SchedulerX uses cron expressions to define when recurring jobs run. A cron expression specifies exact timing -- every minute, every weekday at noon, or on the last Friday of each month -- so you can automate job execution on a precise schedule. Jobs can be scripts or commands.
The Professional Edition supports second-level scheduling with cron expressions.
The Basic Edition does not support second-level scheduling with cron expressions. Use
second_delayinstead.
Cron expression format
A SchedulerX cron expression contains six required fields and one optional field:
# ┌──────────── second (0-59)
# │ ┌────────── minute (0-59)
# │ │ ┌──────── hour (0-23)
# │ │ │ ┌────── day of month (1-31)
# │ │ │ │ ┌──── month (1-12)
# │ │ │ │ │ ┌── day of week (1-7 or SUN-SAT)
# │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌ year (optional)
# │ │ │ │ │ │ │
# * * * * * ? *Seconds Minutes Hours Day Month Week [Year]
Field definitions
| Field | Required | Values | Allowed special characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seconds | Yes | 0-59 | , - * / |
| Minutes | Yes | 0-59 | , - * / |
| Hours | Yes | 0-23 | , - * / |
| Day of month | Yes | 1-31 | , - * ? / L W |
| Month | Yes | 1-12 or JAN-DEC | , - * / |
| Day of week | Yes | 1-7 or SUN-SAT | , - * ? L # |
| Year | No | 1970-2099 | , - * / |
Special characters
| Character | Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
* | Asterisk | Matches all values in the field. | * * * * * ? runs every second. |
? | Question mark | No specific value. Use in Day of month or Day of week when the other field is already set. | 0 0 12 ? * WED runs at 12:00 every Wednesday. |
- | Dash | Specifies a range. | 0 0 9-17 * * ? runs every hour from 09:00 to 17:00. |
, | Comma | Lists multiple values. | 0 0 10,14,16 * * ? runs at 10:00, 14:00, and 16:00. |
/ | Slash | Specifies increments. The value before the slash is the start; the value after is the step. | 0 0/5 * * * ? runs every 5 minutes starting at minute 0. |
L | Last | Last day of the month or last occurrence of a weekday. | 0 0 0 L * ? runs on the last day of each month. 0 0 0 ? * 6L runs on the last Friday of each month. |
W | Weekday | Nearest weekday to the given day of the month. | 0 0 0 15W * ? runs on the weekday nearest to the 15th. |
# | Hash | Specifies the nth occurrence of a weekday in the month. | 0 15 10 ? * 6#3 runs at 10:15 on the third Friday of each month. |
You cannot use*in both Day of month and Day of week in the same expression. If one field uses*, the other must use?.
Common examples
| Cron expression | When triggered |
|---|---|
0 */1 * * * ? | Every minute |
0 0/3 * * * ? | Every 3 minutes |
0 0/5 14 * * ? | Every 5 minutes from 14:00 to 14:55 |
0 0/5 14,18 * * ? | Every 5 minutes from 14:00 to 14:55 and from 18:00 to 18:55 |
0 0/30 9-17 * * ? | Every 30 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00 |
0 0-5 14 * * ? | Every minute from 14:00 to 14:05 |
0 0 5-15 * * ? | Once per hour from 05:00 to 15:00 |
0 0 10,14,16 * * ? | At 10:00, 14:00, and 16:00 |
0 0 12 ? * WED | At 12:00 every Wednesday |
0 0 17 ? * TUES,THUR,SAT | At 17:00 every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday |
0 10,44 14 ? 3 WED | At 14:10 and 14:44 every Wednesday in March |
0 15 10 ? * MON-FRI | At 10:15 on weekdays (Monday through Friday) |
0 0 23 L * ? | At 23:00 on the last day of each month |
0 15 10 L * ? | At 10:15 on the last day of each month |
0 15 10 ? * 6L | At 10:15 on the last Friday of each month |
0 15 10 * * ? 2005 | At 10:15 every day in 2005 |
0 15 10 ? * 6L 2002-2005 | At 10:15 on the last Friday of each month from 2002 to 2005 |
0 15 10 ? * 6#3 | At 10:15 on the third Friday of each month |
Configure a cron job in the console
To set a cron schedule for a job, configure the cron expression during job creation. For the full job creation process, see Create a job.
In the Create task wizard, go to the Timing configuration step.
Select cron from the Time type drop-down list.
Enter a cron expression. To generate a cron expression with the built-in tool:
Click Use the build tool.
Select a time period and a time point from the drop-down lists, then click Confirm. For example, to run a job at 03:00 every day, select the corresponding options.
Click Verify cron to preview the next five trigger times based on the expression.
(Optional) In the Advanced Configuration section, configure Time offset and Time zone.
Parameter Description Time offset The offset between the data timestamp and the job trigger time. Retrieve this value from the context when SchedulerX runs the job. Time zone The time zone for the cron schedule. Select a country or region time zone, or a GMT offset. Click Next Step to continue the job creation wizard.