Editing crontab (crontab -e) in Linux CLI - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Editing crontab (crontab -e)

📖 Scenario: You are managing a Linux server and want to automate a simple task that runs every day at a specific time.

🎯 Goal: You will create a crontab entry that runs a command every day at 7:30 AM.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a crontab file with a specific scheduled task

Use the correct crontab time format for 7:30 AM daily

Include a simple command like echo 'Backup started'

Save and verify the crontab entry

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

System administrators use crontab to automate routine tasks like backups, updates, and notifications.

💼 Career

Knowing how to schedule tasks with crontab is essential for Linux system administration and automation roles.

1

Create a crontab file with a scheduled task

Create a file called mycron with one line that schedules a command to run every day at 7:30 AM. The line should start with 30 7.

Linux CLI

# Create a file named mycron with the line starting with '30 7'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The crontab time format is minute hour day month weekday. For 7:30 AM daily, use 30 7 * * *.

2

Load the crontab file into your user crontab

Use the command crontab mycron to load the scheduled task from the mycron file into your crontab.

Linux CLI

echo "30 7 * * * echo 'Backup started'" > mycron
# Load the mycron file into crontab
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The crontab command with a filename loads that file as your crontab.

3

Verify the crontab entry

Use the command crontab -l to list your current crontab entries and confirm the scheduled task is present.

Linux CLI

echo "30 7 * * * echo 'Backup started'" > mycron
crontab mycron
# List current crontab entries
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The crontab -l command shows your current crontab entries.

4

Show the crontab entry output

Run crontab -l and ensure the output shows the line 30 7 * * * echo 'Backup started' exactly.

Linux CLI

# Run crontab -l to show the scheduled task
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The output should exactly match the scheduled task line you created.