Cron Job Cheatsheet

Edit or create a crontab file

$ crontab -e

Tip: Check our Linux commands cheatsheet for more text editor options.

Display the crontab file

$ crontab -l

Remove the crontab file

$ crontab -r

Display another user's crontab file

$ crontab -u username -l

Edit another user's crontab file

$ crontab -u username -e

Display last time you edited your crontab file

$ crontab -v

* Asterisk (*)

Represents all potential values in a field. For example, an asterisk in the Minute column means "every minute".

- Hyphen (-)

Used to determine a range of values. For example, write 1-5 in the Weekday field to schedule a task from Monday through Friday.

/ Slash (/)

Used to split a value. For instance, */5 in the Hours field signifies "every 5 hours".

, Comma (,)

Used to list numerous values. Writing 1,5 in the Day of the week field schedules the task to be executed every Monday and Friday.

L Last (L)

Used in the month and weekday fields. Writing 6L in the day-of-week field, for example, signifies "the last Saturday of the month".

W Weekday (W)

Used to get the closest weekday from a given time. For instance, entering 1W in the day-of-month field will execute the command on the following Monday (the 3rd).

# Hash (#)

Only valid in the Day-of-week field, followed by a number between 1 and 5. For example, 5#2 denotes "the second Friday" of a given month.

? Question mark (?)

Can be used instead of '*' in the Day of Month and Day of Week fields. Use this operator to enter "no specified value" for the "day of the month" and "day of the week" fields.