How do I use the cron expression explainer?
- Paste a cron expression, for example 30 9 * * 1-5.
- Press Explain schedule.
- Check the time zone note before saving it on your server.
Cron expression explainer: frequently asked questions
What does */15 mean in cron?
Every 15 units of that field. In the minute field, */15 runs at minutes 0, 15, 30 and 45.
Is Sunday 0 or 7?
Both mean Sunday in most cron versions. Monday is 1 and Saturday is 6.
What is a cron expression?
Five fields — minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week — that tell a server when to run a scheduled job.
What does * mean in cron?
Every value for that field. "* * * * *" runs every minute.
How do I run a job every 15 minutes?
Use */15 * * * * in the minute field.
Which time zone does cron use?
The server’s time zone, often UTC. Dubai is UTC+4, so 9:00 Dubai time is 5:00 UTC.
How do I run a job only on weekdays?
Put 1-5 in the day-of-week field, where 0 or 7 is Sunday.
Why did my cron job not run?
Common causes are a different time zone, missing environment variables, relative paths and the script not being executable. Log output to a file.
What are @daily and @hourly?
Shortcuts supported by most cron implementations for common schedules.
Can cron run every few seconds?
No. Its smallest unit is one minute; use a loop or a different scheduler for shorter intervals.