Crontab Every 5 Minutes on Linux: */5 Syntax, Examples and PATH

Crontab every 5 minutes is a top search because monitoring scripts, queue workers, and cache warmers often need a short interval. The pattern is */5 * * * * in the minute field of a user crontab.

Foundation: cron & crontab basics,
cron wrapper with flock,
systemd timers.

Five Cron Fields

minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week — all five required.

The */5 Minute Field

Means “every 5 minutes” — not every 5 hours.

*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/check-api.sh >> /var/log/check-api.log 2>&1

Edit Your User crontab

Use crontab -e; do not edit spool files by hand unless you know the format.

crontab -l

PATH and Full Paths

Cron runs with a minimal environment — scripts fail mysteriously without full paths.

Capture Output

Redirect stdout/stderr or use your wrapper script — otherwise errors vanish.

Verify It Ran

Wait five minutes; grep CRON in syslog or check your log file mtime.

sudo grep CRON /var/log/syslog | tail -5

Quick Reference

• Every 5 min: */5 * * * * /full/path/to/script
• Use full paths — cron has minimal PATH
• Log with >> /var/log/job.log 2>&1

Related tutorials

• Cron Basics
• Cron Wrapper
• systemd Timers

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