source: general/sysutils/fcron.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
  %general-entities;

  <!ENTITY fcron-download-http "http://fcron.free.fr/archives/fcron-&fcron-version;.src.tar.gz">
  <!ENTITY fcron-download-ftp " ">
  <!ENTITY fcron-md5sum "bd4996e941a40327d11efc5e3fd1f839">
  <!ENTITY fcron-size "587 KB">
  <!ENTITY fcron-buildsize "5.1 MB">
  <!ENTITY fcron-time "0.1 SBU">
]>

<sect1 id="fcron" xreflabel="Fcron-&fcron-version;">
  <?dbhtml filename="fcron.html"?>


  <title>Fcron-&fcron-version;</title>

  <indexterm zone="fcron">
    <primary sortas="a-Fcron">Fcron</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <sect2 role="package">
    <title>Introduction to Fcron</title>

    <para>
      The <application>Fcron</application> package contains a periodical
      command scheduler which aims at replacing <application>Vixie
      Cron</application>.
    </para>

    &lfs121_checked;

    <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Package Information</bridgehead>
    <itemizedlist spacing="compact">
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download (HTTP): <ulink url="&fcron-download-http;"/>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download (FTP): <ulink url="&fcron-download-ftp;"/>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download MD5 sum: &fcron-md5sum;
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Download size: &fcron-size;
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Estimated disk space required: &fcron-buildsize;
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Estimated build time: &fcron-time;
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
<!--
    <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Additional Downloads</bridgehead>
    <itemizedlist spacing="compact">
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Required patch:
          <ulink url="&patch-root;/fcron-&fcron-version;-sendmail_upstream-1.patch"/>
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
-->
    <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Fcron Dependencies</bridgehead>

    <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Optional</bridgehead>
    <para role="optional">
      An <xref linkend="server-mail"/>,
      <ulink url="../postlfs/editors.html">text editor</ulink> (default is
      <command>vi</command> from the <xref linkend="vim"/> package),
      <xref linkend="linux-pam"/>, and
      <xref linkend="docbook-utils"/>
    </para>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="installation">
    <title>Installation of Fcron</title>

    <para id="fcron-syslog" revision="sysv">
      <application>Fcron</application>
      uses the cron facility of <command>syslog</command> to log all messages.
      Since LFS does not set up this facility in
      <filename>/etc/syslog.conf</filename>, it needs to be done prior to
      installing <application>Fcron</application>. This command will append the
      necessary line to the current <filename>/etc/syslog.conf</filename>
      (perform as the <systemitem class='username'>root</systemitem> user):
    </para>

    <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-syslog" revision="sysv">
      <primary sortas="e-etc-syslog.conf">/etc/syslog.conf</primary>
    </indexterm>

<screen role="root" revision="sysv"><userinput>cat &gt;&gt; /etc/syslog.conf &lt;&lt; "EOF"
<literal># Begin fcron addition to /etc/syslog.conf

cron.* -/var/log/cron.log

# End fcron addition</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

    <para revision="sysv">
      The configuration file has been modified, so reloading the
      <command>sysklogd</command> daemon will activate the changes (again as
      the <systemitem class='username'>root</systemitem> user).
    </para>

<screen role="root" revision="sysv"><userinput>/etc/rc.d/init.d/sysklogd reload</userinput></screen>

    <para>
      For security reasons, an unprivileged user and group for
      <application>Fcron</application> should be created (perform as the
      <systemitem class='username'>root</systemitem> user):
    </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>groupadd -g 22 fcron &amp;&amp;
useradd -d /dev/null -c "Fcron User" -g fcron -s /bin/false -u 22 fcron</userinput></screen>

    <para>
      Now fix some locations hard coded in the documentation:
    </para>

<screen><userinput>find doc -type f -exec sed -i 's:/usr/local::g' {} \;</userinput></screen>
    <para>
      Install <application>Fcron</application> by running the following
      commands:
    </para>

<screen revision="sysv"><userinput>./configure --prefix=/usr          \
            --sysconfdir=/etc      \
            --localstatedir=/var   \
            --without-sendmail     \
            --with-boot-install=no \
            --with-systemdsystemunitdir=no &amp;&amp;
make</userinput></screen>

<screen revision="systemd"><userinput>./configure --prefix=/usr          \
            --sysconfdir=/etc      \
            --localstatedir=/var   \
            --without-sendmail     \
            --with-piddir=/run     \
            --with-boot-install=no &amp;&amp;
make</userinput></screen>

