Copyright © 2000-2026 Thibault Godouet | Fcron 3.4.1 | Web page : http://fcron.free.fr

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# fcron.conf

## Name

fcron.conf -- configuration file for fcron and fcrontab

## Description

> This page describes the syntax used for the configuration file of fcrontab(1), fcrondyn(1) and fcron(8).

Blank lines, lines beginning with a hash sign (#) (which are considered as comments), leading blanks and tabs are ignored. Each line in a fcron.conf file is of the form

> name = value

where the blanks around equal-sign (=) are ignored and optional. Trailing blanks are also ignored.

The following names are recognized (default value in parentheses):

Valid variables in a fcron.conf file

`fcrontabs`=`directory` (`/usr/local/var/spool/fcron`)

  Fcron spool directory.

`pidfile`=`file-path` (`/usr/local/var/run/fcron.pid`)

  Location of fcron pid file (needed by fcrontab to work properly).

`suspendfile`=`file-path` (`/usr/local/var/run/fcron.suspend`)

  Location of fcron suspend file. On non-Linux systems, this should be used to let fcron know how long the system was suspended (to memory or disk), so as task schedules can be updated accordingly.

`fifofile`=`file-path` (`/usr/local/var/run/fcron.fifo`)

  Location of fcron fifo file (needed by fcrondyn to communicate with fcron).

`fcronallow`=`file-path` (`/usr/local/etc/fcron.allow`)

  Location of fcron.allow file.

`fcrondeny`=`file-path` (`/usr/local/etc/fcron.deny`)

  Location of fcron.deny file.

`shell`=`file-path` (`/usr/bin/sh`)

  Location of default shell called by fcron when running a job. When fcron runs a job, fcron uses the value of `SHELL` from the fcrontab if any, otherwise it uses the value from `fcron.conf` if any, or in last resort the value from `/etc/passwd`.

`sendmail`=`file-path` (`/usr/sbin/sendmail`)

  Location of mailer program called by fcron to send job output.

`editor`=`file-path` (`/usr/bin/vi`)

  Location of default editor used when invoking "fcrontab -e".

`maildisplayname`=`string` (`Fcron Daemon`)

  Display name for the "From: " header of mails sent by us. Note that in the past, fcron was following Vixie cron's default email header format which is not fully compliant with RFC 5322 (see Issue #15 ). fcron will revert to this old behaviour when this option is set to an empty string.

File-paths and directories are complete and absolute (i.e. beginning by a "/").

To run several instances of fcron simultaneously on the same system, you must use a different configuration file for each instance. Each instance must have a different `fcrontabs`, `pidfile` and `fifofile`. Then, use fcron(8)'s command line option `-c` to select which config file (so which instance) you refer to.

## Files

`/usr/local/etc/fcron.conf`

  Configuration file for fcron, fcrontab and fcrondyn: contains paths (spool dir, pid file) and default programs to use (editor, shell, etc). See fcron.conf(5) for more details.

`/usr/local/etc/fcron.allow`

  Users allowed to use fcrontab and fcrondyn (one name per line, special name "all" acts for everyone)

`/usr/local/etc/fcron.deny`

  Users who are not allowed to use fcrontab and fcrondyn (same format as allow file)

`/usr/local/etc/pam.d/fcron` (or `/usr/local/etc/pam.conf`)

  PAM configuration file for fcron. Take a look at pam(8) for more details.

## See also

fcrontab(1),
fcrondyn(1),
fcrontab(5),
fcron.conf(5),
fcron(8).
If you're learning how to use fcron from scratch, I suggest that you read the HTML version of the documentation (if your are not reading it right now! :) ): the content is the same, but it is easier to navigate thanks to the hyperlinks.

## Author

Thibault Godouet `<fcron@free.fr>`

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