Where is the cron / crontab log?












641














I want to verify that my cron job is executing and at what time. I believe there is a log for my sudo crontab -e jobs, but where?



I searched google and found recommendations to look in /var/log (in which I do not see anything with 'cron' in the name) and to edit the file /etc/syslog.conf which I also do not have.










share|improve this question





























    641














    I want to verify that my cron job is executing and at what time. I believe there is a log for my sudo crontab -e jobs, but where?



    I searched google and found recommendations to look in /var/log (in which I do not see anything with 'cron' in the name) and to edit the file /etc/syslog.conf which I also do not have.










    share|improve this question



























      641












      641








      641


      170





      I want to verify that my cron job is executing and at what time. I believe there is a log for my sudo crontab -e jobs, but where?



      I searched google and found recommendations to look in /var/log (in which I do not see anything with 'cron' in the name) and to edit the file /etc/syslog.conf which I also do not have.










      share|improve this question















      I want to verify that my cron job is executing and at what time. I believe there is a log for my sudo crontab -e jobs, but where?



      I searched google and found recommendations to look in /var/log (in which I do not see anything with 'cron' in the name) and to edit the file /etc/syslog.conf which I also do not have.







      cron log






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited Mar 16 '17 at 14:45









      Bruno Bronosky

      50349




      50349










      asked Aug 11 '11 at 12:06









      Scott Szretter

      3,3453117




      3,3453117






















          8 Answers
          8






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          766














          On a default installation the cron jobs get logged to



          /var/log/syslog


          You can see just cron jobs in that logfile by running



           grep CRON /var/log/syslog


          If you haven't reconfigured anything,the entries will be in there.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 34




            If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
            – Barry Kelly
            Nov 18 '13 at 23:19






          • 6




            The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
            – Navigatron
            Jan 31 '14 at 10:21






          • 4




            this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
            – chovy
            Dec 12 '15 at 0:34






          • 2




            on AWS it was /var/log/cron
            – tsukimi
            Feb 4 '17 at 1:23






          • 4




            @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
            – nafg
            Apr 24 '17 at 2:08



















          205














          You can create a cron.log file to contain just the CRON entries that show up in syslog. Note that CRON jobs will still show up in syslog if you follow the following directions.



          Open the file



          /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf


          Find the line that starts with:



          #cron.*


          uncomment that line, save the file, and restart rsyslog:



          sudo service rsyslog restart


          You should now see a cron log file here:



          /var/log/cron.log


          Cron activity will now be logged to this file (in addition to syslog).



          Note that in cron.log you will see entries for when cron ran scripts in /etc/cron.hourly, cron.daily, etc. - e.g. something like:



          Apr 12 14:17:01 cd CRON[14368]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)


          However, you will not see more information about what scripts were actually ran inside /etc/cron.daily or /etc/cron.hourly, unless those scripts direct output to the cron.log (or perhaps to some other log file).



          If you want to verify if a crontab is running and not have to search for it in cron.log or syslog, create a crontab that redirects output to a log file of your choice - something like:



          01 14 * * * /home/joe/myscript >> /home/log/myscript.log 2>&1


          This will redirect all standard output and errors that may be produced by the script that is run to the log file specified.






          share|improve this answer

















          • 1




            With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
            – shgnInc
            Dec 22 '13 at 8:36








          • 9




            To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
            – Koen.
            Feb 13 '14 at 11:35










          • On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
            – Scott Chu
            Sep 17 '14 at 3:35










          • what is 2>&1 stand for ?
            – John Joe
            Mar 21 '17 at 2:41






          • 1




            @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
            – Sampo Sarrala
            Jul 25 '17 at 12:38





















          71














          Sometimes it can be useful to continuously monitor it, in that case:



          tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep CRON





          share|improve this answer

















          • 8




            Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
            – Momer
            Dec 17 '14 at 22:24



















          26














          You can also direct the output of the individual cronjobs to their own logs for better readability, you will just need to append the output of date somewhere.