    <para>
      This package does not come with a test suite.
    </para>

    <para>
      Now, as the <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> user:
    </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>make install</userinput></screen>

    <para>
      DESTDIR install must be done as <systemitem
      class="username">root</systemitem> user. Furthermore, if PAM
      configuration files should be installed in <filename class="directory">
      /etc/pam.d</filename>, you have to create this directory in the
      DESTDIR before doing the install.
    </para>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="commands">
    <title>Command Explanations</title>
<!--
    <para>
      <command>autoconf</command>: This command is required to rebuild
      <filename>configure</filename> using the fixed input file.
    </para>-->

    <para>
      <parameter>--without-sendmail</parameter>: By default,
      <application>Fcron</application> will attempt to use the
      <command>sendmail</command> command from an <xref linkend="server-mail"/>
      package to email you the results of the <command>fcron</command> script.
      This switch is used to disable default email notification. Omit the
      switch to enable the default. Alternatively, you can use the
      <option>--with-sendmail=<replaceable>&lt;/path/to/MTA
      command&gt;</replaceable></option> to use a different mailer command.
    </para>

    <para>
      <parameter>--with-boot-install=no</parameter>: This prevents
      installation of the bootscript included with the package.
    </para>

    <para revision="systemd">
      <parameter>--with-piddir=/run</parameter>:
      This fixes the systemd unit to use the proper directory for PID files so
      that systemctl does not hang and the unit starts correctly.
    </para>

    <para revision="sysv">
      <parameter>--with-systemdsystemunitdir=no</parameter>:
      This prevents building the <application>systemd</application> units,
      which are not needed for a <application>SYS V</application> system.
    </para>

    <para>
      <option>--with-editor=<replaceable>&lt;/path/to/editor&gt;</replaceable></option>:
      This switch allows you to set the default text editor.
    </para>

    <para>
      <option>--with-dsssl-dir=<replaceable>&lt;/path/to/dsssl-stylesheets&gt;</replaceable></option>:
      May be used if you have <xref linkend="docbook-utils"/> installed.
      Currently, the dsssl stylesheets are located at
    <filename class="directory">/usr/share/sgml/docbook/dsssl-stylesheets-1.79</filename>.
    </para>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="configuration">
    <title>Configuring Fcron</title>

    <sect3 id="fcron-config">
      <title>Config Files</title>

      <para>
        <filename>/etc/fcron.conf</filename>,
        <filename>/etc/fcron.allow</filename>, and
        <filename>/etc/fcron.deny</filename>
      </para>

      <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-config">
        <primary sortas="e-etc-fcron.conf">/etc/fcron.conf</primary>
      </indexterm>

      <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-config">
        <primary sortas="e-etc-fcron.allow">/etc/fcron.allow</primary>
      </indexterm>

      <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-config">
        <primary sortas="e-etc-fcron.deny">/etc/fcron.deny</primary>
      </indexterm>

    </sect3>

    <sect3 id="run-parts" xreflabel="Fcron Configuration Information">
      <title>Configuration Information</title>

      <para>
        There are no required changes in any of the config files.
        Configuration information can be found in the man page for
        <filename>fcron.conf</filename>.
      </para>

      <para>
        <command>fcron</command> scripts are written using
        <command>fcrontab</command>. Refer to the <command>fcrontab</command>
        man page for proper parameters to address your situation.
      </para>

      <para id="fcron-pam">
        If <application>Linux-PAM</application> is installed, two PAM
        configuration files are installed in <filename class='directory'>
        etc/pam.d</filename>. Alternatively if <filename class='directory'>
        etc/pam.d</filename> is not used, the installation will append two
        configuration sections to the existing <filename>/etc/pam.conf
        </filename> file. You should ensure the files match your preferences.
        Modify them as required to suit your needs.
      </para>

      <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-pam">
        <primary sortas="e-etc-pam.d">/etc/pam.d/*</primary>
      </indexterm>

      <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-pam">
        <primary sortas="e-etc-pam.conf">/etc/pam.conf</primary>
      </indexterm>

      <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Periodic Jobs</bridgehead>

      <para>
        If you would like to set up a periodic hierarchy for the root user,
        first issue the following commands (as the
        <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> user) to create the
        <filename>/usr/bin/run-parts</filename> script:
      </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>cat &gt; /usr/bin/run-parts &lt;&lt; "EOF" &amp;&amp;
<literal>#!/bin/sh
# run-parts:  Runs all the scripts found in a directory.
# from Slackware, by Patrick J. Volkerding with ideas borrowed
# from the Red Hat and Debian versions of this utility.

