How To Backup "crontab -e" Files?

Question

I want to do a complete server backup.

I already have my backup script copying all of the html/php files for the web app, and the mysql databases, placing them into a .tar.gz file.

How can I add the crontab files to that backup?

Whenever I save the crontab, it goes to /tmp folder.. and when I check that folder immediately afterwards, it is empty.

Just a though, may versions of cron allow root to place the jobs in /etc/cron.d/, I generally prefer that instead, since my /etc folder is backed up, and tracked in a VCS. — Zoredache
– Zoredache, Commented Nov 18, 2011 at 8:46
related: "What I can I do to make the transition to some new computer hardware safe and smooth?". — David Cary
– David Cary, Commented Nov 18, 2011 at 13:19
With regard to your username, sorry to take away your '666' upvote count -but I found the post useful. ;) — a coder
– a coder, Commented Sep 19, 2013 at 15:30

dtoubelis · Accepted Answer · 2022-08-10 12:23:37Z

59

You could just backup the entire /var/spool/cron directory. It contains all crontabs for all users.

answered Nov 18, 2011 at 5:11

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mitbal · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-29 05:53:34Z

You can periodically run crontab -l > my_crontab.backup to backup the crontab into file.

Bart De Vos · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-18 07:41:31Z

12

just backup the file /var/spool/cron/USER_NAME

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answered Nov 18, 2011 at 5:10

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Nolan Conaway · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-02 17:58:00Z

5

I made my backup into a cron job.

0 9 * * * crontab -l | gzip > /backups/'crontab-'$(date +"\%Y\%m\%d-\%H\%M\%S")'.gz'

answered Feb 23, 2019 at 21:22

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4 Answers 4