Troubleshooting system-level problems

cron daemon is not running

The cron daemon executes commands submitted with the at(C), batch(C), and crontab(C) commands at specified dates and times. (The cron daemon is started automatically by a script in the /etc/rc2.d directory when the system is started in multiuser mode.) If cron is not running and you try to submit a job with one of these programs, the system displays the following message:

   cron may not be running - call your system administrator

Another indicator that cron is not running is if previously scheduled jobs are not being executed. Use the following command to see if the cron daemon is running:

ps -ef | grep cron

If there is no cron process, then the daemon is not running. To start cron, log in as root and enter the following command:

sd cron

If this does not start the cron process, simply reboot the system. During startup, the system displays a message like the following:

   ! *** cron started *** pid = 140 Wed Aug 31 14:02:47 PDT 1994

The jobs scheduled with at, batch, and crontab should now execute properly. If at and batch continue to report error messages, refer to ``at command fails: cannot change mode of job'' for more information.

NOTE: If this is a persistent problem, you can start cron logging by entering CRONLOG=YES in the /etc/default/cron file. After cron is started, the /usr/spool/cron/log file will hold a record of all cron transactions. This information may help you determine why cron is halting.

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SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003