# phpman > man > at > **TLDR:** Execute commands once at a later time. > - Create commands interactively and execute them in 5 minutes (press `` when done): `at now + 5 minutes` - Create commands interactively and execute them at a specific time: `at {{hh:mm}}` - Execute a command from `stdin` at 10:00 AM today: `echo "{{command}}" | at 1000` - Execute commands from a given file next Tuesday: `at -f {{path/to/file}} 9:30 PM Tue` - List all queued jobs for the current user (same as `atq`): `at -l` - View a specied job: `at -c {{job_number}}` *Source: tldr-pages* --- [AT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/AT/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [AT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/AT/1/markdown) ## NAME at, batch, atq, atrm - queue, examine, or delete jobs for later execution ## SYNOPSIS **at** [**-V**] [**-q** _queue_] [**-f** _file_] [**-u** _username_] [**-mMlv**] _timespec_ ... **at** [**-V**] [**-q** _queue_] [**-f** _file_] [**-u** _username_] [**-mMkv**] [**-t** _time_] **at** **-c** _job_ [...] **at** [**-V**] -l [**-o** _timeformat_] _[job_ _..._] **atq** [**-V**] [**-q** _queue_] [**-o** _timeformat_] _[job_ _..._] **at** [**-rd**] _job_ [...] **atrm** [**-V**] _job_ [...] ### batch ### at -b ## DESCRIPTION **at** and **batch** read commands from standard input or a specified file which are to be executed at a later time, using **/bin/sh**. **at** executes commands at a specified time. **atq** lists the user's pending jobs, unless the user is the superuser; in that case, every‐ body's jobs are listed. The format of the output lines (one for each job) is: Job number, date, hour, queue, and username. **atrm** deletes jobs, identified by their job number. **batch** executes commands when system load levels permit; in other words, when the load aver‐ age drops below 1.5, or the value specified in the invocation of **atd**. **At** allows fairly complex time specifications, extending the POSIX.2 standard. It accepts times of the form **HH:MM** to run a job at a specific time of day. (If that time is already past, the next day is assumed.) You may also specify **midnight,** **noon,** or **teatime** (4pm) and you can have a time-of-day suffixed with **AM** or **PM** for running in the morning or the evening. You can also say what day the job will be run, by giving a date in the form **month-name** **day** with an optional **year,** or giving a date of the form _MMDD_[_CC_]_YY_, _MM_/_DD_/[_CC_]_YY_, _DD_._MM_.[_CC_]_YY_ or [_CC_]_YY_-_MM_-_DD_. The specification of a date _must_ follow the specification of the time of day. You can also give times like **now** **+** _count_ _time-units,_ where the time-units can be **minutes,** **hours,** **days,** or **weeks** and you can tell **at** to run the job today by suffixing the time with **to**‐‐ **day** and to run the job tomorrow by suffixing the time with **tomorrow.** For example, to run a job at 4pm three days from now, you would do **at** **4pm** **+** **3** **days,** to run a job at 10:00am on July 31, you would do **at** **10am** **Jul** **31** and to run a job at 1am tomorrow, you would do **at** **1am** **tomorrow.** If you specify a job to absolutely run at a specific time and date in the past, the job will run as soon as possible. For example, if it is 8pm and you do a **at** **6pm** **today,** it will run more likely at 8:05pm. The definition of the time specification can be found in _/usr/share/doc/at/timespec_. For both **at** and **batch**, commands are read from standard input or the file specified with the ### -f **BASH**___**VERSINFO**, **DISPLAY**, **EUID**, **GROUPS**, **SHELLOPTS**, **TERM**, **UID**, and ___) and the umask are retained from the time of invocation. As **at** is currently implemented as a setuid program, other environment variables (e.g., **LD**___**LI**‐‐ **BRARY**___**PATH** or **LD**___**PRELOAD**) are also not exported. This may change in the future. As a work‐ around, set these variables explicitly in your job. An **at** - or **batch** - command invoked from a [**su**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/su/1/markdown) shell will retain the current userid. The user will be mailed standard error and standard output from his commands, if any. Mail will be sent using the command **/usr/sbin/sendmail**. If **at** is executed from a [**su**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/su/1/markdown) shell, the owner of the login shell will receive the mail. The superuser may use these commands in any case. For other users, permission to use at is determined by the files _/etc/at.allow_ and _/etc/at.deny_. See [**at.allow**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/at.allow/5/markdown) for details. ## OPTIONS ### -V ### -q uses the specified queue. A queue designation consists of a single letter; valid queue designations range from **a** to **z** and **A** to **Z**. The **a** queue is the default for **at** and the **b** queue for **batch**. Queues with higher letters run with increased niceness. The special queue "=" is reserved for jobs which are currently running. If a job is submitted to a queue designated with an uppercase letter, the job is treated as if it were submitted to batch at the time of the job. Once the time is reached, the batch processing rules with respect to load average apply. If **atq** is given a specific queue, it will only show jobs pending in that queue. ### -m ### -M ### -u Sends mail to _username_ rather than the current user. ### -f ### -t ### -l ### -r ### -d ### -b ### -v Times displayed will be in the format "Thu Feb 20 14:50:00 1997". ### -c ### -o ## FILES _/var/spool/cron/atjobs_ _/var/spool/cron/atspool_ _/proc/loadavg_ _/var/run/utmp_ _/etc/at.allow_ _/etc/at.deny_ ## SEE ALSO [**at.allow**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/at.allow/5/markdown), [**at.deny**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/at.deny/5/markdown), [**atd**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/atd/8/markdown), [**cron**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/cron/1/markdown), [**nice**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/nice/1/markdown), [**sh**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sh/1/markdown), [**umask**(2)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/umask/2/markdown). ## BUGS The correct operation of **batch** for Linux depends on the presence of a _proc_- type directory mounted on _/proc_. If the file _/var/run/utmp_ is not available or corrupted, or if the user is not logged on at the time **at** is invoked, the mail is sent to the userid found in the environment variable **LOG**‐‐ **NAME**. If that is undefined or empty, the current userid is assumed. **At** and **batch** as presently implemented are not suitable when users are competing for re‐ sources. If this is the case for your site, you might want to consider another batch system, such as **nqs**. ## AUTHOR At was mostly written by Thomas Koenig. 2009-11-14 [AT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/AT/1/markdown)