---
title: "Cron Profiles Module Documentation"
description: "Documentation for Cron Profiles"
---

## Table of Contents
1. [Navigation & Access](#navigation--access)
2. [Screenshots & Visual Interface](#screenshots--visual-interface)
3. [🎯 User Roles & Key Capabilities](#-user-roles--key-capabilities)
4. [Module Overview (Technical)](#1-module-overview-technical)
5. [Module Overview (Commercial/Business)](#2-module-overview-commercialbusiness)
6. [Module Overview (End User/Administrator)](#3-module-overview-end-useradministrator)
7. [Configuration Sections](#4-configuration-sections)
8. [Settings Reference](#5-settings-reference)
9. [Model Context Protocol (MCP) AI Integration](#model-context-protocol-mcp-ai-integration)
10. [Common Scenarios & Examples](#6-common-scenarios--examples)
11. [Limitations & Important Notes](#7-limitations--important-notes)
12. [Troubleshooting Tips](#8-troubleshooting-tips)
13. [Glossary](#9-glossary)
---

## Navigation & Access

To access the Cron Profiles module:
1. Log in to the Ring2All Web Portal (`https://<domain-or-ip>/login`).
2. In the left navigation sidebar, expand **Administration**.
3. Under **Maintenance**, click **Cron Profiles** (`/admin/maintenance/cron-profiles`).
4. Review reusable schedule definitions, standard 5-part cron expressions, enablement status, and latest trigger history.
5. Click **+ Add** to author a new cron profile (`/admin/maintenance/cron-profiles/new`) using visual builder selectors or standard cron expression templates.

---

## Screenshots & Visual Interface

### Time-Based Schedule Profiles Directory
Catalog of operational cron schedules powering automated backups, log rotations, CDR synchronization jobs, and health-check monitors across the softswitch cluster.
![Cron Profiles List](/screenshots/admin/maintenance/cron-profiles-list.png)

### Cron Profile Schedule Editor & Expression Builder
Intuitive scheduling form featuring quick template presets (Every Minute, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) alongside fine-grained selectors for minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.
![Cron Profile Schedule Form](/screenshots/admin/maintenance/cron-profiles-form.png)

---

## 🎯 User Roles & Key Capabilities

| Role | Access Level | Responsibilities & Capabilities |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **PBX Super Administrator** | Full Access (`RW`) | Create and maintain global system schedules, validate standard 5-part cron syntax, and link profiles to background batch workers. |
| **DevOps & Platform Engineer** | Full Operations (`RW`) | Balance cron execution intervals across cluster nodes to prevent peak CPU and disk I/O bottlenecks during nocturnal backup cycles. |
| **Tenant Administrator** | Reusable Selection (`RO`) | Select existing system-approved cron profiles to schedule tenant-specific backup jobs and custom data exports. |
| **AI Platform Copilot / MCP Agent** | Schedule Inspection (`RO`) | Execute `list_cron_profiles` to analyze scheduled cron expressions, inspect intervals, and verify background task frequencies. |

---

## 1. Module Overview (Technical)

### What Are Cron Profiles?

Cron Profiles is a **scheduling configuration module** that creates reusable time-based schedules for automated tasks. Profiles define when recurring jobs like backups, reports, or maintenance tasks should run.

### Architecture

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Cron Profiles Architecture                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  Cron Profile Library                                           │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  │  Profile: Daily Midnight                                 │   │
│  │  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │   │
│  │  │  Expression: 0 0 * * *                             │  │   │
│  │  │  Template: Daily (Midnight)                        │  │   │
│  │  │  Status: Enabled                                   │  │   │
│  │  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  │  Profile: Hourly                                         │   │
│  │  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │   │
│  │  │  Expression: 0 * * * *                             │  │   │
│  │  │  Template: Hourly                                  │  │   │
│  │  │  Status: Enabled                                   │  │   │
│  │  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  │  Profile: Business Hours                                 │   │
│  │  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │   │
│  │  │  Expression: */15 9-17 * * 1-5                     │  │   │
│  │  │  Template: Custom                                  │  │   │
│  │  │  Status: Enabled                                   │  │   │
│  │  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│       │                                                         │
│       ▼ Used by scheduled tasks                                │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  │  Backup Jobs ──────────────► "Daily Midnight"           │   │
│  │  Report Generation ───────► "Hourly"                    │   │
│  │  Status Checks ───────────► "Every 5 Minutes"           │   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

