This page will help you quickly and easily set up a cron job to run every 12 hours.
The Cron Job/Crontab
To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:
0 */12 * * *
This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):
“Every 12 hours.”
What is a Cron Job & Crontab?
A cron job is a task that is scheduled to run at a specific time or interval. Cron jobs are commonly used to automate system maintenance or administration tasks, such as running backups or sending emails.
The crontab is a file that contains instructions for the cron daemon. The crontab is typically edited using the crontab command.
Cron Fields
Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every 12 hours“:
FUN FACT: One common use for cron jobs is to send out email reminders or notifications based on certain events (such as an upcoming deadline)..
Use Cases
You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every 12 hours for several reasons, including:
- Automatically backing up a database
- Generating reports
- Checking for system updates
- Sending out reminders
Similar Cron Jobs
You might also want to run a crontab:
- every 3 hours
- every 11 hours
- every 7 hours
- every 5 hours
- every 10 hours
- every hour between 2:00 am and 3:00 am
- every hour between 3:00 am and 8:00 pm
- every hour between 12:00 am and 5:00 pm
FUN FACT: Cron jobs are named after the Greek god Chronos, who represents time itself..
Wrapping Up
In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every 12 hours. Please share this page with friends and colleagues if you find it useful.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment below.
If you are looking for cron jobs that run at certain minutes, hours, days, weekdays, or months, or if you are looking for miscellaneous cron jobs, then check out our relevant sections, or visit our cron job cheat sheet for a list of hundreds of popular cron jobs.
