*/2 * * * *
Cron reads this as: every 2nd minute.
Next 5 runs
These times are in your browser's local time zone. Cron itself uses the server's zone, which on most cloud hosts is UTC. If the difference matters here, see time zones & DST.
- Calculating…
When to use this schedule
This is a middle ground for pollers that need to respond quickly but can do without the process churn of a run every minute. Because 2 divides 60 evenly, the runs land on even minutes (:00, :02, :04 and so on through :58) with no gap at the hour boundary.
What to watch out for
Step values restart at the top of every hour, so a step that divides 60, like 2, keeps the spacing even. A step that does not, such as 7, leaves a shorter gap between :56 and :00. If the job sometimes takes longer than two minutes, runs will overlap. Add flock -n and decide whether a skipped run is acceptable. */2 and 0-58/2 are equivalent here, and some linters prefer the explicit range.
The crontab line
*/2 * * * * /usr/local/bin/your-job.sh >> /var/log/your-job.log 2>&1Send the output to a log you will read. By default cron mails it, and on a host with no mail transport that mail is silently dropped. See the crontab guide for the surrounding syntax.
Related schedules
| Expression | Schedule |
|---|---|
* * * * * | Every minute |
*/5 * * * * | Every 5 minutes |
*/10 * * * * | Every 10 minutes |
Build your own
If this page doesn't cover the schedule you need, compose it field by field in the visual builder, or paste an expression you already have into the explainer for a per-field breakdown. The examples library has sixty schedules in one place, and the guides cover crontab syntax, time zones, troubleshooting and production practices.