Which of the following fields are available in the standard format of both the global /etc/crontab file as well as in user-specific crontab files? (Choose two.)

Question

Options

• AYear
• BMinute
• CUsername
• DEffective group ID
• ECommand

• A
  17% (5)
• B
  72% (21)
• C
  3% (1)
• E
  7% (2)

Explanation

There's an error in the stated answer key - B and D is incorrect. The actual correct answers should be B and E.

Why B (Minute) and E (Command) are correct: Both /etc/crontab (global) and user-specific crontab files share the same five time fields - minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week - followed by a command. These fields exist in both file types.

Why the other options are wrong:

• A (Year): Cron has no year field - the format was never extended to include it.
• C (Username): This is the key distinction between the two formats. /etc/crontab adds a username field (so the system knows which user to run the job as), but user-specific crontabs omit it because ownership is already known from the file itself.
• D (Effective group ID): This is not a crontab field in either format - it simply doesn't exist in cron syntax.

Why the answer key is wrong: D (Effective group ID) is not a real crontab field at all, so it cannot be "available in both." E (Command) is the correct second answer alongside B.

Memory tip: Think of the user crontab as * * * * * command (5 stars + command), and /etc/crontab as * * * * * username command - the only addition is the username. Year and group ID are never part of cron syntax.

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