           0 15 * * *    /home/andrew/daily-backup.sh >> /var/log/daily-backup.log 2>&1





          share|improve this answer



















          • 4




            true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
            – Raptor
            Jul 24 '15 at 2:37






          • 9




            You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
            – Andrew Meyer
            Jul 24 '15 at 16:04





















          8














          This is a very old question, but none of these answers seem satisfactory.



          First make your cron job run every minute, then run cron as non-daemon (temporarily, just kill any crond that may have already started) with test logging:



          crond -nx test



          And see the log of your program execution flowing through your terminal.






          share|improve this answer

















          • 5




            Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
            – G-.
            Jul 6 '17 at 9:40



















          6














          It is in /var/log/syslog by default.



          But it can be set up to create a separate cron.log, which is more useful.



          This Q&A describes the process:



          16.04: How do I make cron create cron.log and monitor it in real time?



          Also in this answer is the instructions to create a wcron command that displays it is near-real-time. Plus, it links to another answer,



          How to change cron log level?



          that shows how to change the log level to include more than just the start of jobs - level 15 will show errors and end time, also.






          share|improve this answer































            1














            You could redirect the output of cron to a tmp file



            Such as:
            00 11 07 * * /bin/bash /home/ubuntu/command.sh > /tmp/output 2>&1



            Error and normal output, both will be redirected to the same file






            share|improve this answer





























              0














              If you have systemd installed on your system, you could display cron job log by using the journalctl command.



              For example, on my Ubuntu 17.10:



              journalctl -u cron.service





              share|improve this answer








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                8 Answers
                8






                active

                oldest

                votes








                8 Answers
                8






                active

                oldest

                votes









                active

                oldest

                votes






                active

                oldest

                votes









                766














                On a default installation the cron jobs get logged to



                /var/log/syslog


                You can see just cron jobs in that logfile by running



                 grep CRON /var/log/syslog


                If you haven't reconfigured anything,the entries will be in there.






                share|improve this answer



















                • 34




                  If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
                  – Barry Kelly
                  Nov 18 '13 at 23:19






                • 6




                  The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
                  – Navigatron
                  Jan 31 '14 at 10:21






                • 4




                  this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
                  – chovy
                  Dec 12 '15 at 0:34






                • 2




                  on AWS it was /var/log/cron
                  – tsukimi
                  Feb 4 '17 at 1:23






                • 4




                  @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
                  – nafg
                  Apr 24 '17 at 2:08
















                766














                On a default installation the cron jobs get logged to



                /var/log/syslog


                You can see just cron jobs in that logfile by running



                 grep CRON /var/log/syslog


                If you haven't reconfigured anything,the entries will be in there.






                share|improve this answer



















                • 34




                  If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
                  – Barry Kelly
                  Nov 18 '13 at 23:19






                • 6




                  The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
                  – Navigatron
                  Jan 31 '14 at 10:21






                • 4




                  this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
                  – chovy
                  Dec 12 '15 at 0:34






                • 2




                  on AWS it was /var/log/cron
                  – tsukimi
                  Feb 4 '17 at 1:23






                • 4




                  @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
                  – nafg
                  Apr 24 '17 at 2:08














                766












                766








                766






                On a default installation the cron jobs get logged to



                /var/log/syslog


                You can see just cron jobs in that logfile by running



                 grep CRON /var/log/syslog


                If you haven't reconfigured anything,the entries will be in there.






                share|improve this answer














                On a default installation the cron jobs get logged to



                /var/log/syslog


                You can see just cron jobs in that logfile by running



                 grep CRON /var/log/syslog


                If you haven't reconfigured anything,the entries will be in there.







