How can I run anacron in user mode?

Question

I would like to set up a scheduled task via anacron but I would like to do so in user mode. How can I achieve this?

Answer 1

You can set up a separate anacron instance to run in user mode. To do so create a .anacron folder in your home directory and in it two subfolders, etc and spool.

Then proceed to create a new anacrontab in your newly created ~/.anacron/etc folder with the following contents:

# /etc/anacrontab: configuration file for anacron

# See anacron(8) and anacrontab(5) for details.

SHELL=/bin/bash
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

1   10    scriptname script.sh

where script.sh is the path to your script (or a one-liner, your choice). Configure the intervall and delay to your pleasure and save the file as anacrontab.

Then add the following line to your ~/.profile:

/usr/sbin/anacron -s -t ${HOME}/.anacron/etc/anacrontab -S ${HOME}/.anacron/spool

Your custom user mode anacron should be up and running on next login.