UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hey all,

Here is a crontab entry on my HP-UX 10.20 in my /home/myusername/cron/:

1,31 * * * * /dir1/dir2/cron/print
45 01 * * * * /home/myusrname/bin/myscript.sh

I'm confused because everything I've read and understood says that the format is as follows:

# MIN HOUR DAY MONTH DAYOFWEEK COMMAND

I'm beating my head against the wall with this crontab stuff and it's getting old real quick. I know it's not this complicated! I just want that script to run at 1:45 AM everyday. Do I need the comma, and why is the first one "1,31 etc..."?? The first one works, but the second doesn't. Can someone clue me in? Does the script have to reside in the cron directory?

Thanks in advance!

Hi ober5861

1,31 * * * * /dir1/dir2/cron/print

you need only a blank between the numbers

use the following line

31 1 * * * * /dir1/dir2/cron/print

it works at a minute past 1 o`clock am

if you need to run the cron only at some days of the week, use the 6th field. 0 is sunday 1 is monday....

The second one does not work because you have too many parameters (start in it):

45 01 * * * * /home/myusrname/bin/myscript.sh

should be

45 01 * * * /home/myusrname/bin/myscript.sh

Always check the cron log for errors etc:
/var/adm/cron/log (HP-UX)

The first one:

1,31: means run at every 1st AND 31st minute of the hour.

Wow... do I feel like a retard. Thank you. I can't believe I missed that.

everybody is human