This page will help you quickly and easily set up a cron job to run every 8 hours.
The Cron Job/Crontab
To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:
0 */8 * * *
This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):
“Every 8 hours.”
What is a Cron Job & Crontab?
A cron job is a time-based task that is set to run at a specific time or interval. These jobs are usually used for automating tasks, such as running backups or sending emails. Cron is the name of the program that enables users to schedule these jobs.
A crontab is a file that contains a list of commands to be executed by the cron daemon. The commands in the crontab are executed at the specified times.
Cron Fields
Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every 8 hours“:
FUN FACT: Cron jobs are automated processes that run on a schedule..
Use Cases
You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every 8 hours for several reasons, including:
- Checking for new emails
- Checking for updates to installed software
- Generating reports
- Running backups
Similar Cron Jobs
You might also want to run a crontab:
- every 5 hours
- every 4 hours
- every 1 hour
- every 12 hours
- every hour between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm
- every 12 hours at 10 minutes past the hour
FUN FACT: Each user on a system can have their own crontab, and commands in them will be executed as that user..
Wrapping Up
In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every 8 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.