Cron Job Troubleshooter
Step-by-step interactive guide to diagnose and fix common cron job issues
Interactive Cron Troubleshooter
Let's diagnose why your cron job isn't working
Is your cron job running at all?
Check if the cron job appears to be executing on schedule
Common Cron Issues
- Environment differences: Cron has limited PATH and environment variables
- Permission issues: Script lacks execute permissions or wrong ownership
- Silent failures: No output redirection to capture errors
- Path issues: Relative paths that don't work in cron context
- Timezone confusion: Cron uses system timezone, not user timezone
Quick Debug Commands
Check if cron is running
systemctl status cronView cron logs
tail -f /var/log/cronList user cron jobs
crontab -lTest in cron environment
env -i /bin/sh -c 'your-script'Other Helpful Tools
Cron Tools
Visual Builder
Build cron expressions visually
Text to Cron
Convert natural language to cron
Expression Validator
Validate and test cron expressions
Timezone Converter
Convert cron times between timezones
Every X Minutes
Minute interval cron patterns
Every X Hours
Hourly cron scheduling patterns
Daily Schedules
Run jobs at specific times of day
Weekly Schedules
Weekday and day-of-week patterns
Monthly Schedules
Monthly, quarterly, and annual cron
Complex Patterns
Business hours and multi-schedule
Learning Resources
Guides, tutorials, and best practices
Preset Library
Browse 300+ cron expression presets
Validate and Convert
After fixing issues, validate your expression and preview next runs across time zones.
Other Helpful Tools
Cron Tools
Visual Builder
Build cron expressions visually
Text to Cron
Convert natural language to cron
Expression Validator
Validate and test cron expressions
Timezone Converter
Convert cron times between timezones
Every X Minutes
Minute interval cron patterns
Every X Hours
Hourly cron scheduling patterns
Daily Schedules
Run jobs at specific times of day
Weekly Schedules
Weekday and day-of-week patterns
Monthly Schedules
Monthly, quarterly, and annual cron
Complex Patterns
Business hours and multi-schedule
Learning Resources
Guides, tutorials, and best practices
Preset Library
Browse 300+ cron expression presets
Frequently Asked Questions
Cron is installed but my job never runs. Why?
Most failures come from PATH/environment differences. Use absolute paths, set PATH in crontab, and log output and errors to a file.
How do I see what cron is doing?
Check system logs (e.g., /var/log/cron or syslog) and add logging/redirects in your commands to capture stdout/stderr.
My script works manually but fails in cron.
Cron uses a minimal shell, so environment variables and working directories may differ. Source your environment or use absolute paths.