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cron.surf

Run a Kubernetes CronJob at the start of every quarter

The Kubernetes expression for “Every quarter” is 0 0 1 */3 *. Below: config you can paste, the next run times, and what to watch out for. A Kubernetes CronJob reads five-field cron in spec.schedule and starts a Job for each run.

0 0 1 */3 *Open in tool

“At 00:00, on day 1 of the month, every 3 months”

CronJob manifest

every-quarter.yaml
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: every-quarter
spec:
  schedule: "0 0 1 */3 *"
  timeZone: "Etc/UTC"
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  startingDeadlineSeconds: 300
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          restartPolicy: OnFailure
          containers:
            - name: job
              image: busybox:1.37
              command: ["sh", "-c", "echo running every-quarter"]

Kubernetes gotchas

Day of week is 0-6The schedule parser stops at 6. Write 0 for Sunday; 7 is an error.
Too many missed startsIf a CronJob misses more than 100 starts, the controller stops starting it. Set startingDeadlineSeconds so old misses stop counting.
Overlapping runsconcurrencyPolicy defaults to Allow, so a slow Job can overlap the next one. Use Forbid or Replace.
*/n in a day field counts as setOnly * or ? leave a day field open. 0 0 */2 * 1 runs on odd days or on Mondays, while Vixie cron reads it as odd days that are Mondays.

FAQ

What is the Kubernetes cron expression for “Every quarter”?

0 0 1 */3 *. It reads: At 00:00, on day 1 of the month, every 3 months

Which time zone does a Kubernetes schedule use?

Without spec.timeZone, in the local zone of kube-controller-manager, which is usually UTC. Set spec.timeZone (stable since Kubernetes 1.27) to an IANA name. CRON_TZ or TZ inside schedule is rejected.

Does a CronJob support @daily?

Yes. @yearly, @monthly, @weekly, @daily and @hourly work in spec.schedule.

Why did my CronJob run twice, or not at all?

A CronJob creates about one Job per scheduled time, not exactly one. Make the Job safe to repeat, and check startingDeadlineSeconds and concurrencyPolicy.