Servers can automatically perform tasks that you would otherwise have to perform yourself, such as running scripts. On Linux servers, the cron utility is the preferred way to automate the running of scripts. In this article we’ll cover how to view the jobs scheduled in the crontab list. For an introduction to Cron check-out our KB: How To: Automate Server Scripts With Cron. Knowing how to setup crontab is an important skill, but even if you’re not editing these knowing how to view them is important as well.
How to View Jobs in Crontab
crontab -l
crontab -u username -l
Example with user testuser:
crontab -u testuser -l
View Daily Cron Jobs
View all the daily cron jobs:
ls -la /etc/cron.daily/
View a specific daily cron job:
less /etc/cron.daily/filename
Example with file name logrotate:
less /etc/cron.daily/logrotate
View Hourly Cron Jobs
First view all the hourly cron jobs:
ls -la /etc/cron.hourly/
Then view a specific hourly cron job:
less /etc/cron.hourly/filename
Example with file name 0anacron:
less /etc/cron.hourly/0anacron
View Weekly Cron Jobs
First view all the weekly cron jobs:
ls -la /etc/cron.weekly/
Then view a specific weekly cron job:
less /etc/cron.weekly/filename
Example with file name weeklyexample:
less /etc/cron.weekly/weeklyexample
View Monthly Cron Jobs
First view all the monthly cron jobs:
ls -la /etc/cron.monthly/
Then view a specific monthly cron job:
less /etc/cron.monthly/filename
Example with file name readahead-monthly.cron:
less /etc/cron.monthly/readahead-monthly.cron
less /etc/crontab
Example Result:
SHELL=/bin/bash PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin MAILTO=root # For details see man 4 crontabs # Example of job definition: # .---------------- minute (0 - 59) # | .------------- hour (0 - 23) # | | .---------- day of month (1 - 31) # | | | .------- month (1 - 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr ... # | | | | .---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat # | | | | | # * * * * * user-name command to be executed
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