Manual: anacron
ANACRON(8) Anacron Users' Manual ANACRON(8)
NAME
anacron - runs commands periodically
SYNOPSIS
anacron [-s] [-f] [-n] [-d] [-q] [-t anacrontab] [-S spooldir] [job] ...
anacron [-S spooldir] -u [-t anacrontab] [job] ...
anacron [-V|-h]
anacron -T [-t anacrontab]
anacron --list-obsolete-timestamp-files [-t anacrontab] [-S spooldir]
DESCRIPTION
Anacron can be used to execute commands periodically, with a frequency specified in days. Unlike cron(8), it does not
assume that the machine is running continuously. Hence, it can be used on machines that aren't running 24 hours a
day, to control daily, weekly, and monthly jobs that are usually controlled by cron.
When executed, Anacron reads a list of jobs from a configuration file, normally /etc/anacrontab (see anacrontab(5)).
This file contains the list of jobs that Anacron controls. Each job entry specifies a period in days, a delay in min‐
utes, a unique job identifier, and a shell command.
For each job, Anacron checks whether this job has been executed in the last n days, where n is the period specified
for that job. If not, Anacron runs the job's shell command, after waiting for the number of minutes specified as the
delay parameter.
After the command exits, Anacron records the date in a special timestamp file for that job, so it can know when to
execute it again. Only the date is used for the time calculations. The hour is not used.
When there are no more jobs to be run, Anacron exits.
Anacron only considers jobs whose identifier, as specified in the anacrontab matches any of the job command-line ar‐
guments. The job arguments can be shell wildcard patterns (be sure to protect them from your shell with adequate
quoting). Specifying no job arguments, is equivalent to specifying "*". (That is, all jobs will be considered).
Unless the -d option is given (see below), Anacron forks to the background when it starts, and the parent process ex‐
its immediately.
Unless the -s or -n options are given, Anacron starts jobs immediately when their delay is over. The execution of
different jobs is completely independent.
If a job generates any output on its standard output or standard error, the output is mailed to the user running
Anacron (usually root), or to the address contained by the MAILTO environment variable in the /etc/anacrontab file,
if such exists.
Informative messages about what Anacron is doing are sent to syslogd(8) under facility cron, priority notice. Error
messages are sent at priority error.
"Active" jobs (i.e. jobs that Anacron already decided to run and now wait for their delay to pass, and jobs that are
currently being executed by Anacron), are "locked", so that other copies of Anacron won't run them at the same time.
OPTIONS
-f Force execution of the jobs, ignoring the timestamps.
-u Only update the timestamps of the jobs, to the current date, but don't run anything.
-s Serialize execution of jobs. Anacron will not start a new job before the previous one finished.
-n Run jobs now. Ignore the delay specifications in the /etc/anacrontab file. This options implies -s.
-d Don't fork to the background. In this mode, Anacron will output informational messages to standard error, as
well as to syslog. The output of jobs is mailed as usual.
-q Suppress messages to standard error. Only applicable with -d.
-t anacrontab
Use specified anacrontab, rather than the default.
-T Anacrontab testing. The configuration file will be tested for validity. If there is an error in the file, an
error will be shown and anacron will return 1. Valid anacrontabs will return 0.
-S spooldir
Use the specified spooldir to store timestamps in. This option is required for users who wish to run anacron
themselves.
-l, --list-obsolete-timestamp-files
Print obsolete timestamp files relative to anacrontab and spooldir.
-V Print version information, and exit.
-h Print short usage message, and exit.
SIGNALS
After receiving a SIGUSR1 signal, Anacron waits for running jobs, if any, to finish and then exits. This can be used
to stop Anacron cleanly.
NOTES
Make sure that the time-zone is set correctly before Anacron is started. (The time-zone affects the date). This is
usually accomplished by setting the TZ environment variable, or by installing a /usr/lib/zoneinfo/localtime file. See
tzset(3) for more information.
Timestamp files are created in the spool directory for each job in anacrontab. These are never removed automatically
by anacron, and should be removed by hand if a job is no longer being scheduled.
DEBIAN-SPECIFIC CONFIGURATION
On Debian-based systems, anacron will be activated hourly every day from 07:30 local time to 23:30 local time through
cron job (on non-systemd systems where cron is installed and enabled) or systemd timer (on systemd-based systems). On
activation, anacron will check if it missed some jobs. If yes, it will start those jobs after a short period of time.
By default, the hourly activation of anacron will not take place when the system is using battery and no AC power is
connected to the computer. It is meant to reduce power usage and extend battery life, but such design might lead to
unwanted results. Users may disable this feature and let anacron run regardless of power supply.
Please read Debian-specific documentation in /usr/share/doc/anacron/README.Debian file for detailed instruction in
how to change such behaviour.
FILES
/etc/anacrontab
Contains specifications of jobs. See anacrontab(5) for a complete description.
/var/spool/anacron
This directory is used by Anacron for storing timestamp files.
/lib/systemd/system/anacron.service
This file provides systemd service for anacron.
/lib/systemd/system/anacron.timer
This file provides systemd timer for anacron. Currently the service is triggered hourly through systemd
timer.
SEE ALSO
anacrontab(5), cron(8), tzset(3)
The Anacron README file.
For Debian-specific modifications, please read /usr/share/doc/anacron/README.Debian file for detailed information.
BUGS
Anacron never removes timestamp files. Remove unused files manually.
Anacron uses up to two file descriptors for each active job. It may run out of descriptors if there are more than
about 125 active jobs (on normal kernels).
Mail comments, suggestions and bug reports to Debian's BTS for Anacron by emailing submit@bugs.debian.org>.
AUTHOR
Anacron was originally conceived and implemented by Christian Schwarz . The current imple‐
mentation is a complete rewrite by Itai Tzur .
The code base was maintained by Sean 'Shaleh' Perry . During 2004–2006, it was main‐
tained by Pascal Hakim . During 2009–2014, it was maintained by Peter Eisentraut
.
Nowadays anacron in Debian is co-maintained by various developers from Debian Project.
The Debian Project 2025-10-03 ANACRON(8)