How to Set Up a Cron Job & Task Scheduler in Laravel

Need to run automated tasks — sending reminder emails, cleaning up old data, or publishing scheduled articles? Laravel has a Task Scheduler that keeps scheduling neat in a single file, without creating many separate cron jobs on the server. This article explains how to use it from scratch.

The Concept: One Cron for Everything

Instead of adding many cron entries on the server, Laravel only needs one cron that calls schedule:run every minute. Everything else is managed within your Laravel code.

Step 1: Define the Schedule

Open app/Console/Kernel.php (Laravel 10 and below) and write your schedule in the schedule() method:

protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
{
    // example: clear logs every day at 1 AM
    $schedule->command('log:clear')->dailyAt('01:00');

    // example: run a closure every hour
    $schedule->call(function () {
        // your logic here
    })->hourly();
}

Some frequently used frequencies: ->everyMinute(), ->hourly(), ->daily(), ->dailyAt('13:00'), ->weekly(), and ->cron('0 */2 * * *') for custom patterns.

Step 2: Test Locally

Run it manually to make sure your schedule is correct:

php artisan schedule:run

This command runs all tasks whose time has arrived. To view the list of registered schedules:

php artisan schedule:list

Step 3: Set Up the Cron on the Server

For it to run automatically, add a single cron job on the server. Open the crontab:

crontab -e

Then add the following line (adjust the project path):

* * * * * cd /var/www/laravel_app && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Setting Up Cron in cPanel

On shared cPanel hosting, open the Cron Jobs menu, choose the "Once per minute" interval, then fill the command with your PHP and project path:

/usr/local/bin/php /home/user/laravel_app/artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Real-World Example: Auto-Publishing Scheduled Content

The Task Scheduler is perfect for publishing articles that have been prepared as drafts on a specific date. For example, a command that changes an article's status to published when its time arrives, run with ->daily(). With this pattern, you can prepare a full month of content and let it publish automatically.

Conclusion

The Task Scheduler makes scheduling in Laravel centralized and easy to maintain: define the schedule in your code, then set up a single schedule:run cron on the server. After that, any task — from sending emails to auto-publishing content — can run automatically. For the server deployment itself, see our guide on how to deploy Laravel to an Ubuntu VPS with Nginx.