Ubuntu Crontab error

Question

I want to list files at 12h01. How can I set my crontab to do this?

pedro@Pedro-PC:~/PL/trab4$ crontab -l
# 01 12 * * * ls -l

Answer 1

Try putting the

ls -l

command into a small bash script .... name the file listfiles for an example

The put listfiles in somewhere like /usr/bin

make listfiles executable with

sudo chmod +x listfiles

then change your crontab to

01 12 * * * /usr/bin/listfiles

Answer 2

You can also (which I prefer for smaller commands) do what you did at first, but with the full path to the ls binary. Crontab runs with a smaller $PATH than you do, which is why we give the full path to ls.

ie:

01 12 * * * /bin/ls /home/user/

You can get the path to your binary with

which ls

Answer 3

As I stated in your other question, errors and warnings from cron and at can be viewed in your local mail.

And your cronjob is wrong, it should be something like:

01 12 * * * ls -l [somedir] > [some file with results]

[somedir] is the directory you are trying to list.

[some file with results] is a path to the file that will store your result.