Cron job examples & use cases

Cron jobs shine when you need simple, time-based automation: run a script every night, send a report every week, or clean up logs every hour. Below are practical cron job examples with ready-to-paste code for Linux crontab, Kubernetes CronJob, and GitHub Actions.

If you're new to cron syntax, start with what is a cron job and crontab syntax & format.

Example 1: Nightly database backup at 02:00

A classic cron job: run a backup script once per night when load is low. This job runs every day at 02:00 server time.

Linux crontab

# 0 2 * * * = every day at 02:00
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup-db.sh >> /var/log/backup-db.log 2>&1

Kubernetes CronJob

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: nightly-db-backup
spec:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"  # 02:00 every day
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          restartPolicy: OnFailure
          containers:
            - name: backup
              image: alpine:3.19
              command: ["sh", "-lc", "/scripts/backup-db.sh"]
              volumeMounts:
                - name: scripts
                  mountPath: /scripts
          volumes:
            - name: scripts
              configMap:
                name: backup-scripts

GitHub Actions

name: Nightly database backup

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 2 * * *"  # 02:00 UTC

jobs:
  backup:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Run backup script
        run: ./scripts/backup-db.sh

Example 2: Weekday report at 09:00

Many teams send internal reports each morning. This job runs at 09:00 on weekdays (Monday–Friday).

Linux crontab

# 0 9 * * 1-5 = 09:00 Monday–Friday
0 9 * * 1-5 /usr/local/bin/send-daily-report.sh \
  >> /var/log/daily-report.log 2>&1

Kubernetes CronJob

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: weekday-report-0900
spec:
  schedule: "0 9 * * 1-5"  # 09:00 weekdays
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          restartPolicy: OnFailure
          containers:
            - name: report
              image: node:20-alpine
              command: ["node", "/app/send-report.js"]

GitHub Actions

name: Weekday 09:00 report

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 9 * * 1-5"  # 09:00 UTC, Monday–Friday

jobs:
  report:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Send report
        run: node scripts/send-report.js

Example 3: Hourly log cleanup

Disk usage grows silently until it doesn't. This job removes log files older than 7 days every hour.

Linux crontab

# At minute 5 every hour
5 * * * * find /var/log/my-app -type f -mtime +7 -delete

Kubernetes CronJob

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: log-cleanup-hourly
spec:
  schedule: "5 * * * *"  # minute 5 every hour
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          restartPolicy: OnFailure
          containers:
            - name: cleanup
              image: alpine:3.19
              command:
                - sh
                - -lc
                - >
                  find /var/log/my-app -type f -mtime +7 -delete

Example 4: Health check every 5 minutes

Use a small cron job to probe an internal endpoint and emit metrics or logs if it's down.

Linux crontab

# Every 5 minutes
*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/health-check.sh \
  >> /var/log/health-check.log 2>&1

GitHub Actions (public endpoint)

name: Uptime check

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "*/5 * * * *"  # every 5 minutes

jobs:
  ping:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check status page
        run: |
          curl -fsS https://status.example.com/health || exit 1

Example 5: Monthly billing job on the 1st

Run billing or invoicing logic on the first day of each month at 01:30.

Linux crontab

# 30 1 1 * * = 01:30 on the 1st of every month
30 1 1 * * /usr/local/bin/run-billing.sh \
  >> /var/log/billing.log 2>&1

EventBridge / Quartz-style cron

# seconds minutes hours dayOfMonth month dayOfWeek year(optional)
# 0 30 1 1 * ? * = 01:30 on the 1st of every month
ScheduleExpression: "cron(0 30 1 1 * ? *)"

Design cron jobs that scale with you

Start with a clear use case, then pick a schedule and platform that matches. For each cron job, aim to:

Use a readable cron expression.
Keep the command simple and delegate logic to scripts.
Log output somewhere easy to inspect.
Monitor exit codes and last successful run.

For more guidance, see cron best practices and cron logging & logs.

Explore common cron expressions

Our expression pages include visual calendars, natural-language explanations, and platform-specific snippets:

Every minute Every 5 minutes Every hour Daily at 09:00 Weekdays at 09:00 Sundays at 02:00