Linux: List / Display All Cron Jobs

How do I view currently setup or all running cron jobs under a Linux or Unix-like operating systems?

The cron service searches its spool area (usually /var/spool/cron/crontabs) for crontab files (which are named after user accounts); crontabs found are loaded into memory. cron also reads /etc/crontab, which is in a slightly different format. Additionally, cron reads the files in /etc/cron.d: it treats the files in /etc/cron.d as in the same way as the /etc/crontab file. The intended purpose of /etc/cron.d/ directory feature is to allow packages that require finer control of their scheduling than the /etc/cron.{daily,weekly,monthly} directories to add a crontab file to /etc/cron.d.

View Users Cronjob

Use the following syntax to view vivek users cronjob:

crontab -u userName -l
crontab -u vivek -l

View Root User Cronjob

Just type the following command:

crontab -l

View /etc/crontab

A cronjob can be also run from /etc/crontab file. To view it, enter:
# less /etc/crontab

View Daily Cronjob

Type the following commands:

cd /etc/cron.daily/
ls -l
cat filename

View Hourly Cronjobs

Type the following commands:

cd /etc/cron.hourly/
ls -l
cat filename

View Weekly Cronjobs

Type the following commands:

cd /etc/cron.weekly/
ls -l
cat filename

View Monthly Cronjobs

Type the following commands:

cd /etc/cron.monthly/
ls -l
cat filename

View Software (Package) Specific Cronjobs

Type the following commands

cd /etc/cron.d/
ls -l
cat filename

This entry is 5 of 15 in the Linux Cron Jobs Howto & Tutorial series. Keep reading the rest of the series:

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

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10 comment

Thank you for a very good summary. If a cron task is required to be executed on a schedule other than hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly, it can be added to the /etc/cron.d/ directory.

view crontab from all users:

cat /var/spool/cron/*

crontab -l just lists the jobs for the user who ran the command.

So, to view root’s jobs, you’d either need to be logged in as root or run it with sudo.

There is also very handy script to view all users crontabs:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/134906/how-do-i-list-all-cron-jobs-for-all-users

How do we check running cronjob process.
I guess, its from ps -ef | grep file.sh

or any other suggestion.

abhijit says:
September 10, 2014 at 6:01 am
To check running cronjob process use:crontab -l

To list all user’s crobtab:

for user in $(cut -f1 -d: /etc/passwd); do crontab -u $user -l; done

How does one check the “version” of cron running? How can one know if their cron is a “vixie-style” crontab or not?

Try the following:

## debian/ubuntu, see version and man page for syntax ##
 dpkg -p cron
 man cron
## RHEL/CentOS specific info ##
 yum info cronie
 man crond
## See man page

I do this task manually
./getConfig ‘indirect’ ‘./(Command task)’ ‘./(Credential.csv’ ‘/usr/cronout/’ (standalone server)
in command task there is a “cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config” but I saw blank sshd_config even though I can see details about sshd_config when I run those task manually. Can you help me?

tworzenie oprogramowania says:
October 17, 2012 at 6:02 am
Thank you for a very good summary. If a cron task is required to be executed on a schedule other than hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly, it can be added to the /etc/cron.d/ directory.
Toxic says:
November 13, 2012 at 11:33 pm
view crontab from all users:
cat /var/spool/cron/*
weethomas says:
February 19, 2014 at 6:37 pm
crontab -l just lists the jobs for the user who ran the command.
So, to view root’s jobs, you’d either need to be logged in as root or run it with sudo.
Dovryak says:
June 18, 2014 at 12:10 pm
There is also very handy script to view all users crontabs:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/134906/how-do-i-list-all-cron-jobs-for-all-users
M.Pasha says:
June 20, 2014 at 7:28 am
How do we check running cronjob process.
I guess, its from ps -ef | grep file.sh
or any other suggestion.
1. abhijit says:
  September 10, 2014 at 6:01 am
  To check running cronjob process use:crontab -l
Daniel says:
October 22, 2014 at 3:41 pm
To list all user’s crobtab:
for user in $(cut -f1 -d: /etc/passwd); do crontab -u $user -l; done
Mel says:
March 22, 2015 at 9:40 pm
How does one check the “version” of cron running? How can one know if their cron is a “vixie-style” crontab or not?
1. nixCraft says:
  March 23, 2015 at 9:57 am
  Try the following:
```
## debian/ubuntu, see version and man page for syntax ##
 dpkg -p cron
 man cron
## RHEL/CentOS specific info ##
 yum info cronie
 man crond
## See man page
```
ade says:
January 17, 2017 at 7:28 am
I do this task manually
./getConfig ‘indirect’ ‘./(Command task)’ ‘./(Credential.csv’ ‘/usr/cronout/’ (standalone server)
in command task there is a “cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config” but I saw blank sshd_config even though I can see details about sshd_config when I run those task manually. Can you help me?

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