Crontab once a month, on the 1st at 0:00

0 0 1 * *

The cron expression 0 0 1 * * runs a task once a month, on the 1st at 0:00. A crontab line has five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. Copy the ready expression with the button above and paste it into your crontab.

Expression fields

Minute	Hour	Day of month	Month	Day of week
`0`	`0`	`1`	`*`	`*`
exactly 0	exactly 0	exactly 1	any	any

How often it runs

1 run per month
12 runs per year

Run time on those days: 00:00

FAQ

How to add 0 0 1 * * to crontab?

Open your cron jobs with crontab -e and add the following line, then save the file (the job will run once a month, on the 1st at 0:00):

0 0 1 * * /path/to/script.sh

What time does cron use?

Cron uses the server time. If the job is tied to an exact time, make sure the server timezone is set correctly.

Is there a shorthand for 0 0 1 * *?

Yes: @monthly. It is the same schedule as 0 0 1 * *. The common Linux cron implementations (cronie, Vixie cron) understand it, but not every scheduler does — in cloud services the full five-field form is the safer choice.

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