Scheduling tasks on Linux using the at command

When you want commands or scripts to run at some particular time, you don’t have to sit with your fingers hovering over the keyboard waiting to press the enter key or even be at your desk at the right time. Instead, you can set your task to be run through the at command. In this post, we’ll look at how tasks are scheduled using at, how you can precisely select the time you want your process to run and how to view what’s been scheduled to run using at.

at vs cron

For those who’ve been scheduling tasks on Linux systems using cron, the at command is something like cron in that you can schedule tasks to run at a selected time, but cron is used for jobs that are run periodically – even if that means only once a year. Most cron jobs are set up to be run daily, weekly or monthly, though you control how often and when.

The at command, on the other hand, is used for tasks which are run only once. Want to reboot your system at midnight tonight? No problem, at can do that for you assuming you have the proper permissions. If you want the system rebooted every Saturday night at 2 a.m., use cron instead.

Using at

The at command is easy to use ,and there are only a few things to remember. A simple use of at might look like this:

$ at 5:00PM
at> date >> thisfile
at> 

After typing “at” and the time the command should be run, at prompts you for the command to be run (in this case, the date command). Type ^D to complete your request.

Assuming we set up this at command earlier than 5 p.m., the date and time will be added to the end of a file named “thisfile” later the same day. Otherwise, the command will run at 5 p.m. the following day.

You can enter more than one command when interacting with the at command. If you want more than one command to be run at the same time, simply specify more than one command line:

$ at 6:22
warning: commands will be executed using /bin/sh
at> echo first >> thisfile
at> echo second >> thisfile
at> 

In the commands above, we’re using a regular user account and adding some simple text to a file in that user’s home directory. If it’s after 6:22 a.m. when this command is run, the command will run the following day because 6:22 is taken to mean 6:22 a.m. If you want it to run at 6:22 p.m., either use 6:22 PM or 18:22. “6:22 PM” also works.

You can use at to schedule commands to run on specific dates either by specifying the dates or specifying dates and times like “10:00AM April 15 2021” or “noon + 5 days” (run at noon five days from today). Here are some examples:

at 6PM tomorrow
at noon April 15 2021
at noon + 5 days
at 9:15 + 1000 days

After you specify the command to run and press ^D, you will notice that the at command has assigned a job number to each request. This number will show up in the at command’s job queue.

$ at noon + 1000 days
warning: commands will be executed using /bin/sh
at> date >> thisfile
at> 
job 36 at Tue Dec 27 12:00:00 2022        
Checking the queue
You can look at the queue of at jobs with the atq (at queue) command:
$ atq
32      Thu Apr  2 03:06:00 2020 a shs
35      Mon Apr  6 12:00:00 2020 a shs
36      Tue Dec 27 12:00:00 2022 a shs
34      Thu Apr  2 18:00:00 2020 a shs

If you need to cancel one of the jobs in the queue, use the atrm (at remove) command along with the job number.
$ atrm 32
$ atq
35      Mon Apr  6 12:00:00 2020 a shs
36      Tue Dec 27 12:00:00 2022 a shs
34      Thu Apr  2 18:00:00 2020 a shs
You can look into the details of a scheduled task using the at -c command. Additional details (the active search path, etc.) are also available, but the bottom lines of the output will show you what command has been scheduled to run.
$ at -c 36 | tail -6
cd /home/shs || {
         echo 'Execution directory inaccessible' >&2
         exit 1
}
date >> thisfile

Notice that the command shown begins with testing whether the user’s directory can be entered with a cd command. The job will exit with an error if this is not the case. Otherwise the command specified when the at command was issued will be run. Read the command as "move into /home/shs OR exit with the error shown".
Running jobs as root
To run at jobs as root, simply use sudo with your at command like this:
$ sudo at 8PM
[sudo] password for shs:
warning: commands will be executed using /bin/sh
at> reboot now
at> 
job 37 at Wed Apr  1 16:00:00 2020

Notice that the root task shows up in the queue with root as the one to execute it.
35      Mon Apr  6 12:00:00 2020 a shs
36      Tue Dec 27 12:00:00 2022 a shs
37      Wed Apr  1 20:00:00 2020 a root		
Running scripts
You can also use the at command to run scripts. Here's an example:
$ at 4:30PM
warning: commands will be executed using /bin/sh
at> bin/tryme
at> 

Denying use of the at command
The /etc/at.deny file provides a way to disallow users from being able to make use of the at command. By default, it will probably include a list of disallowed accounts like ftp and nobody. An /etc/at.allow file could be used to do the opposite but, generally, only the at.deny file is configured.
Wrap-Up
The at command is very versatile and easy to use when you want to schedule a one-time task – even if you want it to run this afternoon or years in the future.