Abstrax

Cron

The cron command group manages scheduled jobs. Abstrax writes each job as a file in /etc/cron.d, named abstrax-<id>. This keeps Abstrax-managed jobs separate from hand-written crontabs.

abstrax cron <action> [arguments] [flags]

Permissions

add, remove, and modify require root because they write to /etc/cron.d. The list, info, enable, and disable commands do not enforce a root check in code, but writing to or reading the cron files may still require root depending on file permissions.

Cron job IDs

A cron job is identified by an ID you choose. The ID may contain letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens, up to 64 characters.

cron add

Add a new cron job. You must provide a command and a schedule.

abstrax cron add <id> --command="<command>" (--schedule="..." | frequency flag) [flags]

Required

  • --command - the command to run. If omitted, the command fails with --command is required.
  • A schedule, provided either with --schedule or one of the frequency flags. If neither is given, the command fails with --schedule or a frequency flag is required.

Schedule flags

Provide a raw cron expression, or use a convenience flag:

Flag Equivalent expression
--every-minute * * * * *
--every-five-minutes */5 * * * *
--every-ten-minutes */10 * * * *
--every-fifteen-minutes */15 * * * *
--every-thirty-minutes */30 * * * *
--hourly 0 * * * *
--daily 0 0 * * *
--weekly 0 0 * * 0
--monthly 0 0 1 * *
--yearly 0 0 1 1 *
--schedule A custom 5-field cron expression

A --schedule value takes priority. It must have exactly 5 fields (minute, hour, day, month, weekday) or it is rejected.

Other flags

Flag Default Description
--user root User to run the job as
--output Redirect stdout to this file
--error-output Redirect stderr to this file
--append-output false Append output instead of overwriting
--discard-output false Discard all output
--working-dir Working directory for the command
--env Environment variable as KEY=VALUE (repeatable)
--enabled true Create the job enabled
--disabled false Create the job disabled

Examples

sudo abstrax cron add backup --command="/usr/local/bin/backup.sh" --daily --user=root
sudo abstrax cron add report --command="php artisan report" --schedule="0 8 * * 1" --user=www-data
sudo abstrax cron add queue --command="php artisan queue:work" --every-minute
sudo abstrax cron add cleanup --command="/usr/local/bin/cleanup.sh" --daily \
  --output=/var/log/cleanup.log --env=APP_ENV=production

Example output

Cron job backup created.
  Schedule: 0 0 * * *
  User:     root
  Command:  /usr/local/bin/backup.sh
  File:     /etc/cron.d/abstrax-backup

cron remove

Remove a managed cron job by ID.

sudo abstrax cron remove <id>

cron modify

Change an existing job. Only the fields you pass are updated.

sudo abstrax cron modify <id> [flags]
Flag Description
--user Change the user
--command Change the command
--schedule Change the schedule (validated as a 5-field expression)
--output Change stdout redirection
--error-output Change stderr redirection
--working-dir Change the working directory
--env Set an environment variable as KEY=VALUE (repeatable) 
sudo abstrax cron modify backup --schedule="0 3 * * *"

cron list

List managed cron jobs.

abstrax cron list

ID       SCHEDULE       USER       ENABLED   COMMAND
backup   0 0 * * *      root       yes       /usr/local/bin/backup.sh
queue    * * * * *      www-data   yes       php artisan queue:work

cron info

Show details for a single job.

abstrax cron info backup

  ID:        backup
  Schedule:  0 0 * * *
  User:      root
  Command:   /usr/local/bin/backup.sh
  Enabled:   yes
  File:      /etc/cron.d/abstrax-backup

cron enable and cron disable

Enable or disable a job without removing it.

abstrax cron enable backup
abstrax cron disable backup

Notes

  • Only jobs created by Abstrax (files named abstrax-<id> in /etc/cron.d) are listed and managed. Existing system crontabs are not touched.
  • The --schedule value must be a standard 5-field cron expression. Abstrax checks the field count but does not deeply validate each field's syntax.