What means "*/5" in crontab file?

In the crontab I found some repetition values with a slash like

*/5

or

*/4

What does that mean e.g. in the second (=hpur) column?

Every 4 hours? Or 4 times per hour?

Wolfgang

[email]wmeister@hotmail.com[/email] (Wolfgang Meister) writes:[color=blue]
> In the crontab I found some repetition values with a slash like
>
> */5
>
> or
>
> */4
>
> What does that mean e.g. in the second (=hpur) column?
>
> Every 4 hours? Or 4 times per hour?[/color]

"man 5 crontab" explains this.

Be aware that not all versions of crontab support this syntax.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) [email]kst-u@mib.org[/email] <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Nokia
"We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this."
-- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"

Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> writes:
[color=blue]
>wmeister@hotmail.com (Wolfgang Meister) writes:[color=green]
>> In the crontab I found some repetition values with a slash like
>>
>> */5
>>
>> or
>>
>> */4
>>
>> What does that mean e.g. in the second (=hpur) column?[/color][/color]

It means every 4 hours.
[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>> Every 4 hours? Or 4 times per hour?[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
>"man 5 crontab" explains this.[/color]
[color=blue]
>Be aware that not all versions of crontab support this syntax.[/color]
[color=blue]
>--
>Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) [email]kst-u@mib.org[/email] <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
>Nokia
>"We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this."
> -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"[/color]

In article <lnfxrxc532.fsf@nuthaus.mib.org>,
Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> wrote:[color=blue]
>wmeister@hotmail.com (Wolfgang Meister) writes:[color=green]
>> In the crontab I found some repetition values with a slash like
>>
>> */5
>>
>> or
>>
>> */4
>>
>> What does that mean e.g. in the second (=hpur) column?
>>
>> Every 4 hours? Or 4 times per hour?[/color]
>
>"man 5 crontab" explains this.
>
>Be aware that not all versions of crontab support this syntax.[/color]

Good point. In fact, the version of crontab that I just wrote 15
minutes ago doesn't support this syntax (or much of any syntax, now that
I think about it...)

Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> writes:[color=blue]
> [email]wmeister@hotmail.com[/email] (Wolfgang Meister) writes:[color=green]
>> In the crontab I found some repetition values with a slash like
>>
>> */5
>>
>> or
>>
>> */4
>>
>> What does that mean e.g. in the second (=hpur) column?
>>
>> Every 4 hours? Or 4 times per hour?[/color]
>
> "man 5 crontab" explains this.
>
> Be aware that not all versions of crontab support this syntax.[/color]

In particular, I think this feature is unique to the Paul Vixie's cron
implementation. Most Linux and *BSD systems use it, but other Unix
systems such as Solaris typically do not.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) [email]kst-u@mib.org[/email] <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Nokia
"We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this."
-- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"

In article <lnlk1na66b.fsf@nuthaus.mib.org>,
Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> writes:[color=green]
> > [email]wmeister@hotmail.com[/email] (Wolfgang Meister) writes:[color=darkred]
> >> In the crontab I found some repetition values with a slash like
> >>
> >> */5
> >>
> >> or
> >>
> >> */4
> >>
> >> What does that mean e.g. in the second (=hpur) column?
> >>
> >> Every 4 hours? Or 4 times per hour?[/color]
> >
> > "man 5 crontab" explains this.
> >
> > Be aware that not all versions of crontab support this syntax.[/color]
>
> In particular, I think this feature is unique to the Paul Vixie's cron
> implementation. Most Linux and *BSD systems use it, but other Unix
> systems such as Solaris typically do not.[/color]

Mac OS X does as well.

--
Barry Margolin, [email]barmar@alum.mit.edu[/email]
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***