Jenkins Cron (H Syntax) Explainer

Jenkins extends five-field cron with H, which spreads load by choosing a stable pseudo-random offset per job. The preview below uses the start of each range, so exact minutes on your server will differ.

Jenkins (H syntax) expression

Schedule time zone

Your week at a glance

fewer more runs

Upcoming runs

#	Local	UTC	From now

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What to know about Jenkins cron

H picks a stable value per job name. H/15 means every 15 minutes at a hashed offset, so all your jobs do not start at :00.
Jenkins also accepts @hourly, @daily, @weekly, @monthly, @midnight.
The server time zone applies unless you add TZ=Asia/Kolkata on its own line before the expression.

Common Jenkins schedules

Ready-made expressions for the schedules people search for most. Each page explains the expression and shows the first run times.

Schedule	Expression
Every minute	`* * * * *`
Every 5 minutes	`H/5 * * * *`
Every 10 minutes	`H/10 * * * *`
Every 15 minutes	`H/15 * * * *`
Every 30 minutes	`H/30 * * * *`
Every hour	`H * * * *`
Every 2 hours	`H /2 * *`
Every 3 hours	`H /3 * *`
Every 6 hours	`H /6 * *`
Every 12 hours	`H 0,12 * * *`
Twice a day at 9am and 9pm	`H 9,21 * * *`
Every day at midnight	`H 0 * * *`
Every day at 2:00 AM	`H 2 * * *`
Every day at 9:00 AM	`H 9 * * *`
Every day at 6:00 PM	`H 18 * * *`
Every weekday at 9:00 AM	`H 9 * * 1-5`
Every weekday at 8:30 AM	`30 8 * * 1-5`
Hourly during business hours on weekdays	`H 9-17 * * 1-5`
Every 15 minutes during business hours on weekdays	`H/15 9-17 * * 1-5`
Every Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 AM	`H 10 * * 0,6`
Every Monday at 9:00 AM	`H 9 * * 1`
Every Friday at 5:00 PM	`H 17 * * 5`
Every Sunday at midnight	`H 0 * * 0`
On the 1st of every month at midnight	`H 0 1 * *`
On the 15th of every month at midnight	`H 0 15 * *`
On the last day of every month	`H 0 28-31 * *`
On the first Monday of every month at 9:00 AM	`H 9 * * 1`
On the last Friday of every month at noon	`H 12 * * 5`
On the first day of every quarter	`H 0 1 1,4,7,10 *`
Once a year on January 1st	`H 0 1 1 *`

Frequently asked questions

What does H mean in Jenkins cron?

A hash of the job name chooses a fixed value in the allowed range, spreading builds out over time.

Is H/15 the same as */15?

Both run every 15 minutes, but H/15 starts at a per-job offset instead of minute 0.

Moving a schedule between systems? Use the cron format converter, or read the cron error fixes.

More tools you might need

🐧systemd OnCalendar ⇄ cronTimer schedules both ways, checked ⏲️systemd timer generatorTimer and service unit files 🩺Paste-anything doctorPaste any snippet, we detect it and check it 🛡️AI-output verifierTrust report for what ChatGPT or Copilot gave you