# keep going when something fails
set +e

if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
  echo "Usage: run-parts &lt;directory&gt;"
  exit 1
fi

if [ ! -d $1 ]; then
  echo "Not a directory: $1"
  echo "Usage: run-parts &lt;directory&gt;"
  exit 1
fi

# There are several types of files that we would like to
# ignore automatically, as they are likely to be backups
# of other scripts:
IGNORE_SUFFIXES="~ ^ , .bak .new .rpmsave .rpmorig .rpmnew .swp"

# Main loop:
for SCRIPT in $1/* ; do
  # If this is not a regular file, skip it:
  if [ ! -f $SCRIPT ]; then
    continue
  fi
  # Determine if this file should be skipped by suffix:
  SKIP=false
  for SUFFIX in $IGNORE_SUFFIXES ; do
    if [ ! "$(basename $SCRIPT $SUFFIX)" = "$(basename $SCRIPT)" ]; then
      SKIP=true
      break
    fi
  done
  if [ "$SKIP" = "true" ]; then
    continue
  fi
  # If we've made it this far, then run the script if it's executable:
  if [ -x $SCRIPT ]; then
    $SCRIPT || echo "$SCRIPT failed."
  fi
done

exit 0</literal>
EOF
chmod -v 755 /usr/bin/run-parts</userinput></screen>

      <para>
        Next, create the directory layout for the periodic jobs (again as the
        <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> user):
      </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>install -vdm754 /etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly}</userinput></screen>

      <para>
        Finally, add the <command>run-parts</command> to the system fcrontab
        (while still the <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem> user):
      </para>

<screen role="root"><userinput>cat &gt; /var/spool/fcron/systab.orig &lt;&lt; "EOF"
<literal>&amp;bootrun 01 * * * * root run-parts /etc/cron.hourly
&amp;bootrun 02 4 * * * root run-parts /etc/cron.daily
&amp;bootrun 22 4 * * 0 root run-parts /etc/cron.weekly
&amp;bootrun 42 4 1 * * root run-parts /etc/cron.monthly</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

    </sect3>

    <sect3  id="fcron-init">
      <title><phrase revision="sysv">Boot Script</phrase>
             <phrase revision="systemd">Systemd Unit</phrase></title>

      <para revision="sysv">
        Install the
        <filename>/etc/rc.d/init.d/fcron</filename> init script from the
        <xref linkend="bootscripts"/> package.
      </para>

      <para revision="systemd">
        Enable <application>fcron</application> to start
        at boot using the previously installed systemd unit.
      </para>

      <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-init">
        <primary sortas="f-fcron">fcron</primary>
      </indexterm>

<screen role="root" revision="sysv"><userinput>make install-fcron</userinput></screen>

<screen role="root" revision="systemd"><userinput>systemctl enable fcron</userinput></screen>

      <para>
        Finally, again as the <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>
        user, start fcron and generate the
        <filename>/var/spool/fcron/systab</filename> file:
      </para>

<screen role="root" revision="sysv"><userinput>/etc/rc.d/init.d/fcron start &amp;&amp;
fcrontab -z -u systab</userinput></screen>

<screen role="root" revision="systemd"><userinput>systemctl start fcron &amp;&amp;
fcrontab -z -u systab</userinput></screen>
    </sect3>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="content">
    <title>Contents</title>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>Installed Programs</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed Libraries</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed Directories</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>fcron, fcrondyn, fcronsighup, and fcrontab</seg>
        <seg>None</seg>
        <seg>/usr/share/doc/fcron-&fcron-version; and /var/spool/fcron</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

    <variablelist>
      <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
      <?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>
      <?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?>

      <varlistentry id="fcron-prog">
        <term><command>fcron</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is the scheduling daemon
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="fcron fcron-prog">
            <primary sortas="b-fcron">fcron</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="fcrondyn">
        <term><command>fcrondyn</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is a user tool intended to interact with a running
            <command>fcron</command> daemon
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="fcron fcrondyn">
            <primary sortas="b-fcrondyn">fcrondyn</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="fcronsighup">
        <term><command>fcronsighup</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            instructs <command>fcron</command> to reread the
            <application>Fcron</application> tables
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="fcron fcronsighup">
            <primary sortas="b-fcronsighup">fcronsighup</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="fcrontab">
        <term><command>fcrontab</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            is a program used to install, edit, list and remove the
            tables used by <command>fcron</command>
          </para>
          <indexterm zone="fcron fcrontab">
            <primary sortas="b-fcrontab">fcrontab</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </sect2>

</sect1>