{"id":8066,"date":"2026-10-18T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/?post_type=support_article&p=8066"},"modified":"2026-10-18T12:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:00:12","slug":"what-cron-expression-to-use-on-elements-endpoint-protection-automated-task","status":"publish","type":"support_article","link":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/en\/support-articles\/what-cron-expression-to-use-on-elements-endpoint-protection-automated-task\/","title":{"rendered":"What CRON expression to use on Elements Endpoint Protection Automated Task ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Issue:<\/h3>\n

How to create a specific CRON expression for Elements Endpoint Protection Automated Tasks\u00a0<\/strong>feature. I what format should the CRON expression be in the schedule field?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Resolution:<\/h3>\n

Below you will find a detailed explanation of the format of schedule expressions.\u00a0A CRON expression is a string composed of four fields (separated by white spaces) that represent a time schedule.<\/p>\n

The general form is as follows:
<hours> <days of month> <months> <days of week><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
The following values are allowed for these fields:<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Field<\/th>\nAllowed value<\/th>\nAllowed special characters<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
hours<\/td>\n0-23<\/td>\n* , - #<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
days of month<\/td>\n1-31<\/td>\n* , - ? #<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
months<\/td>\n1-12<\/td>\n*<\/code> ,<\/code> -<\/code> #<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
days of week<\/td>\n0-6<\/td>\n*<\/code> ,<\/code> -<\/code> ?<\/code> #<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Special characters<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
*<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n(all values)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Select all values within a field.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
?<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n(no specific value)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Specify one field and leave the other unspecified.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n(range)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Specify ranges.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
,<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n(comma)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Specify additional values.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n(slash)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Specify increments.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
#<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n(random value)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Specify the random value.You can select values to choose a random value from.
Forexample:#9-17<\/code> selects a random value between 9 and 17, #1,5-8,10<\/code> selects a random value from 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Examples of CRON macros expressions<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
@hourly<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every hour at a random time. Equals to # # * * * *<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@daily<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every day at a random time. Equals to # # # * * *<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@daily <hours><\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every day at specified hour. Equals to # # <hours> * * *<\/code>.
For example, @daily #9-17<\/code> equals to # # #9-17 * * *<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@weekdays<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every working day at a random time. Equals to # # # ? * 1-5<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@weekdays <hours><\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every working day at specified time. Equals to # # <hours> ? * 1-5<\/code>.
For example, @weekdays #9-17<\/code> equals to # # #9-17 ? * 1-5<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@weekends<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every Saturday and Sunday at a random time. Equals to # # # ? * 0,6<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@weekends <hours><\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every Saturday and Sunday at specified time. Equals to # # <hours> ? * 0,6<\/code>.
For example, @weekends #9-17<\/code> equals to # # #9-17 ? * 0,6<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@weekly<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every week at a random time. Equals to # # # * * #<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@weekly <hours> <day of week><\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every week at specified time and day. Equals to # # <hours> * * <day of week><\/code>.
For example, @weekly #9-17 #1-5<\/code> equals to # # #9-17 * * #1-5<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@monthly<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every month at a random time. Equals to # # # # * *<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@midnight<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every time at a random time near the midnight. Equals to # # 0 * * *<\/code><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@once<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The task will be executed once as soon as possible.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@reboot<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The task will be executed on every reboot.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@on_software_changed<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The task will be executed every time when a software was installed, updated or removed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@lock<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The task will be executed every time when user locks a workstation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
@away<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The task will be executed every time when user is away from the workstation for the given amount of minutes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Examples of CRON expressions<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
#9-17 * * 1-5<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every working day at random time between 9 AM and 6 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
#9-17 ? * #1-5<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every week on random working day at random time between 9 AM and 6 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15 ? * #2,4<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task every week either on Tuesday or on Thursday at a random time between 3 PM and 4 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 * * *<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Run the task at a random time between 12 PM and 13 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12 1\/5 * ?<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At a random time between 12 PM and 1 PM every five days each month, starting on the first day of the month<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10 ? * 1-5<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At a random time between 10 AM and 11 AM every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*\/2 * * ?<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Every 2 hours at a random time within this hour<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*\/4 ? *\/6 *\/2<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At a random time within one hour every 4 hours, every other day, every 6 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14 * * ?<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Randomly every 5 minutes between 2 PM and 3 PM every day<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14 ? 3 3<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At a random time between 2 PM and 3 PM every Wednesday of March<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13 12 11 ?<\/code><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Every November 12th at a random time between 13 PM and 14 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Important:<\/strong> The same task cannot be executed more than once an hour, even if the task is specified to run more often.Use randomization (#) to prevent overloading the network.The accuracy of the task execution is always rounded up to an hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I want start updates between 11pm Saturday and Midnight Sunday, for 1 hour.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","support_article_product":[99],"class_list":["post-8066","support_article","type-support_article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"source_foreign_id":"000006188","source_version":1,"source_system":"salesforce","source_date_updated":"2026-10-18 09:00:12","import_hash":"f1c6d15c5d01eb9740899b593e64f0bb0766627a","vanilla_article_id":"","vanilla_url":"","vanilla_kb_id":"","vanilla_category_id":"","machine_translated":false,"reactions_helpful_yes":"","reactions_helpful_no":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_article\/8066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/support_article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"support_article_product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/support.withsecure.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_article_product?post=8066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}