This page will help you quickly and easily set up a cron job to run every minute between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.
The Cron Job/Crontab
To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:
* 9-16 * * *
This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):
“Every minute between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.”
What is a Cron Job & Crontab?
A cron job is a task that is scheduled to run at a specific time or interval. Cron is a Linux utility that enables users to schedule tasks to be executed automatically at a specified time or interval. A cron job is typically used to automate system maintenance or administration tasks, such as running backups or sending emails.
Crontab is a file that contains instructions for the cron daemon. The cron daemon is a program that runs in the background and executes tasks at specified times. The crontab file is used to specify which tasks are to be run and when they are to be run.
Cron Fields
Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every minute between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm“:
FUN FACT: When troubleshooting issues with cron jobs, it can be helpful to run them manually from the command line – this will allow you to see any error messages that might be generated..
Use Cases
You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every minute between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm for several reasons, including:
- A server-side process that needs to run every minute during business hours in order to check for new data
- An automated backup script that runs once per minute during business hours
- A monitoring script that runs every minute to check the status of various services
Similar Cron Jobs
You might also want to run a crontab:
- every 8 minutes
- every 6 minutes
- every 3 minutes
- every 9 minutes
- every minute between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm
- every minute between 4:00 am and 3:00 pm
FUN FACT: A common use for cron jobs is to generate periodic reports – for example, you could set up a cron job to automatically generate and send out a report on website traffic statistics every week..
Wrapping Up
In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every minute between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. 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.
