[SOLVED] Ansible: user entry getting added in crontab or cron file

Issue

I have below Ansible cron task to enable/disable cron.

- name: Enable/Disable cron
  cron:
    cron_file: /var/spool/cron/myuser
    user: myuser
    state: present
    disabled: true
    name: my cron
    job: cron script
    minute: "0"
    hour: "4"

But when I execute this crontab is created as

0 4 * * * myuser myscript.sh >> /tmp/myuser.log 2>&1

How can I avoid myuser getting added in cron entry?

Solution

According the documentation cron module – Manage cron.d and crontab entries, the given Examples and your current description as it is

How can I avoid myuser getting added

it is the expected behavior

TASK [Enable or disable cron] *****************************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => changed=false
  msg: To use cron_file=... parameter you must specify user=... as well

and since it seems you are creating a cron file under /var/spool/cron/myuser.

Please take note that a dedicated cron file is something different than an entry in a cron table file (crontab).

A minimal example like

---
- hosts: localhost
  become: false
  gather_facts: false

  tasks:

  - name: Enable or disable cron
    cron:
      cron_file: "/home/{{ ansible_user }}/test/cronfile"
      user: "{{ ansible_user }}"
      state: present
      disabled: true
      name: my cron
      job: cron script
      minute: "0"
      hour: "4"

will result into a cron file of

cat cronfile
#Ansible: my cron
#0 4 * * * user cron script

or if disabled: false of

0 4 * * * user cron script

To summarize, you can't avoid it and would need an other approach.

Further Readings

about

• Difference between cron, crontab, and cronjob?
• cronjob entry in crontab -e vs /etc/crontab. Which one is better?
• Are crontab -e & /etc/crontab the same?
• Difference between cron and crontab?

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_{... you could to make sure the presence or absence of the cron file in example, but unfortunately there is almost no description of what you try to achieve.}

Answered By - U880D

Answer Checked By - Dawn Plyler (WPSolving Volunteer)