Re: [cobalt-developers] Raq 4 scheduled backup using ftp , set start time ?

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Jeff Lasman" <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Mike Sisson wrote:
>
> > It had me a bit confused at first since the cron jobs aren't stored in
> > /var/spool/cron
> > and are instead stored in separate folders in /etc
> > such as  /etc/cron.monthly
>
> Cron jobs are actually stored in /etc/crontab.
>
> Most of us <smile> us crontab to point to directories.

Jeff, I'm not sure I agree with that.  Most systems I work on have cron jobs
setup as user crons and point to scripts, not directories containing scripts
and most use the user crontabs.  YMMV.  You are referring to the system
crontab.  User crontabs are stored in /var/spool/cron, which is where Mike
was looking.  He didn't see any because none had been created yet on his
server.  User access to them is controlled by /etc/cron.allow and
/etc/cron.deny which also do not exist by default on the RaQs.  Without
those files, all valid users in /etc/passwd have access to create user
crontabs.  User crons allow users to manage their own cron jobs.  Both
methods allow you to control the exact schedule of jobs, but IMO the system
cron should only be used when it's important to run scripts daily (for
example) and ensure that script B runs immediately after script A.  I
suppose it comes down to personal preference and what you or your users are
trying to accomplish.

> You can add lines to /etc/crontab either to run individual jobs or to
> point to specific directories.
>
> "man cron", "man crontab" and "man 5 crontab" are your friends <smile>.

And they cover user crontabs too.

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/