Cron Expression Builder
Build, parse, and test cron expressions visually with next execution preview
Build Your Cron Expression
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Parse Cron Expression
5-field: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
6-field: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
Systems using 5-field: Linux crontab, GitHub Actions
Systems using 6-field: AWS EventBridge, Jenkins, Kubernetes CronJob
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Platform-Specific Output
* * * * * /path/to/your/command
kind: CronJob
metadata:
name: your-cronjob
spec:
schedule: “* * * * *”
jobTemplate:
spec:
template:
spec:
containers:
– name: your-container
image: your-image
command:
– /bin/sh
– -c
– your-command
restartPolicy: OnFailure
on:
schedule:
– cron: ‘* * * * *’
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
scheduled-job:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
– uses: actions/checkout@v4
– name: Run scheduled task
run: echo “Your scheduled task here”
“Rules”: [
{
“Name”: “YourScheduledRule”,
“ScheduleExpression”: “cron(* * * * ? *)”,
“State”: “ENABLED”,
“Targets”: [
{
“Id”: “1”,
“Arn”: “arn:aws:lambda:region:account-id:function:your-function”
}
]
}
]
}
agent any
triggers {
cron(‘* * * * *’)
}
stages {
stage(‘Scheduled Task’) {
steps {
echo ‘Your scheduled task here’
}
}
}
}
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cron expression?
A cron expression is a time-based job scheduler format used in Unix-like systems. It consists of 5 or 6 fields representing minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week, and optionally seconds. Each field can contain specific values, ranges, intervals, or wildcards to define when a job should run.
What’s the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?
5-field cron (standard Unix crontab) uses minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. 6-field cron adds seconds as the first field, commonly used in systems like AWS EventBridge, Jenkins, and some job schedulers. The 6-field format provides more precise timing control.
How do I run a cron job every 5 minutes?
Use the expression */5 * * * * which means “every 5 minutes of every hour of every day”. The */5 syntax means “every 5th value” starting from 0.
What does the asterisk (*) mean in cron?
The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that matches any value for that field. For example, * * * * * means “every minute of every hour of every day of every month of every day of the week” – essentially every minute.
How do I schedule a cron job for weekdays only?
Use the day of week field with value 1-5 (Monday through Friday). For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs every weekday at 9:00 AM. You can also use MON-FRI in some systems that support named days.
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