There has been some discussion on the forum (both pro and con) over the future discontinuance of crontab in favor of systemd. A good example of documentation of the details of systemd and creation of a systemd service can be seen at https://linuxhandbook.com/create-systemd-services/ . I am a openSUSE leap 15.6 user and if you look at the current system there are many examples of the use of systemd.
BTRFS
btrfs-balance.service
btrfs-balance.timer
btrfs-defrag.service
btrfs-defrag.timer
btrfs-scrub.service
btrfs-scrub.timer
btrfs-trim.service
btrfs-trim.timer
PODMAN
podman-auto-update.service
podman-auto-update.timer
The downside of the base systemd process is the storage of the components in root-owned spaces as opposed to USERID-owned spaces. Systemd does have a facility to allow and support USERID-owned spaces by using the --user parameter on your systemd invocations. Using --user creates a USERID-space invocation of systemd including a file structure in the user’s own .config space (ie: /home/USERID/.config/systemd/user).
My objective was to replace my USERID crontab with systemd services while making as few changes to script invocations out of my $PATH libraries.
Please enjoy and comment if you wish.
CRONEX:AM:PLE # A script
#!/bin/bash
# Preparation
PRGNAM=$(basename -- "$0")
WHERE=/tmp/$PRGNAM.log
CPWHERE=/tmp/$PRGNAM.txt
CPDEST=
00echolines > $WHERE # An eyecatcher in the sesults
echo $PRGNAM - $(date +%F_%T) >> $WHERE # Result title line with date and time
# crontab commands
echo -e "Run CRONEX:AM:PLE" >> $WHERE
echo somecommand >> $WHERE
# Cleanup
00echolines >> $WHERE # An eyecatcher in the sesults
if safebulktest > $CPWHERE ; then # Local storage space setup
CPDEST=~/Bulk/00RAU-Sysd-Daily-Files/$(date +0%u%A)/$PRGNAM
else
mkdir --parents --verbose ~/ZZ-BU-Bulk/00RAU-Sysd-Daily-Files/$(date +0%u%A) >> $CPWHERE
CPDEST=~/ZZ-BU-Bulk/00RAU-Sysd-Daily-Files/$(date +0%u%A)/$PRGNAM
fi
cp --archive --update --verbose $WHERE $CPDEST >> $CPWHERE # Copy the result file in /tmp storage to USERID storage
cat $CPWHERE >> $WHERE
# Pick one of the following by UNCOMMENTING for MAIL notification
#echo "$PRGNAM Complete" | mailx -S sendwait -s "Results From $PRGNAM" USERID@AtHome.Home
#OR
#cat $WHERE | mailx -S sendwait -s "Results From $PRGNAM" USERID@AtHome.Home # $WHERE MUST NOT contain binary data or mailx will create a second attached file
#OR
#echo "Process results are in $CPDEST" | mailx -S sendwait -a $WHERE -s "Results From $PRGNAM" USERID@AtHome.Home
exit 0
CRONEX:AM:PLE.service
[Unit]
Description="Crontab EX:AM:PLE"
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/home/USERID/.config/systemd/user/CRONEX:AM:PLE # $PATH is NOT available until the .service starts
# You MUST tell systemd where this is with full path
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
#WantedBy=multi-user.target
CRONEX:AM:PLE.timer
[Unit]
Description=Run CRONEX:AM:PLE Script
[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* *:00:00
AccuracySec=1sec
[Install]
WantedBy=basic.target
And an example result file.
================================================================
CRONEX:AM:PLE - 2025-05-17_23:00:00
Run CRONEX:AM:PLE
SomeCommand
================================================================