RunWisp

Run a cron job at reboot

@reboot Check it below, then take the line for any of 17 schedulers.

Click to edit · paste a crontab line · hover a field for its values

Once, when the machine boots.

 

Nothing to watch out for on Debian / Ubuntu cron.

crontab line 
# crontab -e  (runs on the server's clock: UTC)
@reboot  /path/to/command
Debian / Ubuntu cron RunWisp Server was off Skipped. anacron only catches up cron.daily, weekly and monthly. Runs the most recent missed run at start-up (catch_up = 1) and sends a missed-run alert.A run fails Output is mailed if MAILTO and a mail server work. No output, no mail, whatever the exit code. Marked failed and sent to your alert channels. retry_attempts adds retries.

· sudo runwisp takeover runs your crontab as it is · How RunWisp compares

Details

Upcoming runs At start-up

No clock involved: it runs once each time Debian / Ubuntu cron starts.

Calendar At start-up only
Between two dates
Daylight saving

Not tied to the wall clock, so clock changes don't move it.

When things go wrong Server off: Skipped
Server was off
Skipped. anacron only catches up cron.daily, weekly and monthly.
Last run still going
Starts another copy on top.
A run fails
Output is mailed if MAILTO and a mail server work. No output, no mail, whatever the exit code.
Time zone
The server's zone. TZ= in a crontab only reaches the command.
Precision
1 minute.

Sources: manpages.debian.org,manpages.debian.org

Other schedulers As written in 2 of 16
  • ✓ cronie @reboot vs RunWisp
  • ✓ BusyBox crond @reboot
  • ↻ systemd timer OnBootSec=0 systemd timer has no @reboot. vs RunWisp
  • ↻ RunWisp run_on_start = "boot" RunWisp has no @reboot.
  • ✗ Kubernetes CronJob Kubernetes CronJob has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ Ofelia Ofelia has no run-at-boot trigger. vs RunWisp
  • ✗ Dagu Dagu has no run-at-boot trigger. vs RunWisp
  • ✗ PM2 cron_restart PM2 cron_restart has no run-at-boot trigger. vs RunWisp
  • ✗ Jobber Jobber has no run-at-boot trigger. vs RunWisp
  • ✗ GitHub Actions GitHub Actions has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ GitLab CI schedule GitLab CI schedule has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ AWS EventBridge Scheduler AWS EventBridge Scheduler has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ Google Cloud Scheduler Google Cloud Scheduler has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ Jenkins Jenkins has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ Quartz Quartz has no run-at-boot trigger.
  • ✗ Spring @Scheduled Spring @Scheduled has no run-at-boot trigger.

✓ works as written · ↻ different syntax · ≠ runs at other times · ? not documented · ✗ can't
Schedulers

At reboot, in every scheduler

Works as written in 3 of 17. Times are UTC; the checker above takes any zone.

RunWisp writes it as run_on_start = "boot": once per machine boot, not again when the daemon restarts or updates.

SchedulerLineNotes
Debian / Ubuntu cron ✓ @reboot Works as written.
cronie ✓ @reboot Works as written.
BusyBox crond ✓ @reboot Works as written.
systemd timer ↻ OnBootSec=0 systemd timer has no @reboot.
RunWisp ↻ run_on_start = "boot" RunWisp has no @reboot.
Kubernetes CronJob ✗ Kubernetes CronJob has no run-at-boot trigger.
Ofelia ✗ Ofelia has no run-at-boot trigger.
Dagu ✗ Dagu has no run-at-boot trigger.
PM2 cron_restart ✗ PM2 cron_restart has no run-at-boot trigger.
Jobber ✗ Jobber has no run-at-boot trigger.
GitHub Actions ✗ GitHub Actions has no run-at-boot trigger.
GitLab CI schedule ✗ GitLab CI schedule has no run-at-boot trigger.
AWS EventBridge Scheduler ✗ AWS EventBridge Scheduler has no run-at-boot trigger.
Google Cloud Scheduler ✗ Google Cloud Scheduler has no run-at-boot trigger.
Jenkins ✗ Jenkins has no run-at-boot trigger.
Quartz ✗ Quartz has no run-at-boot trigger.
Spring @Scheduled ✗ Spring @Scheduled has no run-at-boot trigger.

✓ works as written · ↻ different syntax · ≠ runs at other times · ? not documented · ✗ can't

RunWisp

Cron runs the line. Nobody tells you how it went.

RunWisp is an open-source cron replacement that ships as a single binary. It reads the same cron line and keeps a record of every run: output, exit code, duration.

crontab 
# crontab -e  (runs on the server's clock: UTC)
@reboot  /usr/local/bin/job.sh
runwisp.toml 
[tasks.job]
run_on_start = "boot"
timezone = "UTC"
run      = '/usr/local/bin/job.sh'
cronRunWisp
The server was off at run time Skipped. anacron only catches up cron.daily, weekly and monthly. Runs the most recent missed run at start-up (catch_up = 1) and sends a missed-run alert.
The last run is still going Starts another copy on top. Queues it. on_overlap = "queue" is the default.
A run fails Output is mailed if MAILTO and a mail server work. No output, no mail, whatever the exit code. Marked failed and sent to your alert channels. retry_attempts adds retries.

Keep your crontab. sudo runwisp takeover runs it where it is and retires cron, crontab -e keeps working, and runwisp service uninstall puts cron back. It needs Linux with systemd; elsewhere, runwisp import cron converts the file. RunWisp doesn't do L, W or #, and it runs on one machine, not a cluster. Moving from cron →

FAQ

Questions

What does @reboot mean?
Once, when the machine boots. Times are in the scheduler's time zone, usually the server's.
How do I run a job at reboot with a systemd timer?
OnBootSec=0. systemd timer has no @reboot.
How do I run a job at reboot in a Kubernetes CronJob?
Kubernetes CronJob has no run-at-boot trigger.
How do I run a job at reboot in GitHub Actions?
GitHub Actions has no run-at-boot trigger.
How do I run a job at reboot on AWS EventBridge?
AWS EventBridge Scheduler has no run-at-boot trigger.
More

Similar schedules

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curl -fsSL https://get.runwisp.com | sh
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