Cron Jobs
4 minute read.
Last Modified 2021-07-30 09:07 EDTTrueNAS allows users to run specific commands or scripts on a regular schedule using cron(8). This can be helpful for running repetitive tasks.
To create a cron job, go to Tasks > Cron Jobs and click ADD.
The Description helps identify the cron job’s purpose and is optional.
Next, enter the exact Command to run on the Schedule. Alternately, enter the path to a script file to run instead of a specific command.
Don’t forget to define the shell type when using a path to a script file. For example, a script written forshmust be specified assh /mnt/pool1/helloWorld.sh.
Select an existing TrueNAS user account with the necessary permissions to run the command or script.
Next, define the Command Schedule. Various preset schedules are available. There is also an advanced scheduler for very specific schedule requirements.
Choosing a preset fills in the rest of the fields.
To customize a schedule, enter crontab values for the Minutes/Hours/Days.
These fields accept standard cron values. The simplest option is to enter a single number in the field. The task runs when the time value matches that number. For example, entering 10 means that the job runs when the time is ten minutes past the hour.
An asterisk (*) means “match all values”.
Specific time ranges are set by entering hyphenated number values. For example, entering 30-35 in the Minutes field sets the task to run at minutes 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35.
Lists of values can also be entered.
Enter individual values separated by a comma (,).
For example, entering 1,14 in the Hours field means the task runs at 1:00 AM (0100) and 2:00 PM (1400).
A slash (/) designates a step value.
For example, while entering * in Days means the task runs every day of the month, */2 means the task runs every other day.
Combining all the above examples together creates a schedule running a task each minute from 1:30-1:35 AM and 2:30-2:35 PM every other day.
There is an option to select which Months the task runs. Leaving each month unset is the same as selecting every month.
The Days of Week schedules the task to run on specific days. This is in addition to any listed Days. For example, entering 1 in Days and setting Wed for Days of Week creates a schedule that starts a task on the first day of the month and every Wednesday of the month.
The Schedule Preview shows when the current settings mean the task runs.
| Syntax | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| * | Every item. | * (minutes) = every minute of the hour. * (days) = every day. |
| */N | Every Nth item. | */15 (minutes) = every 15th minute of the hour (every quarter hour). */3 (days) = every 3rd day. */3 (months) = every 3rd month. |
| Comma and hyphen/dash | Each stated item (comma) Each item in a range (hyphen/dash). | 1,31 (minutes) = on the 1st and 31st minute of the hour. 1-3,31 (minutes) = on the 1st to 3rd minutes inclusive, and the 31st minute, of the hour. mon-fri (days) = every Monday to Friday inclusive (every weekday). mar,jun,sep,dec (months) = every March, June, September, December. |
Days can be specified as days of month, or days of week.
With these options, flexible schedules can be created similar to these examples:
| Desired schedule | Values to enter |
|---|---|
| 3 times a day (at midnight, 08:00 and 16:00) | months=*; days=*; hours=0/8 or 0,8,16; minutes=0 (Meaning: every day of every month, when hours=0/8/16 and minutes=0) |
| Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 8.30 pm | months=*; days=mon,wed,fri; hours=20; minutes=30 |
| 1st and 15th day of the month, during October to June, at 00:01 am | months=oct-dec,jan-jun; days=1,15; hours=0; minutes=1 |
| Every 15 minutes during the working week, which is 8am - 7pm (08:00 - 19:00) Monday to Friday | Note that this requires two tasks to achieve: (1) months=*; days=mon-fri; hours=8-18; minutes=*/15 (2) months=*; days=mon-fri; hours=19; minutes=0 We need the second scheduled item, to execute at 19:00, otherwise we would stop at 18:45. Another workaround would be to stop at 18:45 or 19:45 rather than 19:00. |
Additional Options:
When Hide standard output (stdout) is unset, any standard output is mailed to the user account used to run the command.
When Hide Standard Error (stderr) is unset, any error output is mailed to the user account used to run the command. This can be useful to help debug the command or script if an error occurs.
Unsetting Enabled only keeps the task from automatically running. You can still save the cron job and run it manually.
To see all created cron jobs, go to Tasks > Cron Jobs. Click the next to an entry to see details and options.
Clicking RUN NOW immediately starts the job Command, separately from any Schedule. EDIT changes any setting available during task creation. DELETE removes the cron job from TrueNAS. Once a cron job is deleted, the job configuration cannot be restored.