Cron / Crontab Commands
Complete Cron / Crontab commands reference — 22 commands across 3 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Linux & Unix.
Command Options (10)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| crontab -u | Specifies the name of the user whose crontab is to be modified. If this option is not used |
| crontab -T | Test the crontab file syntax without installing it. Once an issue is found, the validation |
| crontab -l | Displays the current crontab on standard output |
| crontab -r | Removes the current crontab |
| crontab -e | Edits the current crontab using the editor specified by the VISUAL or EDITOR environment |
| crontab -i | This option modifies the -r option to prompt the user for a 'y/Y' response before actually |
| crontab -s | Appends the current SELinux security context string as an MLS_LEVEL setting to the crontab file |
| crontab -n | This option is relevant only if cron(8) was started with the -c option, to enable clustering |
| crontab -c | This option is only relevant if cron(8) was started with the -c option, to enable clustering |
| crontab -V | Print version and exit |
Special Strings (7)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| @reboot | Run once after reboot |
| @yearly | Run once a year, ie. "0 0 1 1 *" |
| @annually | Run once a year, ie. "0 0 1 1 *" |
| @monthly | Run once a month, ie. "0 0 1 * *" |
| @weekly | Run once a week, ie. "0 0 * * 0" |
| @daily | Run once a day, ie. "0 0 * * *" |
| @hourly | Run once an hour, ie. "0 * * * *" |
Additional Shortcuts (5)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| * * * * * | min hr day mon dow |
| 0 9 * * * | Daily 9AM |
| */5 * * * * | Every 5 min |
| 0 0 * * 0 | Every Sunday |
| 0 0 1 * * | Monthly 1st |
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📜 Every shortcut on this page is taken from the official Cron / Crontab documentation —
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