5.15. After installing the cronjob you receive a /bin/sh: mailman: command not found error

Check the contents of the mailman user's crontab

   crontab -u mailman -l

for an additional element in the commands such as below

0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * mailman /usr/lib/mailman/cron/gate_news

This syntax is used for placing crontab files in /etc/crontab or /etc/cron.d rather then inserting directly into a user's crontab. If you are installing from a package or distribution, the default crontab.in file may have been modified to a format like this and the default source instructions are no longer valid for this step of setting up cron. Fedora's RPM is setup this way.

You may find your package distribution automates the installation of the crontab file using the start/stop script for mailman. Check the comments in the crontab.in file for details as well as the start/stop scripts (example: /etc/init.d/mailman). If the package automates the setup of the crontab by copying the file to /etc/crontab or /etc/cron.d - skip the source documentation step that sets up the crontab for the mailman user. The init scripts will handle setup of the cron by putting the crontab.in in /etc/cron.d or /etc/crontab for you.

Fix the error condition by removing the installed crontab for the mailman user

   crontab -u mailman -r

And let the scripts create the crontab for you when mailman is started and stopped.

If you still want to manually install the crontab, the package supplied crontab.in file can be used by simply removing the mailman username from the lines in the crontab.in file and ensure the modified file is not copied by the start/stop scripts into /etc/crontab or /etc/cron.d by editing the start/stop scripts supplied by the distribution.

Last changed on Wed Feb 6 12:43:23 2008 by Steve K

Converted from the Mailman FAQ Wizard

This is one of many Frequently Asked Questions.