Knowledgebase

Overview:

Cron jobs are scheduled tasks that the system runs at predefined times or intervals. Typically, a cron job contains a series of simple tasks that the system runs from a script file.

Add a cron job

To create a cron job, perform the following steps:

1. Select the interval at which you wish to run the cron job from the appropriate menus, or enter the values in the text boxes.

   • Common Settings — Select a commonly-used interval. The system will configure the appropriate settings in the Minute, Hour, Day, Month, and Weekday text boxes for you.

   • Minute — The number of minutes between each time the cron job runs, or the minute of each hour on which you wish to run the cron job.

   • Hour — The number of hours between each time the cron job runs, or the hour of each day on which you wish to run the cron job.

   • Day — The number of days between each time the cron job runs, or the day of the month on which you wish to run the cron job.

   • Month — The number of months between each time the cron job runs, or the month of the year in which you wish to run the cron job.

   • Weekday — The days of the week on which you wish to run the cron job.

2. In the Command text box, enter the command that you wish the system to run.

   Important:

   • You must specify settings for the Minute, Hour, Day, Month, Weekday, and Command text boxes.

   • Exercise extreme caution when you use the rm command in a cron job. If you do not declare the correct options, you may delete your home directory’s data.

   • If your cron job runs a custom script, the script requires the execute permission. For more information, read Red Hat’s Linux Permissions documentation.

   Note:

   Specify the absolute path to the command that you wish to run. For example, if you wish to run the public_html/index.php file in your home directory, enter the following command:

   /home/user/public_html/index.php

    

    

3. Click Add New Cron Job.