⏱OpsTools

Cron Expression for Every 2 Minutes

*/2 * * * *→Runs every 2 minutes, 30 times per hour
*/2
Minute
0–59
*
Hour
0–23
*
Day
1–31
*
Month
1–12
*
Weekday
0–7

Quick Examples

How It Works

The expression */2 * * * * uses the step syntax (/) in the minute field. The */2 means 'every 2nd minute starting from 0', so the job runs at minutes 0, 2, 4, 6 … 58 of every hour. It is a good middle ground between every-minute frequency and reduced system load.

Common Use Cases

  • 1Polling external APIs for status updates
  • 2Syncing data between two systems with near-real-time requirements
  • 3Lightweight monitoring dashboards

Linux Crontab Example

*/2 * * * * curl -s https://api.example.com/status >> /var/log/status.log

Add this line to your crontab with crontab -e

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