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Linux tip: Job scheduling with cron and at

Here’s a good article on the in’s and out’s of using cron, anacron, and at to schedule events on Linux / Unix / Mac.

Always good for a little brush-up.

Many administrative tasks must be done frequently and regularly on a Linux system. These include rotating log files so filesystems do not become full, backing up data, and connecting to a time server to keep your system time synchronized. See the full tutorial mentioned above for more about these administrative tasks. In this tip, you learn about the scheduling facilities available in Linux using the cron and anacron facilities and the crontab and at commands. Even if your system sleeps or is turned off, anacron can help it catch up the next time it is awake.