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Run a Job Every X Minutes with Cron

How to express fixed and stepped minute intervals in a cron schedule.

By Gampangin· Published · Updated · Reviewed by Gampangin· 1 min read· Cron

AI-assisted draft. Editorial responsibility: Gampangin.

Cron expresses intervals with a step value in the minute field. A step starts at the first value in the range, so the schedule can surprise you if you expect it to count from the last run.

01Steps

  • Pick the interval in minutes.
  • Write the minute field as */X for every X minutes.
  • Keep the remaining fields at * unless you need a narrower window.
  • Confirm when the first run fires relative to now.

02Limitations

Assumes Vixie-style cron and does not protect against overlapping runs when a job takes longer than its interval.

Sources

  1. crontab(5) — Linux manual page — man7.org (accessed 2026-09-01)
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