To verify whether or not a specific user can access crontab, use the crontab -l command while logged into the user account.
$ crontab -l |
If the user can access crontab, and already has created a crontab file, it will be displayed. Otherwise, if the user can access crontab but no crontab file exists, a message like the following will be displayed:
crontab: can't open your crontab file |
This user either is listed in cron.allow (if it exists), or is not listed in cron.deny.
If the user cannot access crontab, the following message is displayed whether or not a previous crontab file exists:
crontab: you are not authorized to use cron. Sorry. |
This means either that the user is not listed in cron.allow (if it exists), or the user is listed in cron.deny.