From owner-freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Mon Jun 27 11:26:00 2016 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 88F97B815A2 for ; Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:26:00 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bugzilla-noreply@freebsd.org) Received: from kenobi.freebsd.org (kenobi.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::16:76]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5EF662BCF for ; Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:26:00 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bugzilla-noreply@freebsd.org) Received: from bugs.freebsd.org ([127.0.1.118]) by kenobi.freebsd.org (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTP id u5RBQ070036721 for ; Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:26:00 GMT (envelope-from bugzilla-noreply@freebsd.org) From: bugzilla-noreply@freebsd.org To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org Subject: [Bug 210621] poor "system crontab" documentation Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:26:00 +0000 X-Bugzilla-Reason: AssignedTo X-Bugzilla-Type: new X-Bugzilla-Watch-Reason: None X-Bugzilla-Product: Documentation X-Bugzilla-Component: Documentation X-Bugzilla-Version: Latest X-Bugzilla-Keywords: X-Bugzilla-Severity: Affects Only Me X-Bugzilla-Who: freebsd-bugzilla@ayaken.net X-Bugzilla-Status: New X-Bugzilla-Resolution: X-Bugzilla-Priority: --- X-Bugzilla-Assigned-To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org X-Bugzilla-Flags: X-Bugzilla-Changed-Fields: bug_id short_desc product version rep_platform op_sys bug_status bug_severity priority component assigned_to reporter Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Bugzilla-URL: https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/ Auto-Submitted: auto-generated MIME-Version: 1.0 X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.22 Precedence: list List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:26:00 -0000 https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=3D210621 Bug ID: 210621 Summary: poor "system crontab" documentation Product: Documentation Version: Latest Hardware: Any OS: Any Status: New Severity: Affects Only Me Priority: --- Component: Documentation Assignee: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org Reporter: freebsd-bugzilla@ayaken.net cron(8) mentions: "The cron utility also searches for /etc/crontab which is= in a different format (see crontab(5))" crontab(5) then mentions, somewhere hidden inside the wall of text, the specifics of the different format: "Each line has five time and date fields, followed by a user name (with optional ``:'' and ``/'' suffixes) if this is the system crontab file, followed by a command." So the specifics of the format of /etc/crontab are mentioned in a subclause= in the middle of crontab(5). What this extra field _does_ is not specified (one would assume it's being used to su to the user, but there's no mention of w= hat effect either :group, nor /login-class would do on top of the user's native group or login class). I suggest moving the specifics of /etc/crontab's format into an own paragra= ph, complete with paragraph header so that when glancing over crontab(5) one wi= ll find it easily and quickly, along with _detailed_ information about what th= is extra field does, also in conjunction with cron(8)'s flags, see below. cron(8) mentions: "-J rootjitter Enable time jitter for superuser jobs. The same as -j except that it will affect jobs run by the superuser only." - Does this apply to the "system crontab" only? Or to the root's USER cront= ab only? Or to any *tab* run by root (i.e., /etc/crontab, root's crontab, toor= 's crontab, and any other uid=3D0 user's crontab?) What about the aforemention= ed sixth-user-name-field jobs in /etc/crontab? Does it apply -j or -J? I suggest properly documenting this in cron(8), with a reminder in crontab(= 5). /etc/crontab mentions: "/etc/crontab - root's crontab for FreeBSD". Well, i= t is NOT root's crontab. (A) It has support for a special field that users' cron= tabs don't, (B) root's "crontab -e" will NOT pull up /etc/crontab, but root's own crontab. I suggest s/root's/system/;s/D/D - cf. crontab(5)/ --=20 You are receiving this mail because: You are the assignee for the bug.=