This page will help you quickly and easily set up a cron job to run every 3 hours at 30 minutes past the hour.
The Cron Job/Crontab
To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:
30 */3 * * *
This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):
“Every 3 hours at 30 minutes past the hour.”
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 typically used for maintenance or administrative tasks, such as backing up data or updating software.
Crontab is a file that contains instructions for the cron daemon, which is a program that executes commands at specified intervals. Crontab files are typically edited with the crontab command, which allows users to create, edit, and delete their own crontab files.
Cron Fields
Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every 3 hours at 30 minutes past the hour“:
FUN FACT: Cron jobs can be used to automate just about any task that needs to be performed regularly – so get creative and see what you can come up with!.
Use Cases
You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every 3 hours at 30 minutes past the hour for several reasons, including:
- Checking for updates to a software package
- Deleting temporary files that are no longer needed
- Generating reports or analytics data
- Sending out reminders or notifications
Similar Cron Jobs
You might also want to run a crontab:
- every 2 hours
- every 5 hours
- every 3 hours
- every 12 hours
- every 7 hours
- every 11 hours
- every hour between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm
- every hour between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm
- every 1 hour at 50 minutes past the hour
FUN FACT: The most common way to edit cron jobs is using the crontab command – this stands for “cron table,” and it contains all the information about when your tasks should be executed..
Wrapping Up
In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every 3 hours at 30 minutes past the hour. 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.