---

## 2. Module Overview (Commercial/Business)

### Business Value

Cron Profiles provides **reusable scheduling**:

| Without Profiles | With Profiles |
|------------------|---------------|
| Duplicate expressions | Define once, reuse |
| Error-prone syntax | Template presets |
| No standardization | Consistent schedules |
| Manual entry | Visual builder |

### Use Cases

1. **Backup Scheduling**
   - Daily backups
   - Weekly full backups

2. **Report Generation**
   - Hourly reports
   - End-of-day summaries

3. **Maintenance Tasks**
   - Log rotation
   - Cache cleanup

4. **Monitoring**
   - Regular health checks
   - Status updates

### Feature Highlights

| Feature | Benefit |
|---------|---------|
| **Templates** | Pre-built schedules |
| **Presets** | Quick selection |
| **Custom** | Full cron control |
| **Reusable** | Use across tasks |
| **Enable/Disable** | Toggle profiles |

---

## 3. Module Overview (End User/Administrator)

### What Can You Do?

- Create scheduling profiles
- Use quick templates
- Build custom expressions
- Enable/disable profiles
- Reuse across modules
- View last run times

### Cron Profiles Interface

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Cron Profiles                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  [+ Add]                                                        │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Name            │ Cron Expression │ Template  │ Status   │  │
│  ├─────────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┼──────────┤  │
│  │ Daily Midnight  │ 0 0 * * *       │ Daily     │ ● Enabled │ │
│  │ Hourly          │ 0 * * * *       │ Hourly    │ ● Enabled │ │
│  │ Every 5 Min     │ */5 * * * *     │ Every 5   │ ● Enabled │ │
│  │ Weekly Sunday   │ 0 0 * * 0       │ Weekly    │ ● Enabled │ │
│  │ Business Hours  │ */15 9-17 * * 1-5│ Custom   │ ○ Disabled│ │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                                 │
│  Actions: [✏️ Edit] [🗑️ Delete]                                │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### Add/Edit Cron Profile

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Edit Cron Profile                                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  ▼ General Information                                          │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Name: [Daily Midnight                    ]                ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Template: [Daily (Midnight) ▼]                            ││
│  │    Custom | Every Minute | Hourly | Daily | Weekly | Monthly││
│  │    Every 5/15/30 Minutes                                    ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Enabled: ✓                                                ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                                                                 │
│  ▼ Schedule Settings                                            │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Cron Expression: 0 0 * * *                                ││
│  │  Format: Min Hr Day Mon Dow                                 ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  ─────────────────────────────────────────────              ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Minutes: [Every minute (*) ▼]                             ││
│  │    Every minute (*) | */2 | */5 | */10 | */15 | */30       ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Hours: [Midnight (0) ▼]                                   ││
│  │    Every Hour | */2 | */4 | */6 | */12 | Midnight | Noon   ││
│  │    Business Hours (9-17)                                    ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Day of Month: [Every Day (*) ▼]                           ││
│  │    Every Day | */2 | 1st and 15th                          ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Month: [Every Month (*) ▼]                                ││
│  │    Every Month | Quarterly | Jan & July                    ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  │  Day of Week: [Every Day (*) ▼]                            ││
│  │    Every Day | Mon-Fri | Weekend | Sunday | Monday         ││
│  │                                                             ││
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                                                                 │
│  [Save] [Cancel]                                                │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### Quick Tips

> [!TIP]
> **Templates**: Start with a template, then customize.

> [!TIP]
> **Presets**: Use dropdown presets for common intervals.

