I added this line to the end of /etc/crontab file:
* * * * * cp /etc /backups -R > /dev/null && tar -Jcf /backups/etc-`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S`.tar.xz /backups/etc > /dev/null && rm -rf /backups/etc > /dev/null
and then I restarted the crond service with systemctl restart crond command
but didn’t work
It worked when I run this command cp /etc /backups -R > /dev/n...... in terminal
And my mailx for root is empty.
Could anyone tell me whats wrong with my configuration? Thank you very much!!!
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Answer
/etc/crontab is not an ordinary crontab file; it’s a system crontab file. Each line has the usual 5 fields specifying the schedule, then a 6th field specifying the account. With the line you show in /etc/crontab, it will attempt to run the command as user cp.
If you’re using the Vixie cron implementation (you probably are), run man 5 crontab and search for “EXAMPLE SYSTEM CRON FILE“.
I recommend not touching /etc/crontab. Rather use the crontab command to create a user crontab for whichever account you want. Run crontab as root if the command begin run needs root access.