Cron Every 12 Hours
Cron expression 0 */12 * * * means At minute 0, every 12 hours.
Cron expression to run a job every 12 hours: 0 */12 * * *. Runs twice a day at midnight and noon.
Cron Expression
Common use cases
- Twice-daily backup jobs
- Sending morning and evening digest emails
- Refreshing large caches or static assets
Want to customize this schedule?
Open it in the visual builder to tweak the expression interactively.
Open in BuilderNeed to monitor this cron job?
Cronhub tracks your scheduled jobs and alerts you if they fail or run late.
Platform usage examples
# Edit your crontab
crontab -e
# Add this line to run every 12 hours
0 */12 * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/html/script.php
# Or run a shell script
0 */12 * * * /home/user/scripts/job.sh >> /var/log/job.log 2>&1# .github/workflows/scheduled.yml
name: Scheduled Job
on:
schedule:
- cron: '0 */12 * * *'
jobs:
run:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Run job
run: echo "Running every 12 hours"apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
name: my-scheduled-job
spec:
schedule: "0 */12 * * *"
jobTemplate:
spec:
template:
spec:
containers:
- name: job
image: my-image:latest
restartPolicy: OnFailureRelated developer tools
More free tools for engineering workflows that pair with scheduled jobs:
Frequently asked questions
What is the cron expression for every 12 hours?
The cron expression is 0 */12 * * *. Cron expression to run a job every 12 hours: 0 */12 * * *. Runs twice a day at midnight and noon.
How do I schedule a cron job to run every 12 hours in Linux?
Open your crontab with "crontab -e" and add a new line: 0 */12 * * * /path/to/your/script.sh — this schedules your script to run every 12 hours. Save and exit; the cron daemon picks up the change immediately.
What does the cron expression "0 */12 * * *" mean?
Cron expression to run a job every 12 hours: 0 */12 * * *. Runs twice a day at midnight and noon.
Can I use "0 */12 * * *" in GitHub Actions?
Yes. In your workflow YAML, set the schedule trigger: on: schedule: - cron: '0 */12 * * *'. GitHub Actions uses standard 5-field Unix cron syntax, so this expression works as-is.