> [!NOTE]
> **Cron Format**: Minute Hour Day Month Weekday

---

## 4. Configuration Sections

### General Information

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| **Name** | Profile identifier |
| **Template** | Quick schedule preset |
| **Enabled** | Active/Inactive |

### Schedule Settings

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| **Cron Expression** | Full cron syntax |
| **Minute** | Minute preset |
| **Hour** | Hour preset |
| **Day of Month** | Day preset |
| **Month** | Month preset |
| **Day of Week** | Weekday preset |

---

## 5. Settings Reference

### Quick Templates

| Template | Expression | Description |
|----------|------------|-------------|
| **Every Minute** | * * * * * | Run every minute |
| **Every 5 Minutes** | */5 * * * * | Every 5 min |
| **Every 15 Minutes** | */15 * * * * | Every 15 min |
| **Every 30 Minutes** | */30 * * * * | Every 30 min |
| **Hourly** | 0 * * * * | Top of each hour |
| **Daily (Midnight)** | 0 0 * * * | Midnight daily |
| **Weekly (Sunday)** | 0 0 * * 0 | Sunday midnight |
| **Monthly (1st)** | 0 0 1 * * | 1st of month |

### Minute Presets

| Preset | Value | Description |
|--------|-------|-------------|
| Every minute | * | Run every minute |
| Every 2 | */2 | Every 2 minutes |
| Every 5 | */5 | Every 5 minutes |
| Every 10 | */10 | Every 10 minutes |
| Every 15 | */15 | Every 15 minutes |
| Every 30 | */30 | Every 30 minutes |

### Hour Presets

| Preset | Value | Description |
|--------|-------|-------------|
| Every Hour | * | Every hour |
| Every 2 | */2 | Every 2 hours |
| Every 4 | */4 | Every 4 hours |
| Every 6 | */6 | Every 6 hours |
| Every 12 | */12 | Every 12 hours |
| Midnight | 0 | 12:00 AM |
| Noon | 12 | 12:00 PM |
| Business | 9-17 | 9 AM - 5 PM |

### Day Presets

| Preset | Value | Description |
|--------|-------|-------------|
| Every Day | * | Daily |
| Every Other | */2 | Every 2 days |
| 1st and 15th | 1,15 | Bi-monthly |

### Weekday Presets

| Preset | Value | Description |
|--------|-------|-------------|
| Every Day | * | All days |
| Mon-Fri | 1-5 | Weekdays |
| Weekend | 0,6 | Sat & Sun |
| Sunday | 0 | Sunday only |
| Monday | 1 | Monday only |

### Cron Expression Format

```
┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, 0=Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
```

### Special Characters

| Character | Meaning | Example |
|-----------|---------|---------|
| * | Any value | * = every |
| */n | Every n | */5 = every 5 |
| n-m | Range | 9-17 = 9 to 17 |
| n,m | List | 1,15 = 1 and 15 |

---

## Model Context Protocol (MCP) AI Integration

The Cron Profiles module exposes typed scheduling queries to the **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**, allowing the Platform Copilot and automated site-reliability agents to inspect active background schedules.

### Available MCP Tools

| Tool Name | Scope | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `list_cron_profiles` | Schedule Registry (`RO`) | Lists all scheduled cron profiles, interval expressions (e.g. "0 2 * * *"), execution frequencies, and associated tenant scopes. |