                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited Aug 16 '12 at 10:27







                user76204

















                answered Aug 12 '11 at 10:58









                Richard Holloway

                20.3k54252




                20.3k54252








                • 34




                  If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
                  – Barry Kelly
                  Nov 18 '13 at 23:19






                • 6




                  The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
                  – Navigatron
                  Jan 31 '14 at 10:21






                • 4




                  this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
                  – chovy
                  Dec 12 '15 at 0:34






                • 2




                  on AWS it was /var/log/cron
                  – tsukimi
                  Feb 4 '17 at 1:23






                • 4




                  @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
                  – nafg
                  Apr 24 '17 at 2:08














                • 34




                  If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
                  – Barry Kelly
                  Nov 18 '13 at 23:19






                • 6




                  The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
                  – Navigatron
                  Jan 31 '14 at 10:21






                • 4




                  this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
                  – chovy
                  Dec 12 '15 at 0:34






                • 2




                  on AWS it was /var/log/cron
                  – tsukimi
                  Feb 4 '17 at 1:23






                • 4




                  @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
                  – nafg
                  Apr 24 '17 at 2:08








                34




                34




                If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
                – Barry Kelly
                Nov 18 '13 at 23:19




                If there is no MTA installed, cron just throws the job output away.
                – Barry Kelly
                Nov 18 '13 at 23:19




                6




                6




                The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
                – Navigatron
                Jan 31 '14 at 10:21




                The cron log may be in another file in the /var/log/ directory. Check for cron.log or equivalent.
                – Navigatron
                Jan 31 '14 at 10:21




                4




                4




                this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
                – chovy
                Dec 12 '15 at 0:34




                this doesn't give me output from the job. it just gives a generic message that the cron was processed.
                – chovy
                Dec 12 '15 at 0:34




                2




                2




                on AWS it was /var/log/cron
                – tsukimi
                Feb 4 '17 at 1:23




                on AWS it was /var/log/cron
                – tsukimi
                Feb 4 '17 at 1:23




                4




                4




                @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
                – nafg
                Apr 24 '17 at 2:08




                @shadi you could also grep -i CRON to search case-insensitive
                – nafg
                Apr 24 '17 at 2:08













                205














                You can create a cron.log file to contain just the CRON entries that show up in syslog. Note that CRON jobs will still show up in syslog if you follow the following directions.



                Open the file



                /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf


                Find the line that starts with:



                #cron.*


                uncomment that line, save the file, and restart rsyslog:



                sudo service rsyslog restart


                You should now see a cron log file here:



                /var/log/cron.log


                Cron activity will now be logged to this file (in addition to syslog).



                Note that in cron.log you will see entries for when cron ran scripts in /etc/cron.hourly, cron.daily, etc. - e.g. something like:



                Apr 12 14:17:01 cd CRON[14368]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)


                However, you will not see more information about what scripts were actually ran inside /etc/cron.daily or /etc/cron.hourly, unless those scripts direct output to the cron.log (or perhaps to some other log file).



                If you want to verify if a crontab is running and not have to search for it in cron.log or syslog, create a crontab that redirects output to a log file of your choice - something like:



                01 14 * * * /home/joe/myscript >> /home/log/myscript.log 2>&1


                This will redirect all standard output and errors that may be produced by the script that is run to the log file specified.






                share|improve this answer

















                • 1




                  With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
                  – shgnInc
                  Dec 22 '13 at 8:36








                • 9




                  To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
                  – Koen.
                  Feb 13 '14 at 11:35










                • On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
                  – Scott Chu
                  Sep 17 '14 at 3:35










                • what is 2>&1 stand for ?
                  – John Joe
                  Mar 21 '17 at 2:41






                • 1




                  @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
                  – Sampo Sarrala
                  Jul 25 '17 at 12:38


















                205














                You can create a cron.log file to contain just the CRON entries that show up in syslog. Note that CRON jobs will still show up in syslog if you follow the following directions.



                Open the file



                /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf


                Find the line that starts with:



                #cron.*


                uncomment that line, save the file, and restart rsyslog:



                sudo service rsyslog restart


                You should now see a cron log file here:



                /var/log/cron.log


                Cron activity will now be logged to this file (in addition to syslog).



