A cronjob #

A cronjob script is a PHP file runcronjobs.php includes with the kernel loaded for one siteaccess; a part groups scripts that run together on one schedule. You write expexample_report.php, which counts the objects published in the last 24 hours and writes the number to var/log/expexample.log, give it the part expexample, run it by hand and schedule it.

Prerequisites: the extension of An extension skeleton, switched on; a shell in the installation root; the name of a siteaccess of the site (here site).

1. Register the directory and the part #

extension/expexample/settings/cronjob.ini.append.php:

<?php /* #?ini charset="utf-8"?

[CronjobSettings]
# Look for cronjobs/<script>.php in this extension
ExtensionDirectories[]=expexample

# A part of its own: php runcronjobs.php -s <siteaccess> expexample
[CronjobPart-expexample]
Scripts[]=expexample_report.php

*/ ?>

runcronjobs.php adds cronjobs/ of every extension in [CronjobSettings] ExtensionDirectories[] to the directories it searches. A script listed in [CronjobSettings] Scripts[] instead runs in the default part, the one runcronjobs.php runs without a part name; a part of its own keeps your schedule apart from the kernel's.

2. The script #

extension/expexample/cronjobs/expexample_report.php:

<?php
/**
 * @description Example: count the objects published in the last 24 hours and write the number to the log
 *
 * A cronjob script of the expexample extension, run by runcronjobs.php inside the part
 * [CronjobPart-expexample] (cronjob.ini.append.php). runcronjobs.php has set up the siteaccess, the database and
 * the variables $cli (eZCLI) and $isQuiet before it includes this file.
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (C) 2026 Example Company
 * @license GNU General Public License v2.0 (or any later version)
 * @package expexample
 */

$since = time() - 86400;
$db = eZDB::instance();
$rows = $db->arrayQuery( 'SELECT COUNT(*) AS count FROM ezcontentobject WHERE status = ' . (int)eZContentObject::STATUS_PUBLISHED .
                         ' AND published >= ' . (int)$since );
$count = $rows ? (int)$rows[0]['count'] : 0;

eZLog::write( "objects published in the last 24 hours: $count", 'expexample.log' );

if ( !$isQuiet )
    $cli->output( "expexample_report: $count objects published in the last 24 hours" );

• The @description tag is what ./console list cron and Setup > Cronjobs show for the script.
• Every value put into SQL is cast to an integer first; strings go through $db->escapeString().
• Each script runs under a lock of its own: a second run while the first holds it is skipped. A run that takes longer than [CronjobSettings] MaxScriptExecutionTime (12 hours) loses the lock to the next one; set MaxScriptExecutionTime in [CronjobPart-expexample] for a part that needs more or less.

The same as a class #

From 6.0.15 the kernel's own parts are classes; the plain script above keeps working. The class form, which can be tested and extended through events:

<?php
// extension/expexample/classes/runnable/cronjobs/expexamplereport.php
namespace Exponential\Cronjob\Extension\Expexample;

class Expexamplereport extends \Exponential\Runnable\CronjobPart
{
    public function run( array $scope )
    {
        $count = \expExampleReport::publishedSince( time() - 86400 );
        if ( empty( $scope['isQuiet'] ) )
            $scope['cli']->output( "expexample_report: $count objects published in the last 24 hours" );
    }
}

<?php
// extension/expexample/cronjobs/expexample_report.php
return \Exponential\Cronjob\Extension\Expexample\Expexamplereport::main( __FILE__, get_defined_vars() );

expExampleReport::publishedSince() stands for a class of your own that holds the query, so a view or a command can call it too. Regenerate the autoloads after adding the classes.

3. Run it by hand #

php -l extension/expexample/cronjobs/expexample_report.php
php bin/php/ezcache.php --clear-tag=ini --allow-root-user
php runcronjobs.php --list --allow-root-user                                   # CronjobPart-expexample is listed
php runcronjobs.php -s site expexample --allow-root-user                       # the part
php runcronjobs.php -s site --script=expexample_report.php --allow-root-user   # the one script
./console cron:expexample -s site --allow-root-user                            # the same through the console

Expected: expexample_report: <n> objects published in the last 24 hours, and the same number in var/log/expexample.log. Better than --allow-root-user: run as the site's user, so the files a job writes stay writable for the web server.

Setup > Cronjobs shows the part as a card with its script and description, and runs it from the browser.

4. Schedule it #

One crontab line per part, for the user the site runs as:

30 2 * * * cd /var/www/example.com && php runcronjobs.php -q -s site expexample >/dev/null 2>&1

Setup > Cronjobs proposes the lines that are missing under Suggested entries, with this installation's root and PHP binary; the schedule it proposes for a part comes from cronjob.ini [AdminSettings] CrontabSchedule_<part>:

# settings/override/cronjob.ini.append.php
[AdminSettings]
CrontabSchedule_expexample=30 2 * * *

Checked for this page (2026-10-18): php -l on the script; the options of runcronjobs.php are those of kernel/private/classes/commands/runcronjobs.php; the extension directory lookup is its eZExtension::expandedPathList( $extensionDirectories, 'cronjobs' ). The class form is the one of doc/eng-us/bc/6.0/cli_cronjob_view_abstractions.md; it was not run for this page.

Common mistakes #

Derived from #

• kernel/private/classes/commands/runcronjobs.php, kernel/private/classes/runnable/cronjobpart.php
• cronjobs/unlock.php and kernel/private/classes/cronjobs/unlock.php (a kernel part in both forms)
• settings/cronjob.ini; doc/eng-us/guides/cronjobs.md, sections 1, 12 and 13

Related pages #

• Cookbook
• Cronjobs: running, scheduling and following them
• Cronjob parts: every part and script of the kernel
• Commands: runcronjobs.php and the console
• Leaving out a cronjob part, Commands, cronjob parts and module views as classes
• The coding rules and the pattern catalogue: the standards
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve.