---
name: "fcron.conf"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "fcron"
version: "3.4.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/fcron.conf"
---

# fcron.conf(5)

configuration file for fcron and fcrontab

## NAME

fcron.conf - configuration file for fcron and fcrontab

## DESCRIPTION

### ABSTRACT

This page describes the syntax used for the configuration file of [**fcrontab**(1)](/fcrontab/1.md), [**fcrondyn**(1)](/fcrondyn/1.md) and [**fcron**(8)](/fcron/8.md).

Blank lines, lines beginning with a hash sign (#) (which are considered as comments), leading blanks and tabs are ignored. Each line in a **fcron.conf** file is of the form

name = value

where the blanks around equal-sign (=) are ignored and optional. Trailing blanks are also ignored.

The following names are recognized (default value in parentheses): "VALID VARIABLES IN A FCRON.CONF FILE"

- **fcrontabs=***directory* **(***/usr/local/var/spool/fcron***)**

  **Fcron** spool directory.

- **pidfile=***file-path* **(***/usr/local/var/run/fcron.pid***)**

  Location of **fcron** pid file (needed by **fcrontab** to work properly).

- **suspendfile=***file-path* **(***/usr/local/var/run/fcron.suspend***)**

  Location of **fcron** suspend file. On non-Linux systems, this should be used to let fcron know how long the system was suspended (to memory or disk), so as task schedules can be updated accordingly.

- **fifofile=***file-path* **(***/usr/local/var/run/fcron.fifo***)**

  Location of **fcron** fifo file (needed by **fcrondyn** to communicate with **fcron**).

- **fcronallow=***file-path* **(***/usr/local/etc/fcron.allow***)**

  Location of fcron.allow file.

- **fcrondeny=***file-path* **(***/usr/local/etc/fcron.deny***)**

  Location of fcron.deny file.

- **shell=***file-path* **(***/usr/bin/sh***)**

  Location of default shell called by **fcron** when running a job. When **fcron** runs a job, **fcron** uses the value of **SHELL** from the fcrontab if any, otherwise it uses the value from *fcron.conf* if any, or in last resort the value from */etc/passwd*.

- **sendmail=***file-path* **(***/usr/sbin/sendmail***)**

  Location of mailer program called by **fcron** to send job output.

- **editor=***file-path* **(***/usr/bin/vi***)**

  Location of default editor used when invoking "fcrontab -e".

- **maildisplayname=***string* **(Fcron Daemon)**

  Display name for the "From: " header of mails sent by us. Note that in the past, **fcron** was following Vixie cron's default email header format which is not fully compliant with RFC 5322 (see Issue #15  \<URL:https://github.com/yo8192/fcron/issues/15\>). fcron will revert to this old behaviour when this option is set to an empty string. File-paths and directories are complete and absolute (i.e. beginning by a "/").

To run several instances of **fcron** simultaneously on the same system, you must use a different configuration file for each instance. Each instance must have a different fcrontabs, pidfile and fifofile. Then, use [**fcron**(8)](/fcron/8.md)'s command line option *-c* to select which config file (so which instance) you refer to.

## FILES

- */usr/local/etc/fcron.conf*

  Configuration file for **fcron**, **fcrontab** and **fcrondyn**: contains paths (spool dir, pid file) and default programs to use (editor, shell, etc). See [**fcron.conf**(5)](/fcron.conf/5.md) for more details.

- */usr/local/etc/fcron.allow*

  Users allowed to use **fcrontab** and **fcrondyn** (one name per line, special name "all" acts for everyone)

- */usr/local/etc/fcron.deny*

  Users who are not allowed to use **fcrontab** and **fcrondyn** (same format as allow file)

- */usr/local/etc/pam.d/fcron* **(or** */usr/local/etc/pam.conf***)**

  PAM configuration file for **fcron**. Take a look at [**pam**(8)](/pam/8.md) for more details.

## SEE ALSO

[**fcrontab**(1)](/fcrontab/1.md),

[**fcrondyn**(1)](/fcrondyn/1.md),

[**fcrontab**(5)](/fcrontab/5.md),

[**fcron.conf**(5)](/fcron.conf/5.md),

[**fcron**(8)](/fcron/8.md).

If you're learning how to use fcron from scratch, I suggest that you read the HTML version of the documentation (if your are not reading it right now! :) ): the content is the same, but it is easier to navigate thanks to the hyperlinks.

## AUTHOR

Thibault Godouet \<fcron@free.fr\>