Every 6 Hours
Runs the job four times per day at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00. This 6-hour interval is commonly used for tasks that need to run multiple times daily but do not require hourly frequency, such as data sync jobs, certificate checks, and periodic cleanups.
0 */6 * * * What is the cron expression for Every 6 Hours?
The cron expression for Every 6 Hours is 0 */6 * * *. This five-field cron schedule uses the format minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. Runs the job four times per day at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00. This 6-hour interval is commonly used for tasks that need to run multiple times daily but do not require hourly frequency, such as data sync jobs, certificate checks, and periodic cleanups. Common use cases include ssl certificate expiry checks and data warehouse refresh.
Field Breakdown
Example Next Run Times
- 1.
2026-04-05 12:00 - 2.
2026-04-05 18:00 - 3.
2026-04-06 00:00 - 4.
2026-04-06 06:00 - 5.
2026-04-06 12:00
Common Use Cases
- ✓ SSL certificate expiry checks
- ✓ Data warehouse refresh
- ✓ External feed import
- ✓ Disk usage monitoring
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I customize which four times per day?
Yes. Instead of */6, specify exact hours like 1,7,13,19 to run at 01:00, 07:00, 13:00, and 19:00.
Is this a good interval for health checks?
For critical services, 6 hours between checks may be too long. Consider every-5-minutes or every-15-minutes for health checks. The 6-hour interval is better for maintenance or batch processing tasks.
How do I add this to a Kubernetes CronJob?
Set the schedule field to '0 */6 * * *' in your CronJob spec. Kubernetes uses the same cron expression syntax as standard cron.