Crontab - simple echo not running

Question

I've got such situation: I want to schedule a job with crontab on a linux server. I'm not super-user, so I'm editing (with crontab -l, editor vim) only my crontab file. For testing, I put there:

* * * * * echo asdf

And the job is not running. Is the restart of the server needed? Or maybe some administrator move?

Check your e-mail. Output of `cron` jobs doesn't go to your terminal, since `crond` doesn't know where your terminal is. Depending on your system configuration, it's typically sent to the owner by e-mail (which may or may not be possible). `man cron` for more information. — Keith Thompson, Mar 04 '15 at 17:08

score 52 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 04 '15 at 18:34

52

May be it is, cron jobs will run in their own shell. So you can't expect to see asdf on your console.

What you should try is

* * * * * echo asdf > somefile_in_your_home_directory_with_complete_path.log

Next check the file by doing a tail:

tail -f somefile_in_your_home_directory_with_complete_path.log

And if it's not, check if the cron daemon itself is running or is down:

# pgrep crond

OR

# service crond status

edited Mar 04 '15 at 18:34

Keith Thompson

254,901
44
429
631

answered Mar 04 '15 at 14:08

Kedar Parikh

1,241
11
18

Could you tell me what should be the output of pgrep crond? I'm not getting anything but after running ps ax | grep cron I can see that /usr/sbin/cron is running. Is that ok? – zlenyk Mar 04 '15 at 14:15
You should see the pid of cron daemon -- `crond` – Kedar Parikh Mar 04 '15 at 14:19
Did you get a pid against `/usr/sbin/cron` and how about the logfile, did it contain asdf – Kedar Parikh Mar 04 '15 at 14:25
1

Yes, logfile did contain asdf. Thank you very much. – zlenyk Mar 04 '15 at 14:34
I would recommend you to use * * * * * echo `date` -- cron >> crontest.log to track all messages and check times – angoru Feb 02 '21 at 17:23

Alex · Answer 2 · 2022-02-09T13:51:06.977

6

If you want to echo something on your shell you could use wall:

* * * * * wall <<< "Hello from cron"
* * * * * echo "Hello from cron" | wall

These two lines basically do the same but the first one might not work on older shell, just choose your favorite.
Anyway, be aware that wall will send your message to every user currently connected.

edited Feb 09 '22 at 13:51

answered Sep 02 '21 at 14:25

Alex

448
6
11

could we execute file with command `echo test` command to the wall ? – YGautomo Feb 10 '22 at 18:28

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 23 '18 at 20:35

2

For me * * * * * /bin/echo text > file is not working...I don't know why, previleges and everything is set. (This command is running normaly when I execute it as the particular root user, just to clarify this.) This can be solved by injecting the path PATH=$PATH:/bin in my example.

Instead * * * * * echo text > file is working fine, probably path issue.

Hope I helped

answered Apr 23 '18 at 20:35

Alexander El-kady

21
1

echo is a built-in for sh, the default crond shell. It's not in bash. – Rondo May 08 '21 at 02:43

Crontab - simple echo not running

3 Answers3

Linked