The Cron Job/Crontab
To have your task run at this frequency, use the following cron:
30 5 */8 * *
This cron command translates to the following (in Human-Readable format):
“Every 8 days at 5:30 am.”
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.
Each user has their own crontab file, and the commands in this file are only executed by that particular user. The file contains instructions for the cron daemon. To edit your crontab file, you can use the crontab command.
Every cron job uses five fields. Here is an explanation of what each field does in this cron, which runs “every 8 days at 5:30 am“:
FUN FACT: Cron is typically used for things like system maintenance tasks, running backups etc..
You might want to set up a crontab or cron job to run every 8 days at 5:30 am for several reasons, including:
- sending a daily email with updated data to subscribers
- updating a remote database
- running a virus scan
- generating reports
Similar Cron Jobs
You might also want to run a crontab:
- every 9 days
- every 6 days
- every 2 days
- every 10 days
- every 4 days
- every 3 days
- every 8 days at 4:30 am
- every 4 days at 11:00 pm
FUN FACT: Cron is one of the most versatile tools in a Linux administrator’s toolbox..
In this article, you learned how to set up a cron job that runs every 8 days at 5:30 am. 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.