JORDAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SCIENCES
BCS207 – SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
TASK SCHEDULING
WORKING WITH CRONTAB
1. Change to a director /home/hamisi where hamisi is username
cd /home/hamisi
2. View existing content of crontab
sudo crontab -l
3. Edit content of crontab
sudo crontab -e
4. Add the following entry to be first blank line and save changes
* * * * * date >> /tmp/mydates.txt
5. View (after a minute) if the file mydates has been created using a
command
ls -alS /tmp
6. View the content of the file mydates.txt using a command
cat /tmp/mydates.txt
7. Delete the file mydates.txt using a command
rm /tmp/mydates.txt
8. Create a bash file using a command
sudo nano bash.sh
9. Add the following entries in the editor
#!/bin/bash
date >> /tmp/mydates.txt
10. Exit the editor to the terminal by pressing Ctrl+X, then press Y and then
press Enter key.
11. Open crontab (step 3 above) and add the following entry to the first blank
line and save changes
* * * * * /home/hamisi/bash.sh
12. View (after a minute) if the file mydates.txt has been created using a
command
ls -alS /tmp
13. View the content of the file mydates.txt using a command
cat /tmp/mydates.txt
14. Create a folder test under /home/hamisi/ using a command
mkdir test
15. create file under the folder test with name myletter.txt using a command
sudo touch /home/hamisi/test/myleter.txt
16. Edit the content of myletter.txt using a command
sudo nano /test/myletter.txt
17. Add the following content into the file myletter.txt
To My Uncle,
How are you doing. This is to let you know that, I am doing well
with my studies. Last semester I got a semester gpa of 4.6 out of
five. I am planning to do well in this semester and get more than
this. Thank you for your continued support
Regards
Hamisi
18. Exit the editor to the terminal by pressing Ctrl+X, then press Y and then
press Enter key.
19. Edit your bash.sh file by writing the following entries (do not delete the
existing contents)
tar -czf /tmp/mybackup.tar.gz /home/hamisi/test
20. View (after a minute) if the file mybackup.tar.gz has been created using a
command
ls -alS /tmp
21. Edit your bash.sh file by writing the following entries (do not delete the
existing contents)
tar -zcf /tmp/mybackup_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz
/home/churi/test
22. Exit the editor to the terminal by pressing Ctrl+X, then press Y and then
press Enter key.
23. View (after a minute) if the file mybackup<date_time>.tar.gz has been
created using a command
ls -alS /tmp
24. View (after a minute) if another file mybackup<date_time>.tar.gz has
been created using a command
ls -alS /tmp
Ensure you understand what does the commands do used in this guide
