fcron(8)

1FCRON(8)                                                              FCRON(8)
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NAME

6       fcron - daemon to execute scheduled tasks
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SYNOPSIS

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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DESCRIPTION

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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OPTIONS

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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RETURN VALUES

133       Fcron returns 0 on normal exit, and 1 on error.
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SIGNALS

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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CONFORMING TO

152       Should be POSIX compliant.
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FILES

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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AUTHOR

189       Thibault Godouet <fcron@free.fr>
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19306/03/2007                       03 juin 2007                         FCRON(8)