Run a cron job every Saturday at 3 AM
“At 03:00, on Saturday.”
Saturday 03:00 is the quietest slot of the week for most systems: after Friday night activity dies down, before weekend users wake up, with all of Sunday available as a recovery window if something goes wrong.
0 3 * * 6Next 5 runs
Computing from your local clock…
Field by field
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0 | exactly 0 |
| Hour | 3 | exactly 3 |
| Day of month | * | every value |
| Month | * | every value |
| Day of week | 6 | exactly 6 |
Typical uses
- OS patching and dependency upgrades
- Large database migrations or VACUUM FULL-class maintenance
- Rebuilding heavyweight caches
Worth knowing: 03:00 rather than 02:00 dodges the DST spring-forward hole, where 02:00–02:59 local time doesn't exist one night a year.
Related schedules
Need a different schedule? Build and test any cron expression with live explanation and next-run preview, or read the complete cron syntax guide.