Cron jobs are scheduled tasks that run at specified intervals, and they’re incredibly useful for automating repetitive tasks. Whether you’re a developer, system administrator, or just a macOS user looking to streamline some processes, understanding how to set up and manage cron jobs can save you a lot of time. In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to run cron jobs on macOS.

Step 1: Open Terminal

First, you need to open Terminal. You can find it by searching for “Terminal” in Spotlight (Cmd + Space) or navigating to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Step 2: Open the Crontab File

The crontab file is where you define your cron jobs. To edit your crontab file, use the following command:

crontab -e

If this is your first time editing the crontab file, you’ll be prompted to choose an editor. You can select nano for simplicity.

Step 3: Understand Cron Job Syntax

Cron jobs are defined using a specific syntax:

* * * * * script to run
- - - - -
| | | | |
| | | | ----- Day of the week (0 - 7) (Sunday=0 or 7)
| | | ------- Month (1 - 12)
| | --------- Day of the month (1 - 31)
| ----------- Hour (0 - 23)
------------- Minute (0 - 59)

Each field specifies the time and frequency of the job.

Step 4: Add Your Cron Job

To add a cron job, simply add a new line to the crontab file with the appropriate syntax. For example, to run a backup script every day at midnight, you would add:

Edit your crontab by running then add the line in the file

crontab -e

* * * * * cd "/path/to/your/laravel-project" && "/path/to/your/php" artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Then save the crontab entry by typing:

:wq

And hit enter.

Step 5: Verify Your Cron Job

crontab -l

It should display your crontab entry.

Step 6: Removing / Pausing cron entry

Start by editing the crontab again (crontab -e)

#* * * * * cd "/path/to/your/laravel-project" && "/path/to/your/php" artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Just add a # to comment-out an entry :)

Enjoy!