using batch process to edit live crontab 2

[jgrogan]

Hi

Is it possible to 'script' an edit (i.e. batch edit) an existing crontab? If so, how would I go about it?

I am effectively asking if 'crontab -e' is scriptable, using sed-like syntax to edit a line (to add a '#' to a scheduled command in the crontab) to stop execution of that command.

Thanks
JG

 

[p5wizard]

[tt]crontab -l >/tmp/safekeep
crontab -l >/tmp/whatever
edit /tmp/whatever
crontab /tmp/whatever[/tt]

but I'd experiment with a test user's crontab before going live on a system crontab file...


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[Annihilannic]

I use ex to do scripted crontab edits, e.g. to disable the cron job containing the string "badjob":

[tt]$ echo '/badjob/s/^/#/
wq' | EDITOR=ex crontab -e[/tt]

Annihilannic.

 

[quirkasaurus]

my answer would be not to mess with cron, but
to create a go/no-go file somewhere on the system
where the cron-job first looks before it executes.

or put the decision to run/not-run in the script itself or
a wrapper script.

no reason to get fancy here.

 

[Annihilannic]

When you need to make the same edit to crontabs on 400 systems sometimes getting fancy is worth the effort.

Annihilannic.