cron

Manages cron jobs by writing configuration files to /etc/cron.d/.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`name`	Yes	--	Cron job name (used as the filename in `/etc/cron.d/`).
`command`	Yes (for present)	--	The command to execute.
`state`	Yes	--	Desired state: `present` or `absent`.
`schedule`	No	--	Cron schedule expression (e.g., `/5 * * *`) or special schedule (`@daily`, `@hourly`, `@reboot`, etc.). Takes precedence over individual time fields.
`minute`	No	`*`	Minute field (0-59).
`hour`	No	`*`	Hour field (0-23).
`day`	No	`*`	Day of month field (1-31).
`month`	No	`*`	Month field (1-12).
`weekday`	No	`*`	Day of week field (0-7, where 0 and 7 are Sunday).
`user`	No	`root`	User to run the job as.
`environment`	No	--	Comma-separated `KEY=VALUE` pairs written as env lines before the schedule.

States

present -- Ensure the cron job exists with the specified schedule and command.
absent -- Remove the cron job file.

Idempotency

Reads the existing cron file in /etc/cron.d/ and compares its content against the desired configuration. Uses SHA-256 hashing for comparison. Only writes when the content differs.

Examples

Basic

resources:
  - name: cleanup-tmp
    type: cron
    name: cleanup-tmp
    command: "find /tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete"
    schedule: "0 2 * * *"

Using individual time fields

resources:
  - name: backup
    type: cron
    name: backup
    command: "/opt/backup.sh"
    minute: "0"
    hour: "3"
    user: backup

Every 5 minutes

resources:
  - name: health-check
    type: cron
    name: health-check
    command: "/opt/check-health.sh"
    schedule: "*/5 * * * *"

Run at boot

resources:
  - name: mount-data
    type: cron
    name: mount-data
    command: "/opt/mount-data.sh"
    schedule: "@reboot"

With environment variables

resources:
  - name: etl-job
    type: cron
    name: etl-job
    command: "/opt/run-etl.sh"
    schedule: "0 4 * * *"
    environment: "RAILS_ENV=production,PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin"

Remove a cron job

resources:
  - name: old-job
    type: cron
    name: old-job
    state: absent

Platform

Linux only. On Windows, the same type: cron maps to the cron_windows executor.

Notes

Cron files are written to /etc/cron.d/<name> with a comment header identifying Vigo as the manager.
When both schedule and individual time fields are provided, schedule takes precedence.
The cron file format includes the user field: <schedule> <user> <command>.