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Cron Job Every 20 Minutes (Crontab)

This page will help you quickly and easily set up a cron job to run every 20 minutes.

The Cron Job/Crontab

To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:

*/20 * * * *

This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):

“Every 20 minutes.”

What is a Cron Job & Crontab?

Crontab files are typically stored in the /etc/crontab file, but they can also be stored in individual user’s home directories. To edit your own crontab file, you can use the command “crontab -e”. This will open up the file in your default text editor.

Cron Fields

Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every 20 minutes“:

  • Field 1: (*/20) indicates that the task will be run every 20 minutes.
  • Field 2: (*) indicates that the task will be run every hour.
  • Field 3: (*) indicates that the task will be run every day of the month.
  • Field 4: (*) indicates that the task will be run every month.
  • Field 5: (*) indicates that the task will be run every day of the week.
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    FUN FACT: When editing your crontab, it is important to use a text editor that supports Unix-style line endings (LF), as opposed to Windows-style line endings (CRLF)..

    Use Cases

    You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every 20 minutes for several reasons, including:

    • Run a backup every 20 minutes
    • Perform maintenance tasks every 20 minutes
    • Check for new data every 20 minutes
    • Refresh caches every 20 minutes

    Similar Cron Jobs

    You might also want to run a crontab:

    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 20 minutes. 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 crontab cheat sheet for a list of hundreds of popular cron jobs.

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