How do I schedule tasks in Linux using cron?

To schedule tasks in Linux using cron, you can follow these steps:

1. Open the terminal
2. Type crontab -e and hit enter. This will open the crontab configuration file for the current user.
3. Use the following syntax to create a new scheduled task:

* * * * * /path/to/command arg1 arg2

The syntax consists of five time and date fields, followed by the command to be executed. The fields are separated by a space, and their values are as follows:

• Minute (0-59)
• Hour (0-23)
• Day of the month (1-31)
• Month (1-12)
• Day of the week (0-6 with 0=Sunday)

The asterisk symbol “*” means the task should be executed on every occurrence of the relevant field.

1. Save and exit the file.

For example, the following command would run a script every day at 2:30am:

30 2 * * * /path/to/script.sh

You can also use special characters in the fields to create more complex schedules. For example, the following command would run a script every 15 minutes:

*/15 * * * * /path/to/script.sh

After you’ve set up your cron jobs, you can use the crontab -l command to display a list of your scheduled tasks.