### Tool Schemas & Payloads

#### `list_cron_profiles`
```json
{
  "name": "list_cron_profiles",
  "description": "Lists all scheduled cron profiles, interval expressions (e.g. \"0 2 * * *\"), execution frequencies, and associated tenant scopes.",
  "parameters": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "search": {
        "type": "string",
        "description": "Filter by profile name or cron expression."
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**Realistic Execution Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "total": 3,
    "profiles": [
      {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "Nightly Database Backup",
        "schedule": "0 2 * * *",
        "description": "Executes daily at 02:00 UTC during low call volume",
        "target": "system",
        "isActive": true,
        "lastRun": "2026-09-08T02:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": 2,
        "name": "Hourly CDR Archiver",
        "schedule": "0 * * * *",
        "description": "Flushes processed CDR partitions every hour",
        "target": "system",
        "isActive": true,
        "lastRun": "2026-09-08T10:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": 3,
        "name": "Weekly Cleanup Routine",
        "schedule": "0 3 * * 0",
        "description": "Purges temporary audio files every Sunday at 03:00 UTC",
        "target": "system",
        "isActive": true,
        "lastRun": "2026-09-06T03:00:00Z"
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

### Bilingual Natural Language Prompt Examples

#### English Prompts
- *"Copilot, list all configured cron profiles and show their schedule expressions."*
- *"Find any cron profiles scheduled to execute more frequently than every 15 minutes."*
- *"Verify when the nightly database backup cron profile last ran."*

#### Spanish Prompts
- *"Copilot, lista todos los perfiles de cron configurados y sus expresiones temporales."*
- *"¿Qué tareas o perfiles de cron se ejecutan durante la noche?"*
- *"Verifica la frecuencia y última ejecución del perfil de respaldo nocturno."*

### Enterprise Safeguards & Execution Boundaries
1. **Multi-Tenant Protection:** Cron profiles created for specific tenants are filtered strictly by `tenant_id`, preventing cross-tenant visibility.
2. **Standard 5-Field Syntax Enforcement:** The system strictly parses standard 5-part cron syntax (`minute hour day month day-of-week`), preventing invalid or non-standard scheduling definitions.
3. **Execution Rate Throttling:** Profiles cannot be scheduled below 1-minute intervals, mitigating server denial-of-service risks.

---

## 6. Common Scenarios & Examples

### Scenario 1: Daily Backup at 2 AM

1. Add Profile
2. Name = "Daily 2AM"
3. Template = Custom
4. Minute = 0
5. Hour = 2
6. Day/Month/Week = *
7. Expression: `0 2 * * *`
8. Save

### Scenario 2: Every 5 Minutes

1. Add Profile
2. Name = "Every 5 Min"
3. Template = Every 5 Minutes
4. Save
5. Expression auto-set: `*/5 * * * *`

### Scenario 3: Business Hours Only

1. Add Profile
2. Name = "Business Hours"
3. Template = Custom
4. Minute = */15 (every 15 min)
5. Hour = 9-17 (business hours)
6. Weekday = 1-5 (Mon-Fri)
7. Expression: `*/15 9-17 * * 1-5`
8. Save

### Scenario 4: Weekly Sunday Night

1. Add Profile
2. Name = "Weekly Sunday"
3. Template = Weekly (Sunday)
4. Save
5. Expression: `0 0 * * 0`

---

## 7. Limitations & Important Notes

### Technical Notes

> [!NOTE]
> **Timezone**: Schedules run in server timezone.

> [!NOTE]
> **5-Field Format**: Standard cron format (no seconds).

> [!WARNING]
> **Test First**: Verify expression before production use.

### Best Practices

1. **Use Templates**: Start with presets
2. **Descriptive Names**: Clear profile names
3. **Test Expression**: Verify timing
4. **Off-Peak Hours**: Schedule heavy tasks at night
5. **Monitor Runs**: Check last run status

### Common Expressions

| Use Case | Expression |
|----------|------------|
| Every hour | `0 * * * *` |
| Daily at 3 AM | `0 3 * * *` |
| Weekdays 9 AM | `0 9 * * 1-5` |
| First Monday | `0 0 1-7 * 1` |
| Every 10 min | `*/10 * * * *` |

---

## 8. Troubleshooting Tips

### Common Issues

| Symptom | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---------|---------------|----------|
| Not running | Profile disabled | Enable profile |
| Wrong time | Timezone issue | Check server TZ |
| Too frequent | Wrong interval | Adjust expression |
| Never runs | Invalid cron | Verify syntax |

### Verify Expression

```bash
# Install cron expression tester
pip install croniter

# Test expression in Python
python -c "from croniter import croniter; from datetime import datetime; c = croniter('0 2 * * *', datetime.now()); print([c.get_next(datetime) for _ in range(5)])"
```

### Check Cron Jobs

```bash
# List system cron jobs
crontab -l

# View cron log
grep CRON /var/log/syslog
```

---

## 9. Glossary

| Term | Definition |
|------|------------|
| **Cron** | Time-based scheduler |
| **Expression** | Schedule syntax |
| **Profile** | Reusable schedule |
| **Preset** | Pre-defined value |
| **Template** | Quick schedule |

---

*Documentation last updated: January 2026*