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Run cronjobs at random times

You can run your cronjobs at random times with FastCron to:

  • Spread your load evenly throughout the day.
  • Do scheduled tasks (like sending emails, creating posts, etc) at a random time so they don’t look like automated actions.

Anyway, we make it really simple for you to run your cronjobs randomly.

Run cronjobs at random times

Run cronjob every day, at a random time

To run your cronjob once a day, at a random time, follow this instructions:

  • Click new Cron Job
  • Select When to call: Every day
  • Click the Crontab button
  • Select Random at both the Minute and Hour field
  • Save your cronjob.

Your cronjob expression will be R R * * *.

You can now click the Logs button, then visit the Queued tab:

Cron job runs at random times

As you can see, your cronjob is scheduled to run once a day, at a random time.

Limit the time range

After selecting Random in the Hour field, you can also select desired Hour values to run your cronjobs at.

For example, if you’d like to run your cronjob once from 8 AM to 5 PM, select all the values from 8 to 16.

Your cronjob will now run randomly once a day, during 8:00 AM to 4:59 PM.

The cron expression is now R R,8-16 * * *.

Run several random times a day

You can also make your cronjobs run several times a day, at random time.

Just click the Expression button, then enter the expression R R3 * * *.

It’ll make your cronjobs run 3 times a day. See the queued executions below:

Run cronjobs 3 times a day

You can combine both and use the expression R R4,8-11,13-16 * * *. This will run your cronjobs 4 times a day, randomly between 8:00 and 11:59, and between 13:00 and 16:59.

Run cronjob every hour, at random times

To run your cronjob every hour, at a random time, follow this instructions:

  • Click new Cron Job
  • Select When to call: Every hour
  • Click the Crontab button
  • Select Random at the Minute field
  • Save your cronjob.

Your cronjob expression will be R * * * *.

Limit the time range

After selecting Random in the Minute field, you can also select desired Minute values to run your cronjobs at.

For example, the expression R,1-7 9 * * * will run your cronjob once a day between 9:01 to 9:07.