# crontabs outside /var/spool/crontabs with SysV cron **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Developer\ **Created:** [August 7, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/crontabs-outside-var-spool-crontabs-with-sysv-cron/18969 "2015-08-07T17:39:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nate\_Coraor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nate\_Coraor](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Nate_Coraor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/crontabs-outside-var-spool-crontabs-with-sysv-cron/18969/1 "2015-08-07T17:39:44Z")
SysV cron (as found on e.g. Solaris and derivatives) works a bit differently than vixie/ISC cron in regards to crontabs other than a user’s self-modifiable crontab. Rather than reading /etc/cron.d/\* and merging them into a system crontab (where the time spec must be followed by a username), a directory exists at /etc/cron.d/crontabs where crontabs named for a user can be placed by an admin, and those jobs will be run as the named user. You can actually create these per-user system crontabs on SysV systems using the cron module like: `cron: cron_file="crontabs/" ...` but unfortunately the cron module makes the assumption that if you are using the `cron_file` param, the file should be in the ` ` format, whereas in SysV cron, these per-user system crontabs should be in the ` ` format. I’m happy to provide a PR implementing a fix for this, but I need to know what the preferred implementation would be. Here are a few ideas: - Add a new boolean to `cron` like `include_user` controlling the inclusion of the user field, that defaults to an automatic value based on the use of `cron_file` but can be forced on or off. - Check if `(ansible_os_family == 'Solaris' and cron_file.startswith('crontabs/'))` and don’t include the username field if true. - Add a new boolean to `cron` like `use_system_dir` that, if set, in the absence of the `cron_files` param, will edit files in `/etc/cron.d/crontabs/`. And finally, I think I like this one best because it’s the cleanest and most broadly applicable: - Add a new param to `cron` like `spool_dir` that, if set to a directory, overrides /etc/cron.d as the directory in which crontabs will be created, AND: - If cron\_file is set, create the file as `/` and use the ` ` format - If cron\_file is unset, create the file as `/` and use the ` ` format. Thanks, –nate ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/crontabs-outside-var-spool-crontabs-with-sysv-cron/18969/2 "2015-08-07T17:47:43Z")
Even on vixie/isc modified crons you can still have 'user crons', normally in /vars/spool/crontabs, so this would be useful for all implementations, i believe a 'user\_cron=yes/no(default) might be the simplest way to signify this. Most crons I've used will just pass it to crontab -u \ and create the file in the appropriate directory, w/o need of specifying it (my Solaris is VERY rusty, so I do not recall if the option is the same there). ---
**Author:** ![Nate\_Coraor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nate\_Coraor](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Nate_Coraor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/crontabs-outside-var-spool-crontabs-with-sysv-cron/18969/3 "2015-08-07T18:07:39Z")
Hey Brian, Omitting `cron_file` on Solaris already correctly does what you’re describing, it uses the crontab command to modify the user’s crontab in /var/spool/cron/crontabs (both vixie and SysV cron store them in this directory). I’m trying to accomplish something slightly different. The /etc/cron.d/crontabs user crontabs are named per-user like /var/spool/cron/crontabs, but differ in that they are owned by root and not user-modifiable. They are edited by hand, not with the crontab command. This user immutability the same reason I use `cron_file` on Linux to create cron jobs (so they can’t be modified by the user for which I’m creating them). The problem is that unlike vixie cron’s `/etc/cron.d/*`, SysV cron doesn’t have any other way to create crontabs that the user can’t modify (other than the monolithic /etc/crontab, which vixie cron also has). –nate ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/crontabs-outside-var-spool-crontabs-with-sysv-cron/18969/4 "2015-08-07T18:15:53Z")
ah, sorry for the confusion, still this seems like a useful addition. ---
**Author:** ![Nate\_Coraor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@Nate\_Coraor](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Nate_Coraor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/crontabs-outside-var-spool-crontabs-with-sysv-cron/18969/5 "2015-08-07T18:18:56Z")
I’m a little confused. The current default behavior without cron\_file set is to do what user\_cron=yes would do. I am not sure what the desired action would be if user\_cron=no? It seems to overlap with cron\_file unless I misunderstand what user\_cron should do.