crontab.xml — Cron Job Declarations

crontab.xml declares scheduled tasks that run at specified intervals.

Basic crontab.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:module:Magento_Cron:etc/crontab.xsd">
    <group id="default">
        <job name="vendor_product_sync" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\ProductSync" method="execute">
            <schedule>* * * * *</schedule>
        </job>
    </group>
</config>

Job attributes:

• name — Unique job identifier
• instance — PHP class implementing the job
• method — Method to call (usually execute)

Schedule element:

<!-- Cron expression -->
<schedule>* * * * *</schedule>

<!-- Or reference config value -->
<schedule config_path="vendor_module/cron/schedule"/></schedule>

Multiple jobs:

<group id="default">
    <job name="vendor_sync" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\Sync" method="execute">
        <schedule>*/5 * * * *</schedule>
    </job>
    <job name="vendor_cleanup" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\Cleanup" method="execute">
        <schedule>0 2 * * *</schedule>
    </job>
    <job name="vendor_report" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\Report" method="execute">
        <schedule>0 0 * * 0</schedule>
    </job>
</group>

Cron expressions define when jobs run using a 5-field format.

Format:

┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, Sunday=0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Common expressions:

* * * * *           Every minute
*/5 * * * *         Every 5 minutes
0 * * * *           Every hour
0 0 * * *           Every day at midnight
0 2 * * *           Every day at 2 AM
0 0 * * 0           Every Sunday at midnight
0 0 1 * *           First day of every month
*/15 * * * *        Every 15 minutes
0 9-17 * * *        Every hour from 9 AM to 5 PM

Special characters:

*    Any value
,    List (1,3,5)
-    Range (1-5)
/    Step (*/5 = every 5)

Examples:

0 0 * * *           Daily at midnight
*/10 * * * *        Every 10 minutes
0 */2 * * *         Every 2 hours
0 9 * * 1-5         Weekdays at 9 AM
0 0 1,15 * *        1st and 15th of month

Config-based schedule:

<job name="vendor_sync" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\Sync" method="execute">
    <schedule config_path="vendor_module/cron/schedule"/>
</job>

// In config.xml
<default>
    <vendor_module>
        <cron>
            <schedule>*/10 * * * *</schedule>
        </cron>
    </vendor_module>
</default>

Cron job classes implement the scheduled task logic.

Basic cron job:

<?php
namespace Vendor\Module\Cron;

use Magento\Framework\Logger\Monolog\Logger;

class ProductSync
{
    public function __construct(
        private Logger $logger,
        private \Vendor\Module\Service\SyncService $syncService
    ) {}
    
    public function execute(): void
    {
        $this->logger->info('Product sync cron started');
        
        try {
            $this->syncService->syncProducts();
            $this->logger->info('Product sync completed');
        } catch (\Exception $e) {
            $this->logger->error('Product sync failed: ' . $e->getMessage());
        }
    }
}

Cron with return status:

public function execute()
{
    try {
        $this->processItems();
        return true; // Success
    } catch (\Exception $e) {
        $this->logger->error($e->getMessage());
        return false; // Failure
    }
}

Running cron manually:

# Run all cron jobs
php bin/magento cron:run

# Run specific group
php bin/magento cron:run --group default

# Check cron status
php bin/magento cron:status

Cron logging:

-- Check cron job history
SELECT * FROM cron_schedule ORDER BY executed_at DESC LIMIT 10;

-- Find pending jobs
SELECT * FROM cron_schedule WHERE status = 'pending';

-- Find failed jobs
SELECT * FROM cron_schedule WHERE status = 'error';

Cron groups allow organizing jobs and controlling execution frequency.

Custom cron group:

<!-- etc/crontab.xml -->
<config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:module:Magento_Cron:etc/crontab.xsd">
    
    <!-- Default group -->
    <group id="default">
        <job name="vendor_cleanup" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\Cleanup" method="execute">
            <schedule>0 2 * * *</schedule>
        </job>
    </group>
    
    <!-- Custom group -->
    <group id="vendor_import">
        <job name="vendor_import_products" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\ImportProducts" method="execute">
            <schedule>*/15 * * * *</schedule>
        </job>
        <job name="vendor_import_orders" instance="Vendor\Module\Cron\ImportOrders" method="execute">
            <schedule>*/30 * * * *</schedule>
        </job>
    </group>
</config>

Cron group configuration:

<!-- etc/cron_groups.xml -->
<config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:module:Magento_Cron:etc/cron_groups.xsd">
    <group id="vendor_import">
        <schedule_generate_every>15</schedule_generate_every>
        <schedule_ahead_for>20</schedule_ahead_for>
        <schedule_lifetime>15</schedule_lifetime>
        <history_cleanup_every>10</history_cleanup_every>
        <history_success_lifetime>60</history_success_lifetime>
        <history_failure_lifetime>480</history_failure_lifetime>
        <use_group>
            <group>default</group>
        </use_group>
    </group>
</config>

Group attributes:

• schedule_generate_every — Minutes between schedule generation
• schedule_ahead_for — How far ahead to generate schedules
• schedule_lifetime — Minutes a schedule item stays valid
• history_cleanup_every — Minutes between history cleanup
• history_success_lifetime — Minutes to keep success records
• history_failure_lifetime — Minutes to keep failure records

Running specific group:

php bin/magento cron:run --group vendor_import