50 Useful Cron Job Examples for Linux

Scheduling automated tasks is essential for maintaining a healthy Linux server. Whether you need to run a task every minute, at specific times on weekdays, or once a year, crontab gives you precise control over system automation.

Here is a curated list of 50 practical cron job examples categorized by timing patterns and common server administration workflows for your RivinCloud VPS.

1. Minute and Hourly Scheduling Patterns

1. Every single minute:

   * * * * * /usr/local/bin/ping_check.sh
   

2. Every 2 minutes:

   */2 * * * * /home/ubuntu/status_check.sh
   

3. Every 5 minutes:

   */5 * * * * /usr/bin/curl -s https://example.com/api/ping > /dev/null
   

4. Every 10 minutes:

   */10 * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/artisan schedule:run
   

5. Every 15 minutes:

   */15 * * * * /home/ubuntu/sync_cache.sh
   

6. Every 30 minutes:

   */30 * * * * /home/ubuntu/cleanup_tmp.sh
   

7. Every 45 minutes:

   */45 * * * * /home/ubuntu/check_queue.sh
   

8. At the start of every hour (00 min):

   0 * * * * /home/ubuntu/hourly_summary.sh
   

9. Every 2 hours:

   0 */2 * * * /home/ubuntu/refresh_tokens.sh
   

10. Every 4 hours:

    0 */4 * * * /home/ubuntu/sync_s3.sh
    

11. Every 6 hours (00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00):

    0 0,6,12,18 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet
    

12. Every 12 hours (Midnight & Noon):

    0 0,12 * * * /home/ubuntu/vacuum_db.sh
    

2. Daily Scheduling Patterns

13. Every day at midnight (00:00):

    0 0 * * * /home/ubuntu/daily_backup.sh
    

14. Every day at 2:30 AM:

    30 2 * * * /home/ubuntu/backup_mysql.sh
    

15. Every day at 4:00 AM:

    0 4 * * * /usr/bin/apt-get update && /usr/bin/apt-get clean
    

16. Every day at 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM:

    0 8,20 * * * /home/ubuntu/digest_report.py
    

17. Every weekday (Monday through Friday) at 9:00 AM:

    0 9 * * 1-5 /home/ubuntu/send_morning_alerts.sh
    

18. Every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) at midnight:

    0 0 * * 6,0 /home/ubuntu/weekend_indexing.sh
    

19. Every weekday morning every 30 minutes between 9 AM and 5 PM:

    */30 9-17 * * 1-5 /home/ubuntu/market_sync.sh
    

20. Twice daily at 1:00 AM and 1:00 PM:

    0 1,13 * * * /home/ubuntu/rotate_logs.sh
    

3. Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly Patterns

21. Every Sunday at 3:00 AM:

    0 3 * * 0 /home/ubuntu/weekly_archive.sh
    

22. Every Monday at 6:00 AM:

    0 6 * * 1 /home/ubuntu/generate_weekly_stats.py
    

23. First day of every month at midnight (00:00):

    0 0 1 * * /home/ubuntu/monthly_billing.sh
    

24. 15th day of every month at noon (12:00):

    0 12 15 * * /home/ubuntu/mid_month_audit.sh
    

25. Every quarter (1st of Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) at 00:00:

    0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * /home/ubuntu/quarterly_report.sh
    

26. Once a year (Jan 1st at midnight):

    0 0 1 1 * /home/ubuntu/annual_archive.sh
    

4. Special Shorthand Macros

27. Run once on server boot:

    @reboot /home/ubuntu/scripts/startup_services.sh
    

28. Run hourly:

    @hourly /home/ubuntu/hourly_check.sh
    

29. Run daily:

    @daily /home/ubuntu/daily_maintenance.sh
    

30. Run weekly:

    @weekly /home/ubuntu/weekly_cleanup.sh
    

31. Run monthly:

    @monthly /home/ubuntu/monthly_tasks.sh
    

32. Run yearly:

    @yearly /home/ubuntu/annual_cleanup.sh
    

5. Practical Sysadmin & Maintenance Tasks

33. Automated MySQL Database Dump:

    0 2 * * * /usr/bin/mysqldump -u root -p'password' my_db | gzip > /backups/db_$(date +\%F).sql.gz
    

34. Delete Files in /tmp Older Than 7 Days:

    0 3 * * * /usr/bin/find /tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete
    

35. Vacuum Systemd Journal Logs Every Week:

    0 4 * * 0 /usr/bin/journalctl --vacuum-time=14d
    

36. Renew Let's Encrypt SSL Certificates Twice a Day:

    0 0,12 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet --post-hook "systemctl reload nginx"
    

37. Sync Directory to Remote Server with Rsync:

    0 1 * * * /usr/bin/rsync -avz -e ssh /var/www/ user@backup.rivincloud.in:/backups/www/
    

38. Purge Redis Expired Keys:

    0 * * * * /usr/bin/redis-cli bgrewriteaof
    

39. Check Free Disk Space and Alert if Below 10%:

    */15 * * * * /home/ubuntu/disk_alert.sh
    

40. Clean Stale Docker Images and Volumes:

    0 5 * * 0 /usr/bin/docker system prune -af --volumes
    

41. Restart a Stale Node.js Bot Every Midnight:

    0 0 * * * /usr/bin/pm2 restart discord-bot
    

42. Archive Minecraft Server World:

    0 4 * * * /usr/bin/tar -czf /backups/mc_$(date +\%F).tar.gz /home/minecraft/server/world
    

43. Synchronize Server Time via NTP/Chrony:

    0 0 * * * /usr/sbin/chronyd -q 'server pool.ntp.org iburst'
    

44. Export Git Repository Backup:

    0 3 * * * cd /var/git/repo && /usr/bin/git bundle create /backups/repo.bundle --all
    

45. Purge PHP Session Files Older Than 24 Hours:

    0 2 * * * /usr/bin/find /var/lib/php/sessions -type f -cmin +1440 -delete
    

46. Rotate Application Log Files Manually:

    0 0 * * * /usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf --force
    

47. Fetch External IP Address and Update Dynamic DNS:

    */10 * * * * /home/ubuntu/update_ddns.sh > /dev/null 2>&1
    

48. Run Laravel Worker Queue Once Every Minute:

    * * * * * cd /var/www/app && /usr/bin/php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1
    

49. Log Memory and CPU Usage to CSV:

    */5 * * * * echo "$(date),$(free -m | awk '/Mem:/ {print $3}'),$(top -bn1 | awk '/Cpu/ {print $2}')" >> /var/log/usage.csv
    

50. Auto Update ClamAV Antivirus Signatures:

    0 1 * * * /usr/bin/freshclam --quiet
    

Common Mistakes

• Unescaped % percent signs: In crontab, % is treated as a newline unless escaped with \% (e.g., $(date +\%F)).
• Missing executable permissions: Ensure your target shell script has chmod +x.

Troubleshooting

• View cron execution history:

  grep CRON /var/log/syslog | tail -n 20
  

Conclusion

This reference list covers virtually all common scheduling patterns needed for production servers. Use these examples to automate your workflows seamlessly on your RivinCloud VPS!