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Crontab Expression Examples Cheat Sheet
Common cron schedule patterns with plain-English explanations, field syntax reference, and special string shortcuts.
Cron Field Reference
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Minute | 0–59 |
| Hour | 0–23 |
| Day of Month | 1–31 |
| Month | 1–12 or JAN–DEC |
| Day of Week | 0–6 or SUN–SAT |
| Special chars | * (any), , (list), - (range), / (step) |
Common Schedule Patterns
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Every minute | * * * * * |
| Every 5 minutes | */5 * * * * |
| Every 15 minutes | */15 * * * * |
| Every hour (on the hour) | 0 * * * * |
| Daily at midnight | 0 0 * * * |
| Daily at 9:00 AM | 0 9 * * * |
| Weekdays at 8:30 AM | 30 8 * * 1-5 |
| Every Sunday at 2 AM | 0 2 * * 0 |
Advanced Patterns
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| First day of month at noon | 0 12 1 * * |
| Every quarter (Jan,Apr,Jul,Oct 1st) | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| Twice daily (9 AM and 5 PM) | 0 9,17 * * * |
| Every 30 min during business hours | */30 9-17 * * 1-5 |
| Last day of month (workaround) | 0 0 28-31 * * [ $(date +\%d -d tomorrow) -eq 1 ] |
| Every 2 hours | 0 */2 * * * |
Special Strings (some systems)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| @reboot | Run once at startup |
| @yearly / @annually | 0 0 1 1 * |
| @monthly | 0 0 1 * * |
| @weekly | 0 0 * * 0 |
| @daily / @midnight | 0 0 * * * |
| @hourly | 0 * * * * |
Tip: Use landscape orientation for wider tables
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