#pragma section-numbers off

This page describes the basic use of cron on HCoop systems.

[[TableOfContents]]

= Prerequisites =

It is very important that you read the [:MemberManual/RunningUnattendedCommands:Running Unattended Commands page] to understand the general idea of how to run unattended commands on Mire.

= Making a cron configuration file =

Cron needs a special configuration file to tell it how to operate.  It is suggested that this file be called {{{~/.crontab}}}, though it can have any name.

For an explanation of the format of this file, run:

{{{
man 5 crontab
}}}

= Activating your cron configuration =

Once you are satisfied with your setup, run the following command to activate your changes, assuming that your configuration file is called {{{~/.crontab}}}:

{{{
crontab ~/.crontab
}}}

= Examples =

One convention for making scripts to run commands in their own PAG, as specified by the [:MemberManual/RunningUnattendedCommands:Running Unattended Commands page], is to create the {{{~/scripts}}} directory, and place your scripts there.  Then, make a cron configuration file that looks something like this.

{{{
09 0 * * 0   ~/scripts/clean-mail
11 0 * * 0   ~/scripts/remove-tmp
12 0 * * 0   ~/scripts/weekly-comment-check
*/10 * * * * ~/scripts/make-git-projects
}}}