Cron Every Day at 1 AM
Run a cron job daily at 1 AM using the expression 0 1 * * *. Includes detailed field breakdown, real-world scenarios, and scheduling advice.
Cron Expression
0 1 * * *
Field Breakdown
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0 | At 0 |
| Hour | 1 | At 1 |
| 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 0 1 * * * schedules a task to run once per day at exactly 1:00 AM.
Field-by-field breakdown:
0(Minute): At minute 0. The task fires at the start of the hour.1(Hour): At hour 1 (1 AM). The task runs during the early morning hours when system load is typically low.*(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 once per day at 1:00 AM server time. Scheduling at 1 AM rather than midnight helps avoid the resource contention that often occurs at midnight when many cron jobs are configured to run simultaneously. This one-hour offset is a widely recommended best practice for non-time-critical daily jobs. The early morning timing ensures minimal impact on user-facing services. 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
Commonly used for running full database backups during low-traffic hours when the backup process will have minimal impact on application performance.
Try It — Interactive Builder
Every day at 1:00 AM
Next 10 Executions
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