Displaying crontab Files
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Displaying crontab Files

The crontab -l command displays the contents of a crontab file much the same way that the cat command displays the contents of other types of files. You do not have to change the directory to /var/spool/cron/crontabs directory (where crontab files are located) to use this command.

By default, the crontab -l command displays your own crontab file. To display crontab files that belong to other users, you must be superuser.

How to Display a crontab File

Become superuser or assume an equivalent role to display a crontab file that belongs to root or another user. Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services .

You do not need to become superuser or assume an equivalent role to display your own crontab file.

  • Display the crontab file. 

    $ crontab -l [username]

    where username specifies the name of the user's account for which you want to display a crontab file. Displaying another user's crontab file requires superuser privileges.

    Caution

    If you accidentally type the crontab command with no option, press the interrupt character for your editor. This character allows you to quit without saving changes. If you instead saved changes and exited the file, the existing crontab file would be overwritten with an empty file.

Example 15.2. Displaying a crontab File

This example shows how to use the crontab -l command to display the contents of the user's default crontab file.

$ crontab -l
13 13 * * * chmod g+w /home1/documents/*.book > /dev/null 2>&1

Example 15.3. Displaying the Default root crontab file.

This example shows how to display the default root crontab file.

$ suPassword:
Sun Microsystems Inc.   SunOS 5.10      s10_51  May 2004
# crontab -l
#ident  "@(#)root       1.19    98/07/06 SMI"   /* SVr4.0 1.1.3.1       */
#
# The root crontab should be used to perform accounting data collection.
#
#
10 3 * * * /usr/sbin/logadm
15 3 * * 0 /usr/lib/fs/nfs/nfsfind
30 3 * * * [ -x /usr/lib/gss/gsscred_clean ] && /usr/lib/gss/gsscred_clean
#10 3 * * * /usr/lib/krb5/kprop_script ___slave_kdcs___

Example 15.4. Displaying the crontab File of Another User

This example shows how to display the crontab file that belongs to another user.

$ su
Password:
Sun Microsystems Inc.   SunOS 5.10      s10_51  May 2004
# crontab -l jones
13 13 * * * cp /home/jones/work_files /usr/backup/. > /dev/null 2>&1
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Creating and Editing crontab Files Home Removing crontab Files