Cron Every 5 Minutes Example

A common five-field cron example with logging. Use absolute paths because cron has a minimal environment.

Crontab line 
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/app/artisan schedule:run >> /var/log/app-cron.log 2>&1

How to use this example

  1. Replace the command with your absolute binary and script paths.
  2. Redirect stdout and stderr to a log during testing.
  3. Confirm server timezone before relying on exact timing.

Notes

  • Classic cron does not include seconds.
  • Run the command manually as the same user before enabling cron.

Related tools and fixes

Cron Cron Expression Explainer

Explain common five-field cron expressions and catch basic schedule mistakes before adding a job to production.

 Time Unix Timestamp Converter

Convert Unix timestamps to readable dates, generate current timestamps and debug log, JWT and scheduling issues.

 Docker Docker Compose Generator

Generate starter docker-compose.yml snippets for common local development stacks.

 Cron Cron Job Not Running Fix

Cron failures often come from environment differences rather than the command itself. Reproduce with the same shell, paths and user.

Last updated: May 18, 2026