Cron Job Every 12 Minutes (Crontab)

This page will help you quickly and easily set up a cron job to run every 12 minutes.

The Cron Job/Crontab

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

*/12 * * * *

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

“Every 12 minutes.”

What is a Cron Job & Crontab?

A cron job is a time-based task that is set to run at specific intervals. This can be anything from running a script every hour to backing up a database every day. Cron jobs are typically used for maintenance or automation purposes.

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 12 minutes“:

Field 1: (*/12) indicates that the task will be run every 12 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.

 

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 minutes for several reasons, including:

• Checking the status of a long-running process
• Sending out reminders
• Archiving data
• Generating reports

Similar Cron Jobs

You might also want to run a crontab:

• every 4 minutes
• every 19 minutes
• every 12 minutes
• every 22 minutes
• every minute between 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm
• every minute between 8:00 am and 11:00 am

FUN FACT: Cron is one of the most versatile tools in a Linux administrator’s toolbox..

Wrapping Up

In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every 12 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.