Linux cron uses the standard 5-field format: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week. Build expressions visually with dropdowns and presets, see a human-readable description ('Every day at 3:00 AM'), and preview the next 5 execution times. Copy the final string into your crontab or systemd timer.
When to use this
Use for: scheduling cron jobs on your Linux server, writing crontab entries for ec2 / Digital Ocean / Linode VMs, creating systemd timers, scheduling backup scripts, automating daily / weekly / monthly reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my cron job not run when I expect?
Most common cause: cron uses the server's timezone (often UTC), not yours. Run `date` on the server to check. Other common issues: PATH variables not set in cron's restricted environment, output not redirected (mail bounces fill /var/mail), incorrect file permissions.
What's the difference between '0 * * * *' and '*/60 * * * *'?
'0 * * * *' = exactly at minute 0 of every hour (12:00, 1:00, 2:00...). '*/60 * * * *' should mean 'every 60 minutes' but cron doesn't actually support this - it interprets '*/60' as 'every 60th minute', which means just minute 0. Stick to '0 * * * *' or use '@hourly' for clarity.
Powered by Cron Expression Generator.