35.2. At and Batch

35.2. At and Batch

35.2. At and Batch

While cron is used to schedule recurring tasks, the at command is used to schedule a one-time task at a specific time and the batch command is used to schedule a one-time task to be executed when the systems load average drops below 0.8.

To use at or batch, the at RPM package must be installed, and the atd service must be running. To determine if the package is installed, use the rpm -q at command. To determine if the service is running, use the command /sbin/service atd status.

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