PERIODIC(1M)        RISC/os Reference Manual         PERIODIC(1M)



NAME
     periodic: hourly, daily, weekly, monthly - periodic adminis-
          tration interface

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/adm/periodic/driver period

DESCRIPTION
     This command is run by cron(1M) from the periodic crontab
     file in order to provide a simple interface for executing
     hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly system tasks.  The execu-
     tion by cron sends the output of the scripts, except for
     hourly runs, to the user root by mail, providing a record of
     the tasks.

     The period argument must be either hourly, daily, weekly, or
     monthly.

     Executing the driver causes execution of some or all of the
     task files in the directory /usr/adm/periodic/period. Only
     files whose names begin with a digit and end with either
     .system, .local, or .hostname (where hostname is the name of
     the host executing the driver) are candidates for execution.
     If there is a file whose name is the same as a candidate
     with the additional suffix .stop, execution is held, and the
     contents of the .stop file is printed (to document the rea-
     son for its existence).

     The files are executed in alphabetically sorted order.  For
     example, the file /usr/adm/periodic/daily/01.clean.system
     would be executed before
     /usr/adm/periodic/daily/10.mail.system.

     Execution is done with a nice(1) value of 15.  This will
     allow things such as UUCP jobs and jobs executed by real
     users working late at night to run more reasonably.  If a
     periodic script needs to be run at a higher priority, this
     should be done inside of the script.

     The intent of this interface is to provide Mips with a means
     of adding system periodic functions without having to add
     them to the crontab file, which may be overwritten by the
     system administrator without them even knowing it.

     In a network of machines, this system of suffixes provides
     some flexibility.  Specifically, all of the tasks to be exe-
     cuted can be maintained on one system, using the .local
     files as network-wide commands, using the host-specific
     files for host-specific operations, and distributing all
     files throughout the network.





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PERIODIC(1M)        RISC/os Reference Manual         PERIODIC(1M)



     Administrators writing their own scripts or programs for
     this interface should note that no environment, PATH, or
     current working directory should be assumed.

     It is recommended that .system.stop files be used tem-
     porarily or for report-only tasks, and not for permanent
     disabling of Mips-provided tasks, as Mips may make important
     changes.  If a task does need to be disabled, it is a good
     idea to inform the system supplier of this need.

SEE ALSO
     cron(1M).
     nice(1) in the User's Reference Manual.










































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