Why doesn't crontab run if screensaver is on?

Question

I want to run a Crontab on OS X 10.11.1 (El Capitan).

I'm running the command:

env EDITOR=nano crontab -e

to enter the crontab with nano as the editor.

Then I create my cronjob that looks like this:

50 */15 * * * touch /home/test.txt

If I go to /home/ there is nothing:

User 15:50:home $ ls -la
total 2
dr-xr-xr-x   2 root  wheel     1 25 Nov 14:53 .
drwxr-xr-x  31 root  wheel  1122 29 Okt 10:02 ..

Why doesn't the cronjob run if the screensavers is on and screen is locked?

Do you have permission to touch in /home (which is a non standard (OS X place) do ls -la in the directory above Is */15 the correct syntax. Is touch on the path (and which path cron uses a different one). The normal way for OS X is use launchd - and use a tool like Launch Control — mmmmmm, Commented Nov 25, 2015 at 19:29

nohillside · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-25 16:08:03Z

1

/home is used by the automounter and can't be written to. Just try with another directory (eg /tmp).

answered Nov 25, 2015 at 16:08

nohillside♦

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