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Kubernetes cron expression: every minute
To run a Kubernetes job every minute, use:
* * * * *Every minute.
Your week at a glance
Upcoming runs
| # | Local | UTC | From now |
|---|
Copy-ready code
Why use this schedule
The fastest schedule most cron systems allow. It suits near-real-time polling where waiting five minutes is too slow.
- Polling a queue or an inbox for new work
- Heartbeat pings to an uptime monitor
- Flushing a small in-memory buffer to disk
First runs, as an example
Starting from 1 January 2027, evaluated in UTC:
| # | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:00:00 |
| 2 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:01:00 |
| 3 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:02:00 |
| 4 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:03:00 |
| 5 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:04:00 |
| 6 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:05:00 |
Every minute in every dialect
| System | Expression |
|---|---|
| Kubernetes (this page) | * * * * * |
| Quartz | 0 * * * * ? |
| Spring | 0 * * * * * |
| Crontab | * * * * * |
| AWS EventBridge | * * * * ? * |
| Jenkins | * * * * * |
| node-cron | * * * * * |
| Apache Airflow | * * * * * |
| Azure Functions | 0 * * * * * |
| Google Cloud Scheduler | * * * * * |
Need to translate a different expression? Use the cron converter.
Ready-to-use Kubernetes config
Drop this into your project. The expression is the one above.
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
name: my-job
spec:
schedule: "* * * * *"
timeZone: "Etc/UTC"
concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
jobTemplate:
spec:
template:
spec:
restartPolicy: OnFailure
containers:
- name: job
image: busybox
command: ["sh", "-c", "date"]The Kubernetes fields, in order: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12), day-of-week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday).
Things to watch out for in Kubernetes
- Kubernetes CronJobs run at most once per minute, and the controller checks about every ten seconds, so exact timing can drift by seconds.
- Set spec.timeZone (Kubernetes 1.27+) to a name like Asia/Kolkata. Without it the schedule follows the controller's time zone, usually UTC.
The common mistake with this schedule
A job that takes longer than one minute will overlap with the next run. Guard against it with a lock, Quartz @DisallowConcurrentExecution, or concurrencyPolicy: Forbid in Kubernetes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run a Kubernetes job every minute?
Use * * * * *. Every minute.
What is the every minute cron expression in other systems?
Quartz: 0 * * * * ?; Spring: 0 * * * * *; Crontab: * * * * *. The table on this page lists every dialect.
Which time zone does Kubernetes use for this schedule?
Set spec.timeZone (Kubernetes 1.27+) to a name like Asia/Kolkata. Without it the schedule follows the controller's time zone, usually UTC.