Cron Expression Cheatsheet

Q: What is the difference between 0 0 * * 0 and @weekly ?

They are equivalent. @weekly is a shorthand alias that expands to 0 0 * * 0 — midnight on Sunday. Aliases like @daily, @hourly, and @monthly work the same way.

All 5 cron fields, valid ranges, special characters, @-aliases, and Quartz extensions — on one page.

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Field Reference

Position	Field	Allowed values	Special chars
`1` Minute	minute	0–59	`* / - ,`
`2` Hour	hour	0–23	`* / - ,`
`3` Day of month	dom	1–31	`* / - , ?` (Quartz: `L W`)
`4` Month	month	1–12 or JAN–DEC	`* / - ,`
`5` Day of week	dow	0–6 or SUN–SAT	`* / - , ?` (Quartz: `L #`)
`0*` Second (Quartz)	sec	0–59	`* / - ,`

Special Characters

Character	Name	Meaning	Example
`*`	Wildcard	Every valid value	`* * * * *` → every minute
`/`	Step	Every Nth value	`/15 * * *` → every 15 min
`-`	Range	From–to (inclusive)	`9-17 * * * *` → 9am to 5pm
`,`	List	Specific values	`0,15,30,45 * * * *`
`?`	No value	Quartz only — "any" for dom or dow	`0 12 15 * ?`
`L`	Last	Quartz only — last day of month or week	`0 0 L * ?` → last day of month
`W`	Weekday	Quartz only — nearest weekday to given date	`0 0 15W * ?`
`#`	Nth weekday	Quartz only — Nth occurrence in month	`0 0 ? * 2#1` → 1st Monday

@-Aliases (Shorthand)

Alias	Equivalent expression	Description
`@yearly` / `@annually`	`0 0 1 1 *`	Once a year, midnight Jan 1
`@monthly`	`0 0 1 * *`	Once a month, midnight 1st
`@weekly`	`0 0 * * 0`	Once a week, midnight Sunday
`@daily` / `@midnight`	`0 0 * * *`	Once a day, midnight
`@hourly`	`0 * * * *`	Once an hour, :00
`@reboot`	—	On system startup (Linux cron only)

Jenkins H Modifier

Jenkins cron adds the H (hash) modifier. H is deterministic, not random — it computes a fixed offset from the job name hash, so the same job always runs at the same minute. This spreads load across the cluster without multiple jobs competing at :00.

Expression	Meaning
`H * * * *`	Once per hour at a fixed minute (e.g. always :17 for this job)
`H 9 * * 1-5`	Weekdays at some minute in the 9 o'clock hour (load-spread)
`H/15 * * * *`	Every 15 min from a hashed starting offset
`H(0-29) * * * *`	Every hour in the first 30 minutes
`TZ=America/New_York H 9 * * 1-5`	TZ= prefix overrides server timezone

Jenkins defaults to server local time (not UTC). Use the TZ= prefix to override. @-aliases (@daily, @weekly, etc.) are also supported.

30-Second Common Patterns

Expression	Meaning
`* * * * *`	Every minute
`/5 * * *`	Every 5 minutes
`0 * * * *`	Every hour at :00
`0 9 * * *`	Daily at 9:00 AM
`0 9 * * 1-5`	Weekdays at 9:00 AM
`0 0 * * 0`	Sundays at midnight
`0 0 1 * *`	1st of every month at midnight
`0 0 1 1 *`	January 1st at midnight
`0 2 * * *`	Daily at 2:00 AM (common for backups)
`0 9-17 * * 1-5`	Every hour during business hours (weekdays)

See these expressions in action → 30+ Templates or Explain any expression →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cron syntax for the last day of the month?

In standard Unix cron there is no built-in "last day" syntax. Use 28-31 and handle shorter months in your script, or switch to Quartz cron which supports L in the day-of-month field.

Can I use month names like JAN or weekday names like MON in cron?

Yes. Most cron implementations accept 3-letter abbreviations: JAN–DEC for months and SUN–SAT for weekdays. For example 0 0 1 JAN,JUL * fires on Jan 1 and Jul 1.

What is the difference between <code>0 0 * * 0</code> and <code>@weekly</code>?

They are equivalent. @weekly is a shorthand alias that expands to 0 0 * * 0 — midnight on Sunday. Aliases like @daily, @hourly, and @monthly work the same way.