Skip to content
FastCron FastCron Docs

How to run PHP cronjobs

About PHP

PHP is one of the most popular web programming languages. It lets you quickly create and improve websites, from a simple one-page website to full content management system like WordPress or an ever-changing SaaS.

Run PHP cronjobs via crontab

You may need to do periodic update to your website, e.g. cleaning up inactive users, creating backups, etc.

To do so, create a PHP script to work your magic. Let’s save it as cron.php. You can then set up cronjobs using your hosting’s Cron Jobs feature, or run crontab -e on your server.

The cronjob will look like this

Terminal window
30 7 * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/cron.php

This will run your cronjob once a day at 7:30.

If you can run your script via a browser, use curl to run it:

Terminal window
30 7 * * * curl https://example.com/backend/cron.php

A better way to run PHP cron

There are several free cronjob services to run your PHP script. Why they are better:

  • Know when your cronjob is executed
  • Check last execution results including HTTP status, execution time, and output
  • Receive email notifications when your cronjob fails
  • and many more features.

To set up cronjob for your PHP script at FastCron, follow these steps:

  • Log in to your account.
  • Click new Cron Job button.
  • Enter your cronjob URL e.g. https://example.com/backend/cron.php into URL to call.
  • Select When to call: Every day or your desired time interval.
  • Then Save and run cronjob.