1FCRON(8) FCRON(8)
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6 fcron - daemon to execute scheduled tasks
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9 fcron [ -c file ] [ -d ] [ -b ] [ -s time ] [ -m num ] [ -q num ]
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12 fcron [ -c file ] [ -d ] [ -f ] [ -o ] [ -y ] [ -l time ]
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15 fcron [ -n dir ]
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18 fcron [ -h ]
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21 fcron [ -V ]
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25 Fcron should be started from /etc/rc or /etc/rc.local. Unless the -f
26 (or --foreground) option is given, it will return immediately, so you
27 don't need to start it with '&'.
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29 Fcron loads users fcrontabs (see fcrontab(5)) files previously
30 installed by fcrontab (see fcrontab(1)). Then, fcron calculates the
31 time and date of each job's next execution, and determines how long it
32 has to sleep, and sleeps for this amount of time. When it wakes up, it
33 checks all jobs loaded and runs them if needed. When a job is executed,
34 fcron forks, changes its user and group permissions to match those of
35 the user the job is being done for, executes that job and mails the
36 outputs to the user (this can be changed: see fcrontab(5)).
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38 Informative message about what fcron is doing are sent to syslogd(8)
39 under facility cron, priority notice. Warning and error messages are
40 sent respectively at priority warning and error.
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42 Note: fcron sleeps at least 20 seconds after it has been started
43 before executing a job to avoid to use too much resources during
44 system boot.
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47 -f
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49 --foreground
50 Don't fork to the background. In this mode, fcron will output
51 informational message to standard error as well as to syslogd.
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53 -b
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55 --background
56 Force running in background, even if fcron has been compiled to
57 run in foreground as default.
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59 -s time
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61 --savetime time
62 Save fcrontabs on disk every time sec (default is 1800).
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64 -m num
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66 --maxserial num
67 Set to num the maximum number of serial jobs which can run
68 simultaneously. By default, this value is set to 1.
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70 See also: option serial in fcrontab(5).
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72 -q num
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74 --queuelen num
75 Set to n the number of jobs the serial queue and the lavg queue
76 can contain.
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78 -c file
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80 --configfile file
81 Make fcron use config file file instead of default config file
82 /usr/local/etc/fcron.conf. To interact with that running fcron
83 process, fcrontab must use the same config file (which is
84 defined by fcrontab's option -c). That way, several fcron pro‐
85 cesses can run simultaneously on an only system (but each fcron
86 process *must* have a different spool dir and pid file from the
87 other processes).
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89 -o
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91 --once Execute all jobs that need to be run at the time fcron was
92 started, wait for them, then return. Sets firstsleep to 0. May
93 be especially useful when used with options -y and -f in a
94 script run, for instance, at dialup connection.
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96 See also: fcrontab's options volatile, stdout.
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98 -y
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100 --nosyslog
101 Don't log to syslog at all. May be useful when running in fore‐
102 ground.
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104 -l time
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106 --firstsleep time
107 Sets the initial delay (in seconds) before any job is executed,
108 default to 20 seconds.
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110 -n dir
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112 --newspooldir dir
113 Create dir as a new spool directory for fcron. Set correctly its
114 mode and owner. Then, exit.
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116 -h
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118 --help Display a brief description of the options.
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120 -V
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122 --version
123 Display an informational message about fcron, including its ver‐
124 sion and the license under which it is distributed.
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126 -d
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128 --debug
129 Run in debug mode (more details on stderr -- if option -f is set
130 -- and in log file)
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133 Fcron returns 0 on normal exit, and 1 on error.
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136 SIGTERM
137 Save configuration (time remaining until next execution, time
138 and date of next execution, etc), wait for all running jobs and
139 exit.
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141 SIGUSR1
142 Force fcron to reload its configuration.
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144 SIGUSR2
145 Make fcron print its current schedule on syslog. It also toggles
146 on/off the printing on debug info on syslog.
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148 SIGHUP Tell fcron to check if there is any configuration update (this
149 signal is used by fcrontab(5))
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152 Should be POSIX compliant.
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155 /usr/local/etc/fcron.conf
156 Configuration file for fcron, fcrontab and fcrondyn: contains
157 paths (spool dir, pid file) and default programs to use (editor,
158 shell, etc). See fcron.conf(5) for more details.
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160 /usr/local/etc/fcron.allow
161 Users allowed to use fcrontab and fcrondyn (one name per line,
162 special name "all" acts for everyone)
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164 /usr/local/etc/fcron.deny
165 Users who are not allowed to use fcrontab and fcrondyn (same
166 format as allow file)
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168 /usr/local/etc/pam.d/fcron (or /usr/local/etc/pam.conf)
169 PAM configuration file for fcron. Take a look at pam(8) for more
170 details.
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173 fcrontab(1),
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175 fcrondyn(1),
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177 fcrontab(5),
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179 fcron.conf(5),
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181 fcron(8).
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183 If you're learning how to use fcron from scratch, I suggest that you
184 read the HTML version of the documentation (if your are not reading it
185 right now! :) ): the content is the same, but it is easier to navigate
186 thanks to the hyperlinks.
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189 Thibault Godouet <fcron@free.fr>
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19303/03/2010 03 mars 2010 FCRON(8)