Cron Generator
Build and explain cron schedules.
What is this Tool?
Cron Generator is an interactive tool that demystifies the syntax of cron jobs. Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems, used to run periodic tasks like backups, report generation, or system maintenance.
A cron expression consists of five fields: Minute, Hour, Day of Month, Month, and Day of Week. This tool lets you point-and-click to set these values without needing to memorize whether `0 5 * * *` means "5:00 AM" or "Every 5 minutes".
How to use
- Choose Presets: Start quickly with common schedules like "Every Day at Midnight" or "Work Hours".
- Customize Fields: Manually edit each of the 5 input boxes. Use `*` for "every", `*/5` for "interval", or `1-5` for "range".
- Verify: Read the "Human Readable" translation at the top to ensure the schedule matches your intent.
- Copy: Click the Copy button to grab the code snippet to paste into your `crontab -e` file or CI/CD configuration.
Why do you need it?
- No More Guesswork: One wrong character can cause important scripts to never run—or run thousands of times a minute. This tool validates every keystroke.
- Readable Explanations: It translates cryptic strings like `0 0 1 1 *` into plain English: "At 00:00 on day-of-month 1 in January".
- DevOps Friendly: Perfect for setting up AWS Lambda triggers, GitHub Actions schedules, or Jenkins pipelines.
FAQ
Q. What does * * * * * mean?
It runs every minute of every hour of every day. Be careful with this!
Q. How do I run a script every 5 minutes?
Use `*/5 * * * *`. The `*/5` in the minute field means 'every step of 5' (0, 5, 10, ...).
Q. Why doesn't my cron job run?
Check your server's timezone (UTC vs Local) and ensure the script permissions are executable (`chmod +x`). Also, verify the absolute path to your script.