VI Editor and Cron

One thing about the last post. To edit the cron file, you will need to use VI editor, which can be a little tricky if you’ve never used it.

As far as Centos goes, from the command line type:

• crontab -e
• Shift-i for INSERT – a confirmation of which  you will see at the bottom left.
• Type the characters you need.
• When done, hit Esc.
• Shift-zz (capital Zs) to save the file. The command line will reappear with a message about the crontab.

That’s it. VI is a goofy tool but it has been around forever and isn’t going anywhere, so learn it. At least the basics.