cron(8) CLIX cron(8)
NAME
cron - Clock daemon
SYNOPSIS
/etc/cron
DESCRIPTION
The cron command executes commands at specified dates and times.
Regularly scheduled commands (often called cron jobs) can be specified
according to instructions found in crontab files in the directory
/usr/spool/cron/crontabs. Users can submit their own crontab file with
the crontab command. Commands that are to be executed only once may be
submitted with the at command.
The cron command examines only crontab files and at command files during
process initialization and when a file changes with crontab or at. This
reduces the overhead of checking for new or changed files at regularly
scheduled intervals.
Since cron never exits, it should be executed only once. This is done
functionly through /etc/rc2.d/S75cron at system boot time. The
/usr/lib/cron/FIFO file is used as a lock to prevent the execution of more
than one cron daemon.
EXAMPLES
The following starts the cron daemon:
cron
An error message displays if the cron daemon is already running.
NOTES
If the machine time changes, cron corrects its operating times after
executing once under the new machine time. This may cause cron jobs to
run twice after a change to daylight savings time.
FILES
/usr/lib/cron Main cron directory.
/usr/lib/cron/FIFO Lock file to prevent multiple cron daemons from
running.
/usr/lib/cron/log Accounting information.
/usr/spool/cron Spool area.
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cron(8) CLIX cron(8)
EXIT VALUES
Standard exit values are not valid, but a history of all actions taken by
cron is recorded in /usr/lib/cron/log.
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: at(1), crontab(1), sh(1)
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