Knowledgebase

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 email

The Cron Email section of the interface allows you to enter an email address for the system to send notifications when your cron jobs run. To set an email address, perform the following steps:

1. In the Email text box, enter the email address at which you wish to receive the notifications.
2. Click Update Email.

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 — This menu allows you to select a commonly-used interval. The system will configure the appropriate settings in the Minute, Hour, Day, Month, and Weekday text boxes for you.

     Note:

     If the wildcard characters (*) and intervals confuse you, this menu is an excellent way to learn how to configure the other fields.

   • Minute — Use this menu to select 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 — Use this menu to select 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 — Use this menu to select 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 — Use this menu to select 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 — Use this menu to select 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.

   Notes:

   • 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

   • To disable notifications for a specific cron job, add the following line to the command:

     >/dev/null 2>&1

   Important:

   • You must specify settings for the Minute, Hour, Day, Month, Weekday, and Commandtext 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.
3. Click Add New Cron Job.