Free tools / Cron expression generator
Cron expression generator
Write a 5-field cron expression, or start from a common schedule, and read it in plain English. The next run times use your timezone. Snippets are ready for crontab, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes, and systemd.
Expression
5 fields, POSIX*/5 * * * *
Every 5 minutes
| Next run (your time) | UTC |
|---|---|
| Next run times are calculated in your browser. | |
288 times a day, every 5 minutes
crontab
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/curl -fsS https://your-app.com/healthz >/dev/null
GitHub Actions
on:
schedule:
- cron: '*/5 * * * *'
Kubernetes CronJob
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
name: scheduled-check
spec:
schedule: "*/5 * * * *"
jobTemplate:
spec:
template:
spec:
restartPolicy: Never
containers:
- name: check
image: curlimages/curl
args: ["-fsS", "https://your-app.com/healthz"]
systemd timer
[Timer] OnCalendar=*-*-* *:0/5:00 Persistent=true [Install] WantedBy=timers.target
GitHub Actions schedules are UTC and may start a few minutes late when runners are busy.
If the command can run longer than the gap between starts, a second copy can overlap the first. flock -n /tmp/job.lock keeps a single copy.
Frequently asked questions
- Why did my cron job run an hour early?
- The runner's timezone is not the timezone you had in mind. GitHub Actions is UTC. A server without
CRON_TZuses its system zone, and daylight-saving changes move a clock-time job by an hour twice a year. - Does @daily work on GitHub Actions?
- No. GitHub Actions accepts the five-field form only, and it will not run a schedule more often than every 5 minutes. Use
0 0 * * *instead of@daily. - How do I stop two cron runs from overlapping?
- Cron will start the next run even if the previous command is still going.
flock -n /tmp/job.lock your-commandexits immediately when the lock is already held.
Running a cron job or scheduled check?
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