From 18.04 fstrim (discard unused blocks) is enabled to run weekly by default for all mounted filesystems on devices that support the discard operation.
fstrim is managed by systemctl, not cron, and is defined by a systemd service unit (fstrim.service) and timer unit (fstrim.timer)
View configuration of fstrim.service:
$ systemctl cat fstrim.service
# /lib/systemd/system/fstrim.service
[Unit]
Description=Discard unused blocks
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/sbin/fstrim -av
Note: ExecStart=/sbin/fstrim -av
Where:
-a, Trim all mounted filesystems on devices that support the discard operation.
-v, Verbose execution. Output the number of bytes passed from the filesystem down the block stack to the device for potential discard.
View configuration of fstrim.timer:
$ systemctl cat fstrim.timer
# /lib/systemd/system/fstrim.timer
[Unit]
Description=Discard unused blocks once a week
Documentation=man:fstrim
[Timer]
OnCalendar=weekly
AccuracySec=1h
Persistent=true
[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target
View status of fstrim.timer:
$ systemctl status fstrim.timer
● fstrim.timer - Discard unused blocks once a week
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/fstrim.timer; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (waiting) since Thu 2018-07-05 05:45:11 BST; 4h 42min ago
Trigger: Mon 2018-07-09 00:00:00 BST; 3 days left
Docs: man:fstrim
Start/Stop/Restart fstrim.timer:
(does not change startup status)
$ sudo systemctl [start/stop/restart] fstrim.timer
Enable/Disable fstrim.timer:
(add to/remove from startup, does not change current active status)
$ sudo systemctl [enable/disable] fstrim.timer
View journal entries for fstrim.service:
$ journalctl -u fstrim.service
...
May 01 07:57:48 user-laptop systemd[1]: Starting Discard unused blocks...
May 01 07:57:51 user-laptop fstrim[810]: /: 94.5 GiB (101432025088 bytes) trimmed
May 01 07:57:51 user-laptop systemd[1]: Started Discard unused blocks.
-- Reboot --
May 07 05:29:03 user-laptop systemd[1]: Starting Discard unused blocks...
May 07 05:29:05 user-laptop fstrim[776]: /: 94.3 GiB (101260668928 bytes) trimmed
May 07 05:29:05 user-laptop systemd[1]: Started Discard unused blocks.
-- Reboot --
etc...
View journal entries for fstrim.timer:
$ journalctl -u fstrim.timer
...
May 01 07:57:48 user-laptop systemd[1]: Started Discard unused blocks once a week.
May 01 20:21:43 user-laptop systemd[1]: Stopped Discard unused blocks once a week.
-- Reboot --
May 02 06:21:59 user-laptop systemd[1]: Started Discard unused blocks once a week.
May 02 20:37:11 user-laptop systemd[1]: Stopped Discard unused blocks once a week.
-- Reboot --
etc...