs, people start looking at other tools like scheduling packages that can look after jobs escpecially if they have dependancies etc.

-Michael

[Roger Baptiste · Accepted solution]

Davis,

I don't think there is any limit on
the entries of the crontab file, but iirr there
is a limit on the number of cron jobs you
can run at one time (40?).


On a related note, Cron has a few less-known "scheduler" type
features, where you can set queues and the
order in which the jobs can run. i.e job2
should follow job1 and so on.

check man queuedefs for the details.
the file which defines the settings are:
/var/adm/cron/queuedefs.

You did not specify how many entries
you need to put in cron? Generally, when
there are lot of application related jobs,
it is preferable to purchase a scheduling
software tool and let the users manage it
easily.

-raj

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

I haven't heard any such limits on crontab files. You should be ok. With so many cronjobs, I would imagine your /var/adm/cron/log file of good size.

But if you have so many cronjobs, it's better to use sophisticated softwares like Autosys/sys*Admiral that do a wonderful job with good reporting stuff.

-Sri

[Hoey]

Thanks guys for the answers