Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 22:34:46 +0100 From: Ben Smithurst <ben@FreeBSD.org> To: doc@FreeBSD.org Subject: FAQ: "root: not found" messages from cron Message-ID: <20000719223446.D75784@strontium.scientia.demon.co.uk>
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--sXc4Kmr5FA7axrvy Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This is another question I've seen once too often... Does anyone have any objections to my proposed answer? Index: book.sgml =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D RCS file: /usr/cvs/doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.75 diff -u -r1.75 book.sgml --- book.sgml 2000/07/19 17:24:48 1.75 +++ book.sgml 2000/07/19 21:31:02 @@ -4317,6 +4317,44 @@ =20 </answer></qandaentry> =20 + <qandaentry> + <question> + <para>Why do I keep getting messages like <quote>root: not + found</quote> after editing my crontab file?</para> + </question> + + <answer> + <para>This is normally caused by editing the system crontab + (<filename>/etc/crontab</filename>) and then using + &man.crontab.1; to install it:</para> + + <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>crontab /etc/crontab</userinput= ></screen> + + <para>This is not the correct way to do things. The system + crontab has a different format to the per-user crontabs + which &man.crontab.1; updates (the &man.crontab.5; manual + page explains the differences in more detail).</para> + + <para>If this is what you did, you should delete the + <filename>/var/cron/tabs/root</filename>, since it will + simply be a copy of <filename>/etc/crontab</filename>, + in the wrong format. Next time, when you edit + <filename>/etc/crontab</filename>, you should not do + anything to inform &man.cron.8; of the changes, since it + will notice them automatically.</para> + + <para>The actual reason for the error is that the system + crontab has an extra field, specifying which user to run the + command as. In the default system crontab provided with + FreeBSD, this is <username>root</username> for all entries. + When this crontab is used as the <username>root</username> + user's crontab (which is <emphasis>not</emphasis> the + same as the system crontab), &man.cron.8; assumes the string + <literal>root</literal> is the first word of the command to + execute, but no such command exists.</para> + </answer> + </qandaentry> + <qandaentry><question> <para>How do I mount a secondary DOS partition?</para></question><answer> =20 --=20 Ben Smithurst / ben@FreeBSD.org / PGP: 0x99392F7D FreeBSD Documentation Project / --sXc4Kmr5FA7axrvy Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 5.0i for non-commercial use MessageID: QRGgHCIx+gkIBcHY0rve3+eZHZh4I9Sb iQCVAwUBOXYe9isPVtiZOS99AQFSlgP/SuCgKDecSQEQa/TlaIAyGj2/qbBRuVkK 9esX2qRq+RJ3odb7XC/YlvE/wiLBpnJOclKSfsWDJ8X0cxmSDsNpJO2B2OCYWvOn zGDWiu95NjXRlAlZYPdTg7rhv6XTEuRx2x1lnmW/yWtFRfekYJoC5XI0180Z/for NhZg2wMSlIo= =ma/p -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --sXc4Kmr5FA7axrvy-- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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