First, sorry but my english is very bad! :-D Well after install vixie-cron-3.0.1-r4 and run crontab /etc/crontab, errors of the "root: command not found" had happened... This happens because the crontab file contains the user root in the jobs lines: example: default * * * * * root test -x /usr/sbin/run-crons && /usr/sbin/run-crons correct * * * * * test -x /usr/sbin/run-crons && /usr/sbin/run-crons After alter the crontab file removing user root, run crontab /etc/crontab and ok! Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Run cron 2. Mails with errors return 3. Actual Results: several e-mails in the inbox Expected Results: none I'm using Gentoo Linux 2004.0 and gentoo-dev-kernel 2.6.3-gentoo-r1 in the four machines...
this is not a bug. do NOT "crontab /etc/crontab" with vixie-cron. /etc/crontab is read automatically when /etc/init.d/vixie-cron is started. the format for /etc/crontab is different from "crontab /path/file". do not remove "root" from /etc/crontab. "crontab /path/file" is for installing cron jobs to run as the user who executed the command. the default /etc/crontab is correct. related documentation: /usr/share/doc/vixie-cron-3.0.1-r4/ "man cron" "man crontab" "man 5 crontab"
James is right. You should run "crontab -e" to remove the bogus entries you mistakenly added to root's crontab.