                Note that in cron.log you will see entries for when cron ran scripts in /etc/cron.hourly, cron.daily, etc. - e.g. something like:



                Apr 12 14:17:01 cd CRON[14368]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)


                However, you will not see more information about what scripts were actually ran inside /etc/cron.daily or /etc/cron.hourly, unless those scripts direct output to the cron.log (or perhaps to some other log file).



                If you want to verify if a crontab is running and not have to search for it in cron.log or syslog, create a crontab that redirects output to a log file of your choice - something like:



                01 14 * * * /home/joe/myscript >> /home/log/myscript.log 2>&1


                This will redirect all standard output and errors that may be produced by the script that is run to the log file specified.






                share|improve this answer

















                • 1




                  With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
                  – shgnInc
                  Dec 22 '13 at 8:36








                • 9




                  To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
                  – Koen.
                  Feb 13 '14 at 11:35










                • On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
                  – Scott Chu
                  Sep 17 '14 at 3:35










                • what is 2>&1 stand for ?
                  – John Joe
                  Mar 21 '17 at 2:41






                • 1




                  @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
                  – Sampo Sarrala
                  Jul 25 '17 at 12:38
















                205












                205








                205






                You can create a cron.log file to contain just the CRON entries that show up in syslog. Note that CRON jobs will still show up in syslog if you follow the following directions.



                Open the file



                /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf


                Find the line that starts with:



                #cron.*


                uncomment that line, save the file, and restart rsyslog:



                sudo service rsyslog restart


                You should now see a cron log file here:



                /var/log/cron.log


                Cron activity will now be logged to this file (in addition to syslog).



                Note that in cron.log you will see entries for when cron ran scripts in /etc/cron.hourly, cron.daily, etc. - e.g. something like:



                Apr 12 14:17:01 cd CRON[14368]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)


                However, you will not see more information about what scripts were actually ran inside /etc/cron.daily or /etc/cron.hourly, unless those scripts direct output to the cron.log (or perhaps to some other log file).



                If you want to verify if a crontab is running and not have to search for it in cron.log or syslog, create a crontab that redirects output to a log file of your choice - something like:



                01 14 * * * /home/joe/myscript >> /home/log/myscript.log 2>&1


                This will redirect all standard output and errors that may be produced by the script that is run to the log file specified.






                share|improve this answer












                You can create a cron.log file to contain just the CRON entries that show up in syslog. Note that CRON jobs will still show up in syslog if you follow the following directions.



                Open the file



                /etc/rsyslog.d/50-default.conf


                Find the line that starts with:



                #cron.*


                uncomment that line, save the file, and restart rsyslog:



                sudo service rsyslog restart


                You should now see a cron log file here:



                /var/log/cron.log


                Cron activity will now be logged to this file (in addition to syslog).



                Note that in cron.log you will see entries for when cron ran scripts in /etc/cron.hourly, cron.daily, etc. - e.g. something like:



                Apr 12 14:17:01 cd CRON[14368]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)


                However, you will not see more information about what scripts were actually ran inside /etc/cron.daily or /etc/cron.hourly, unless those scripts direct output to the cron.log (or perhaps to some other log file).



                If you want to verify if a crontab is running and not have to search for it in cron.log or syslog, create a crontab that redirects output to a log file of your choice - something like:



                01 14 * * * /home/joe/myscript >> /home/log/myscript.log 2>&1


                This will redirect all standard output and errors that may be produced by the script that is run to the log file specified.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Apr 13 '12 at 1:36









                user12345

                2,3411117




                2,3411117








                • 1




                  With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
                  – shgnInc
                  Dec 22 '13 at 8:36








                • 9




                  To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
                  – Koen.
                  Feb 13 '14 at 11:35










                • On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
                  – Scott Chu
                  Sep 17 '14 at 3:35










