comp.os.linux.networking

R C V wrote:
> Hello,
> While using the 'at' command it works when I pipe the command I
> want to schedule to 'at'
>
> So
> $ date | at now + 2 minutes works well.
> but
> a) $ ls -l | at now + 2 minutes accepts the job, but gives a very
> strange output in /var/spool/mail/root....
>
> b) $killall | at now + 2 minutes results in killall
> getting executed immediately...
>
> Am I missing something while using 'at' with those commands which have
> some parameters/switches.
> Also how do I get the output on the screen instead of .../mail/root..
> Do I use some other command to schedule jobs using shell scripts.
>
> Thanks,
> R C

You're actually inserting the output of 'ls -l' and 'killall' into at.
It kinda makes sense at does not understand it.
The pipe '|' passes STDOUT of one process through to STDIN of another
process.

Output of at is sent to the mail spooler because at does not run in an
attached TTY. It's a service that runs in the background, so it cannot
output stuff to the TTY from which you inserted the task.

But erm. If you really just wat to delay stuff a bit, you might try
using 'sleep' instead.

'sleep 120 && ls -l'

-R-