Linux · Cron & Scheduling

How to check if a cron job ran in Linux

Verify that a cron job executed by checking the cron log via journalctl and /var/log/cron.

Confirm whether cron ran a job and when. On systemd distros the cron daemon logs to the journal; many systems also write /var/log/cron.

# Cron activity from the journal (RHEL/OL: crond, Debian/Ubuntu: cron)
sudo journalctl -u crond --since today
sudo journalctl -u cron --since today

# Traditional cron log file
sudo tail -n 50 /var/log/cron

# Gotcha: cron runs with a minimal PATH. Use absolute paths in
# scripts, or set PATH at the top of the crontab.

LinuxcronLogs