1. How to run cron
  2. Common examples

Cron Expression Examples

Copy a common schedule below, or browse more than 200 examples by minute, hour, day and month. Each schedule links to its full explanation.

Common crontab expressions

These use five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. Add your command after the expression in your crontab.

Common schedules in five-field crontab syntax
ScheduleCron expression
Every Minute* * * * *
Every Five Minutes*/5 * * * *
Every Hour0 * * * *
Every Other Hour0 */2 * * *
Every Day At 2am0 2 * * *
Every Day At Midnight0 0 * * *
Every Sunday0 0 * * SUN
Every Weekday0 0 * * 1-5
Every Month0 0 1 * *
Every Year0 0 1 1 *

For example, this entry runs a backup script every day at 2am. Replace the script path with your own command:

0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Check the timezone your scheduler uses. A 2am job can be skipped or run twice when the clocks change for daylight saving time. Standard crontab has no seconds field; six-field expressions belong to schedulers that support seconds, not a regular Linux crontab.

See the crontab manual for field ranges and timezone behavior.

Minutes & Seconds

Hours

Days

Weekdays & Weekends

Weeks

Months

Years

Common Use Cases

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