                • what is 2>&1 stand for ?
                  – John Joe
                  Mar 21 '17 at 2:41






                • 1




                  @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
                  – Sampo Sarrala
                  Jul 25 '17 at 12:38
















                • 1




                  With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
                  – shgnInc
                  Dec 22 '13 at 8:36








                • 9




                  To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
                  – Koen.
                  Feb 13 '14 at 11:35










                • On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
                  – Scott Chu
                  Sep 17 '14 at 3:35










                • what is 2>&1 stand for ?
                  – John Joe
                  Mar 21 '17 at 2:41






                • 1




                  @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
                  – Sampo Sarrala
                  Jul 25 '17 at 12:38










                1




                1




                With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
                – shgnInc
                Dec 22 '13 at 8:36






                With my opinion, this answer is better in future. So your syslog file is more clear.
                – shgnInc
                Dec 22 '13 at 8:36






                9




                9




                To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
                – Koen.
                Feb 13 '14 at 11:35




                To also exclude the cron log from syslog you can change the line *.*;auth,authpriv.none -/var/log/syslog to *.*;auth,authpriv.none,cron.none -/var/log/syslog.
                – Koen.
                Feb 13 '14 at 11:35












                On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
                – Scott Chu
                Sep 17 '14 at 3:35




                On our CentOS 6, cron.* defined in /etc/rsyslog.conf, whereas i's empty in rsyslog.d folder.
                – Scott Chu
                Sep 17 '14 at 3:35












                what is 2>&1 stand for ?
                – John Joe
                Mar 21 '17 at 2:41




                what is 2>&1 stand for ?
                – John Joe
                Mar 21 '17 at 2:41




                1




                1




                @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
                – Sampo Sarrala
                Jul 25 '17 at 12:38






                @JohnJoe 2>&1 is used to forward stderr to stdout, this way you'll also get stderr to log file.
                – Sampo Sarrala
                Jul 25 '17 at 12:38













                71














                Sometimes it can be useful to continuously monitor it, in that case:



                tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep CRON





                share|improve this answer

















                • 8




                  Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
                  – Momer
                  Dec 17 '14 at 22:24
















                71














                Sometimes it can be useful to continuously monitor it, in that case:



                tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep CRON





                share|improve this answer

















                • 8




                  Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
                  – Momer
                  Dec 17 '14 at 22:24














                71












                71








                71






                Sometimes it can be useful to continuously monitor it, in that case:



                tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep CRON





                share|improve this answer












                Sometimes it can be useful to continuously monitor it, in that case:



                tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep CRON






                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered May 14 '13 at 7:34









                KennyCason

                81164




                81164








                • 8




                  Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
                  – Momer
                  Dec 17 '14 at 22:24














                • 8




                  Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
                  – Momer
                  Dec 17 '14 at 22:24








                8




                8




                Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
                – Momer
                Dec 17 '14 at 22:24




                Well, you probably want to use -F, which will follow the file across name changes, so that when it gets truncated/moved to, e.g. /var/log/syslog.1.gz, you're still following the current /var/log/syslog file. Per the man docs, this is the same as running tail xxxx -f --retry
                – Momer
                Dec 17 '14 at 22:24











                26














                You can also direct the output of the individual cronjobs to their own logs for better readability, you will just need to append the output of date somewhere.



                 0 15 * * *    /home/andrew/daily-backup.sh >> /var/log/daily-backup.log 2>&1





                share|improve this answer



















                • 4




                  true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
                  – Raptor
                  Jul 24 '15 at 2:37






                • 9




                  You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
                  – Andrew Meyer
                  Jul 24 '15 at 16:04


















                26














                You can also direct the output of the individual cronjobs to their own logs for better readability, you will just need to append the output of date somewhere.



