Cron Every 2 Minutes
Set up a cron job that runs every 2 minutes with the expression */2 * * * *. Complete field-by-field explanation and practical examples.
Cron Expression
*/2 * * * *
Field Breakdown
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | */2 | Every 2nd minute |
| Hour | * | Every hour (0–23) |
| Day of Month | * | Every day of the month (1–31) |
| Month | * | Every month (1–12) |
| Day of Week | * | Every day of the week (Sun–Sat) |
Detailed Explanation
The cron expression */2 * * * * schedules a task to run once every two minutes, continuously throughout every day.
Field-by-field breakdown:
*/2(Minute): Every 2nd minute, starting from minute 0. The step value/2causes execution at minutes 0, 2, 4, 6, ..., 56, 58.*(Hour): Every hour from 0 through 23. No restriction on which hour.*(Day of Month): Every day from 1 through 31. No restriction on the day of the month.*(Month): Every month from January through December. No restriction on the month.*(Day of Week): Every day of the week from Sunday through Saturday. No restriction on the day.
This means your task will execute 720 times per day, or 30 times per hour. This is half the frequency of running every minute but still quite aggressive. Make sure your scheduled task is lightweight and completes quickly to avoid performance degradation over time. Monitor resource usage carefully if this schedule runs resource-intensive scripts. This expression is supported by standard cron on Linux/macOS, as well as cloud services like AWS CloudWatch, Google Cloud Scheduler, and GitHub Actions.
Use Case
Useful for polling an external API for new messages or events when near-real-time processing is needed but every-minute polling is excessive.
Try It — Interactive Builder
Every 2 minutes
Next 10 Executions
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