Cron Profiles Module Documentation

Table of Contents

1. Navigation & Access
2. Screenshots & Visual Interface
3. 🎯 User Roles & Key Capabilities
4. Module Overview (Technical)
5. Module Overview (Commercial/Business)
6. Module Overview (End User/Administrator)
7. Configuration Sections
8. Settings Reference
9. Model Context Protocol (MCP) AI Integration
10. Common Scenarios & Examples
11. Limitations & Important Notes
12. Troubleshooting Tips
13. Glossary

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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.

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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 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.

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🎯 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.

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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"           │   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

{
  "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:

{
  "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.

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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

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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 * * * *

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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

# 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

# List system cron jobs
crontab -l

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

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9. Glossary

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

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Documentation last updated: January 2026