                 0 15 * * *    /home/andrew/daily-backup.sh >> /var/log/daily-backup.log 2>&1





                share|improve this answer



















                • 4




                  true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
                  – Raptor
                  Jul 24 '15 at 2:37






                • 9




                  You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
                  – Andrew Meyer
                  Jul 24 '15 at 16:04
















                26












                26








                26






                You can also direct the output of the individual cronjobs to their own logs for better readability, you will just need to append the output of date somewhere.



                 0 15 * * *    /home/andrew/daily-backup.sh >> /var/log/daily-backup.log 2>&1





                share|improve this answer














                You can also direct the output of the individual cronjobs to their own logs for better readability, you will just need to append the output of date somewhere.



                 0 15 * * *    /home/andrew/daily-backup.sh >> /var/log/daily-backup.log 2>&1






                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited Mar 31 '17 at 16:17









                Kerem Baydoğan

                1033




                1033










                answered Apr 1 '15 at 15:26









                Andrew Meyer

                66756




                66756








                • 4




                  true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
                  – Raptor
                  Jul 24 '15 at 2:37






                • 9




                  You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
                  – Andrew Meyer
                  Jul 24 '15 at 16:04
















                • 4




                  true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
                  – Raptor
                  Jul 24 '15 at 2:37






                • 9




                  You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
                  – Andrew Meyer
                  Jul 24 '15 at 16:04










                4




                4




                true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
                – Raptor
                Jul 24 '15 at 2:37




                true, but if this line fails to run due to syntax error, nothing will be written in the output log specified.
                – Raptor
                Jul 24 '15 at 2:37




                9




                9




                You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
                – Andrew Meyer
                Jul 24 '15 at 16:04






                You can solve this by appending 2>&1 after the log file is specified. It is also best practice to test your cronjobs before adding them to the crontab, and then being present for the first scheduled run to ensure that the crontab is properly formatted.
                – Andrew Meyer
                Jul 24 '15 at 16:04













                8














                This is a very old question, but none of these answers seem satisfactory.



                First make your cron job run every minute, then run cron as non-daemon (temporarily, just kill any crond that may have already started) with test logging:



                crond -nx test



                And see the log of your program execution flowing through your terminal.






                share|improve this answer

















                • 5




                  Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
                  – G-.
                  Jul 6 '17 at 9:40
















                8














                This is a very old question, but none of these answers seem satisfactory.



                First make your cron job run every minute, then run cron as non-daemon (temporarily, just kill any crond that may have already started) with test logging:



                crond -nx test



                And see the log of your program execution flowing through your terminal.






                share|improve this answer

















                • 5




                  Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
                  – G-.
                  Jul 6 '17 at 9:40














                8












                8








                8






                This is a very old question, but none of these answers seem satisfactory.



                First make your cron job run every minute, then run cron as non-daemon (temporarily, just kill any crond that may have already started) with test logging:



                crond -nx test



                And see the log of your program execution flowing through your terminal.






                share|improve this answer












                This is a very old question, but none of these answers seem satisfactory.



                First make your cron job run every minute, then run cron as non-daemon (temporarily, just kill any crond that may have already started) with test logging:



                crond -nx test



                And see the log of your program execution flowing through your terminal.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Jun 17 '16 at 17:42









                Tristan Maat

                8111




                8111








                • 5




                  Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
                  – G-.
                  Jul 6 '17 at 9:40














                • 5




                  Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
                  – G-.
                  Jul 6 '17 at 9:40








                5




                5




                Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
                – G-.
                Jul 6 '17 at 9:40




                Does not run on 14.04 - No command 'crond' found, did you mean: Command 'cron' from package 'cron' (main)
                – G-.
                Jul 6 '17 at 9:40











                6














                It is in /var/log/syslog by default.



                But it can be set up to create a separate cron.log, which is more useful.



                This Q&A describes the process:



                16.04: How do I make cron create cron.log and monitor it in real time?



                Also in this answer is the instructions to create a wcron command that displays it is near-real-time. Plus, it links to another answer,



                How to change cron log level?



                that shows how to change the log level to include more than just the start of jobs - level 15 will show errors and end time, also.






                share|improve this answer




























                  6














                  It is in /var/log/syslog by default.



