Home › Kubernetes CronJob Expression Generator

Kubernetes CronJob Expression Generator

Generate cron expressions for Kubernetes CronJob resources. Kubernetes uses standard 5-field Linux cron syntax - the difference is in how you configure timezone, concurrency and missed jobs.

Validator Syntax Examples

Kubernetes CronJob Schedule Generator

Standard 5-field cron syntax. Build your schedule below and copy it directly into your Kubernetes manifest.

Quick presets

Minute

Hour

Day

Month

Weekday

* * * * *

Runs every minute

Kubernetes manifest snippet

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: my-cronjob
spec:
  schedule: "* * * * *"
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: my-job
            image: my-image:latest
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

Kubernetes CronJob Timezone

By default, Kubernetes CronJobs run in the timezone of the kube-controller-manager - usually UTC. Since Kubernetes 1.27, you can set a timezone per CronJob using the timeZone field. See the official Kubernetes CronJob docs.

spec:
  schedule: "0 9 * * 1-5"
  timeZone: "Europe/Madrid"

If your cluster runs an older version, the only option is to convert your schedule to UTC manually.

ConcurrencyPolicy

Policy	Behaviour
`Allow`	New job starts even if previous is still running (default)
`Forbid`	Skips new job if previous is still running
`Replace`	Cancels current job and starts a new one

Use Forbid for jobs that must not run concurrently (database maintenance, file processing). Use Allow for independent jobs where overlap is acceptable.

Common Kubernetes Cron Examples

Every 5 minutes

*/5 * * * *

Daily database backup at 2 AM

0 2 * * *

Weekdays at 9 AM

0 9 * * 1-5

First of month at midnight

0 0 1 * *