1FCRONTAB(1)                                                        FCRONTAB(1)
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NAME

6       fcrontab - manipulate per-user fcrontab     files
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SYNOPSIS

9       fcrontab [ -c file ] [ -n ] file [ user | -u user ]
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12       fcrontab [ -c file ] [ -n ] { -l | -r | -e | -z } [ user | -u user ]
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15       fcrontab [ -h ]
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17

DESCRIPTION

19       Fcrontab  is the program intended to install, edit, list and remove the
20       tables used by fcron(8) daemon. As fcron internally  uses  a  non-human
21       readable  format  (this is needed because fcron saves more informations
22       than the user gives, for example the time and date of next  execution),
23       the user cannot edit directly his fcrontab (the one used by fcron).
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25       When  a user installs a fcrontab, the source file is saved in the spool
26       directory (/usr/local/var/spool/fcron) to allow future editions, and  a
27       formatted  file  is  generated  for the fcron daemon, which is signaled
28       once about ten seconds before the next minute for all changes made pre‐
29       viously.  The  daemon is not informed of the changes immediately but at
30       most once a minute to keep ill disposed users from blocking the  daemon
31       by  installing  fcrontabs over and over (ie. denial of service attack).
32       We will call "fcrontab" the source file of the fcrontab in the  follow‐
33       ing.
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35       A   user   can   install   a   fcrontab   if   he   is  listed  in  the
36       /usr/local/etc/fcron.allow and not (unless by the keyword  all)  listed
37       in  /usr/local/etc/fcron.deny  (see  section "files" below). If neither
38       fcron.allow nor fcron.deny exist, all users are allowed. None of  these
39       files have to exist, but if they do, the deny file takes precedence.
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41       The  first  form of the command is used to install a new fcrontab file,
42       from any named file or from standard input if the  pseudo-filename  "-"
43       is  given, replacing the previous one (if any): each user can have only
44       one fcrontab.
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46       For  instance,  root  can  create  a  systemwide  fcrontab  file,   say
47       /etc/fcrontab, and run "fcrontab /etc/fcrontab" to install the new ver‐
48       sion after each change of the file. Or (s)he can create a new  fcrontab
49       running  a simple "fcrontab", and then maintain it using "fcrontab -e".
50       Same considerations apply to a non privileged user.
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OPTIONS

53       -u user
54              Specify the user whose fcrontab will be managed, or "systab" for
55              the system fcrontab.  Should only be used by root. If not given,
56              the fcrontab file of the user invoking fcrontab will be handled.
57              It may be useful since the su(8) command may confuse fcrontab.
58
59              Note: the to a '-u user'.
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61       -l     List user's current fcrontab to standard output.
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63       -e     Edit  user's  current fcrontab using either the editor specified
64              by the environment variable VISUAL, or EDITOR if VISUAL  is  not
65              set. If none or them are set, /usr/bin/vi will be used.
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67       -r     Remove user's fcrontab.
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69       -z     Reinstall user's fcrontab from its source code. All informations
70              fcron may have kept in the binary fcrontab  (such  as  the  last
71              execution time and date) will be forgotten (ie. lost).
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73       -n     Ignore previous version. If this option is not given, fcron will
74              try to keep as much information as possible between old and  new
75              version of the fcrontab (time and date of next execution, if job
76              is in serial queue, etc) if the line hasn't been modified  (same
77              fields, same shell command).
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79       -c file
80              Make  fcrontab  use  config  file file instead of default config
81              file /usr/local/etc/fcron.conf. To interact with a running fcron
82              process,  fcrontab must use the same config file as the process.
83              That way, several fcron processes can run simultaneously  on  an
84              only system.
85
86       -d     Run  in  debug  mode.  In this mode, many informational messages
87              will be output in order to check if anything went wrong.
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89       -h     Display a brief description of the options.
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91       -V     Display an informational message about fcrontab,  including  its
92              version and the license under which it is distributed.
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RETURN VALUES

95       Fcrontab returns 0 on normal exit and 1 on error.
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CONFORMING TO

98       Should be POSIX compliant.
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FILES

101       /usr/local/etc/fcron.conf
102              Configuration  file  for  fcron, fcrontab and fcrondyn: contains
103              paths (spool dir, pid file) and default programs to use (editor,
104              shell, etc). See fcron.conf(5) for more details.
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106       /usr/local/etc/fcron.allow
107              Users  allowed  to use fcrontab and fcrondyn (one name per line,
108              special name "all" acts for everyone)
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110       /usr/local/etc/fcron.deny
111              Users who are not allowed to use  fcrontab  and  fcrondyn  (same
112              format as allow file)
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114       /usr/local/etc/pam.d/fcron (or /usr/local/etc/pam.conf)
115              PAM configuration file for fcron. Take a look at pam(8) for more
116              details.
117

SEE ALSO

119       fcrontab(1),
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121       fcrondyn(1),
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123       fcrontab(5),
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125       fcron.conf(5),
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127       fcron(8).
128
129       If you're learning how to use fcron from scratch, I  suggest  that  you
130       read  the HTML version of the documentation (if your are not reading it
131       right now! :) ): the content is the same, but it is easier to  navigate
132       thanks to the hyperlinks.
133

AUTHOR

135       Thibault Godouet <fcron@free.fr>
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13906/03/2007                       03 juin 2007                      FCRONTAB(1)
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