                  But it can be set up to create a separate cron.log, which is more useful.



                  This Q&A describes the process:



                  16.04: How do I make cron create cron.log and monitor it in real time?



                  Also in this answer is the instructions to create a wcron command that displays it is near-real-time. Plus, it links to another answer,



                  How to change cron log level?



                  that shows how to change the log level to include more than just the start of jobs - level 15 will show errors and end time, also.






                  share|improve this answer


























                    6












                    6








                    6






                    It is in /var/log/syslog by default.



                    But it can be set up to create a separate cron.log, which is more useful.



                    This Q&A describes the process:



                    16.04: How do I make cron create cron.log and monitor it in real time?



                    Also in this answer is the instructions to create a wcron command that displays it is near-real-time. Plus, it links to another answer,



                    How to change cron log level?



                    that shows how to change the log level to include more than just the start of jobs - level 15 will show errors and end time, also.






                    share|improve this answer














                    It is in /var/log/syslog by default.



                    But it can be set up to create a separate cron.log, which is more useful.



                    This Q&A describes the process:



                    16.04: How do I make cron create cron.log and monitor it in real time?



                    Also in this answer is the instructions to create a wcron command that displays it is near-real-time. Plus, it links to another answer,



                    How to change cron log level?



                    that shows how to change the log level to include more than just the start of jobs - level 15 will show errors and end time, also.







                    share|improve this answer














                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer








                    edited Nov 4 '17 at 7:29

























                    answered Oct 22 '17 at 6:40









                    SDsolar

                    1,49941337




                    1,49941337























                        1














                        You could redirect the output of cron to a tmp file



                        Such as:
                        00 11 07 * * /bin/bash /home/ubuntu/command.sh > /tmp/output 2>&1



                        Error and normal output, both will be redirected to the same file






                        share|improve this answer


























                          1














                          You could redirect the output of cron to a tmp file



                          Such as:
                          00 11 07 * * /bin/bash /home/ubuntu/command.sh > /tmp/output 2>&1



                          Error and normal output, both will be redirected to the same file






                          share|improve this answer
























                            1












                            1








                            1






                            You could redirect the output of cron to a tmp file



                            Such as:
                            00 11 07 * * /bin/bash /home/ubuntu/command.sh > /tmp/output 2>&1



                            Error and normal output, both will be redirected to the same file






                            share|improve this answer












                            You could redirect the output of cron to a tmp file



                            Such as:
                            00 11 07 * * /bin/bash /home/ubuntu/command.sh > /tmp/output 2>&1



                            Error and normal output, both will be redirected to the same file







                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered May 7 '18 at 11:27









                            Himanshu

                            185




                            185























                                0














                                If you have systemd installed on your system, you could display cron job log by using the journalctl command.



                                For example, on my Ubuntu 17.10:



                                journalctl -u cron.service





                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.























                                  0














                                  If you have systemd installed on your system, you could display cron job log by using the journalctl command.



                                  For example, on my Ubuntu 17.10:



                                  journalctl -u cron.service





                                  share|improve this answer








                                  New contributor




                                  an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                  Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                                    0












                                    0








                                    0






                                    If you have systemd installed on your system, you could display cron job log by using the journalctl command.



                                    For example, on my Ubuntu 17.10:



                                    journalctl -u cron.service





                                    share|improve this answer








                                    New contributor




                                    an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                    If you have systemd installed on your system, you could display cron job log by using the journalctl command.



                                    For example, on my Ubuntu 17.10:



                                    journalctl -u cron.service






                                    share|improve this answer








                                    New contributor




                                    an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer






                                    New contributor




                                    an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                    answered Dec 28 '18 at 5:27









                                    an9wer

                                    1




                                    1




                                    New contributor




                                    an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





                                    New contributor





                                    an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.






                                    an9wer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.






























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