Start cron job from 06:05 until 22:05 for every 15 minutes
I need to run a cron job every 15 minutes starting at 06:05 and ending at 22:05.
0 5/15 6-22 * * *
The following syntax includes 22:35 and 22:50.
Any idea how to achieve this? Is this possible with one line or do I need to configure multiple?
*/15 6-22 * * * /path/to/script
OR
5,20,35,50 6-22 * * * /path/to/script
A field may be an asterisk (*), which always stands for "first-last". Ranges of numbers are allowed. Ranges are two numbers separated with a hyphen. The specified range is inclusive. For example, 8-11 for an "hours" entry specifies execution at hours 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Lists are allowed. A list is a set of numbers (or ranges) separated by commas. Examples: "1,2,5,9", "0-4,8-12".
Step values can be used in conjunction with ranges. Following a range with "" specifies skips of the number's value through the range. For example, "0-23/2" can be used in the hours field to specify command execution every other hour (the alternative in the V7 standard is "0,2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22"). Steps are also permitted after an asterisk, so if you want to say "every two hours", just use "*/2".
Names can also be used for the "month" and "day of week" fields. Use the first three letters of the particular day or month (case doesn't matter). Ranges or lists of names are not allowed.
The "sixth" field (the rest of the line) specifies the command to be run. The entire command portion of the line, up to a newline or % character, will be executed by /bin/sh or by the shell specified in the SHELL variable of the cronfile. Percent-signs (%) in the command, unless escaped with backslash (), will be changed into newline characters, and all data after the first % will be sent to the command as standard input.
Note: The day of a command's execution can be specified by two fields - day of month, and day of week. If both fields are restricted (ie, aren't *), the command will be run when either field matches the current time. For example, "30 4 1,15 * 5" would cause a command to be run at 4:30 am on the 1st and 15th of each month, plus every Friday.
I personally would split it in two lines:
5-50/15 6-21 * * * /path/to/script
5 22 * * * /path/to/script
First line to cover 0605-2150, second - for additional run at 2205.
If you really want one liner I would go for inexact check to accomodate possible inexact job start time:
5-50/15 6-22 * * * [[ $(date +"\%-H\%M") -le 2210 ]] && /path/to/script