Using "at" command

hello,
I wanted to schedule jobs to start within a space of few
seconds of each other. But 'at' is giving me a resolution of 'min'.
So I decided to put all tasks in a file and invoke

at -f <filename>
The contents of the <filename> are:
at now+1 minute "ls -l"
at now+2 minute "date"

But I get a error "Garbled time"

Can you tell me what is wrong here..Also is it possible to give
interval in seconds.

TIA,
R C

R C V wrote:

> hello,
> I wanted to schedule jobs to start within a space of few
> seconds of each other. But 'at' is giving me a resolution of 'min'.
> So I decided to put all tasks in a file and invoke
>
> at -f <filename>
> The contents of the <filename> are:
> at now+1 minute "ls -l"

echo ls -l | at now + 1 minute

> at now+2 minute "date"

echo date | at now + 2 minutes

> But I get a error "Garbled time"
>
> Can you tell me what is wrong here..

1) at reads stdin (or a named file) for the commands to execute
2) the time qualifier needs spaces between each of its components

> Also is it possible to give interval in seconds.

No. Time units can be minutes, hours, days, or weeks. Seconds are not
recognized as time units

> TIA,
> R C

--
Lew Pitcher

Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | Registered Linux User #112576
http://pitcher.digitalfreehold.ca/ | GPG public key available by request
---------- Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing. ------

It works when I pipe the command to 'at'

so $ date | at now + 2 minutes works well.
but
a) $ ls -l | at now + 2 minutes accepts the job, but gives a very
strange output in /var/spool/mail/root....

b) $killall <exec name> | at now + 2 minutes results in killall
getting executed immediately...

Am I missing something while using 'at' with those commands which have
some parameters/switches.
Also how do I get the output on the screen instead of .../mail/root..

Thanks,
R C
On Mar 26, 2:41 pm, R C V <rss...@gmail.com> wrote:
> hello,
> I wanted to schedule jobs to start within a space of few
> seconds of each other. But 'at' is giving me a resolution of 'min'.
> So I decided to put all tasks in a file and invoke
>
> at -f <filename>
> The contents of the <filename> are:
> at now+1 minute "ls -l"
> at now+2 minute "date"
>
> But I get a error "Garbled time"
>
> Can you tell me what is wrong here..Also is it possible to give
> interval in seconds.
>
> TIA,
> R C

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:55:20 -0700 (PDT), R C V wrote:
> It works when I pipe the command to 'at'
>
> a) $ ls -l | at now + 2 minutes accepts the job, but gives a very
> strange output in /var/spool/mail/root....

> Am I missing something while using 'at' with those commands which have
> some parameters/switches.

They all executed immediately. Any output they created were given to at.

I would recommend putting any complex commands in a file
and submit the file via at.


> Also how do I get the output on the screen

Redirect results in a file and use xmessage I guess. Example:

echo "ls > ls.result
xmessage -display :0 -f ls.result
" > at.job
at -f at.job now+2minutes

> instead of .../mail/root..

Redirect results in a file. Example:
echo "ls > ls.result" > at.job
at -f at.job now+2minutes

R C V <rssv99@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wanted to schedule jobs to start within a space of few
> seconds of each other.

Separate them using sleep(1)

> But 'at' is giving me a resolution of 'min'.

Yes. So use at(1) to schedule the group

> So I decided to put all tasks in a file and invoke

> at -f <filename>
> The contents of the <filename> are:
> at now+1 minute "ls -l"
> at now+2 minute "date"

Arrgghh. You're using at(1) to schedule at(1)!? There are occasions when
this makes sense, but this isn't one of them.

at 10pm <<!
task1 >/tmp/task1.out 2>/tmp/task1.err &
sleep 5
task2 >/tmp/task2.out 2>/tmp/task2.err &
sleep 5
task3 >/tmp/task3.out 2>/tmp/task3.err &
wait
!

Chris