Task Scheduling
Introduction
In the past, developers have generated a Cron entry for each task they need to schedule. However, this can sometimes be a headache. Your task schedule is no longer in source control, and you must SSH into your server to add the Cron entries. The command scheduler allows you to fluently and expressively define your command schedule within the application itself, and only a single Cron entry is needed on your server.
NOTE: See the installation guide for instructions on how to set up the scheduler task.
Defining schedules
You may define all of your scheduled tasks by overriding the registerSchedule
method inside the Plugin registration class. The method will take a single $schedule
argument and is used for defining commands along with their frequency.
To get started, let's look at an example of scheduling a task. In this example, we will schedule a Closure
to be called every day at midnight. Within the Closure
we will execute a database query to clear a table:
class Plugin extends PluginBase
{
[...]
public function registerSchedule($schedule)
{
$schedule->call(function () {
\Db::table('recent_users')->delete();
})->daily();
}
}
In addition to scheduling Closure
calls, you may also schedule console commands and operating system commands. For example, you may use the command
method to schedule a console command:
$schedule->command('cache:clear')->daily();
The exec
command may be used to issue a command to the operating system:
$schedule->exec('node /home/acme/script.js')->daily();
Schedule frequency options
Of course, there are a variety of schedules you may assign to your task:
Method | Description |
---|---|
->cron('* * * * *'); |
Run the task on a custom Cron schedule |
->everyMinute(); |
Run the task every minute |
->everyFiveMinutes(); |
Run the task every five minutes |
->everyTenMinutes(); |
Run the task every ten minutes |
->everyThirtyMinutes(); |
Run the task every thirty minutes |
->hourly(); |
Run the task every hour |
->daily(); |
Run the task every day at midnight |
->dailyAt('13:00'); |
Run the task every day at 13:00 |
->twiceDaily(1, 13); |
Run the task daily at 1:00 & 13:00 |
->weekly(); |
Run the task every week |
->monthly(); |
Run the task every month |
These methods may be combined with additional constraints to create even more finely tuned schedules that only run on certain days of the week. For example, to schedule a command to run weekly on Monday:
$schedule->call(function () {
// Runs once a week on Monday at 13:00...
})->weekly()->mondays()->at('13:00');
Below is a list of the additional schedule constraints:
Method | Description |
---|---|
->weekdays(); |
Limit the task to weekdays |
->sundays(); |
Limit the task to Sunday |
->mondays(); |
Limit the task to Monday |
->tuesdays(); |
Limit the task to Tuesday |
->wednesdays(); |
Limit the task to Wednesday |
->thursdays(); |
Limit the task to Thursday |
->fridays(); |
Limit the task to Friday |
->saturdays(); |
Limit the task to Saturday |
->when(Closure); |
Limit the task based on a truth test |
Timezones
Using the timezone
method, you may specify that a scheduled task's time should be interpreted within a given timezone:
$schedule->call(function () {
// Runs every day at 13:00 Paris time...
})->timezone('Europe/Paris')->at('13:00');
If you are repeatedly assigning the same timezone to all of your scheduled tasks, you may wish to define it globaly in your plugin boot method to match the cms.backendTimezone
config:
use Config;
...
public function boot()
{
Config::set('app.schedule_timezone', config('cms.backendTimezone'));
}
Truth test constraints
The when
method may be used to limit the execution of a task based on the result of a given truth test. In other words, if the given Closure
return true
, the task will execute as long as no other constraining conditions prevent the task from running:
$schedule->command('emails:send')->daily()->when(function () {
return true;
});
Preventing task overlaps
By default, scheduled tasks will be run even if the previous instance of the task is still running. To prevent this, you may use the withoutOverlapping
method:
$schedule->command('emails:send')->withoutOverlapping();
In this example, the emails:send
console command will be run every minute if it is not already running. The withoutOverlapping
method is especially useful if you have tasks that vary drastically in their execution time, preventing you from needing to predict exactly how long a given task will take.
Task output
The scheduler provides several convenient methods for working with the output generated by scheduled tasks. First, using the sendOutputTo
method, you may send the output to a file for later inspection:
$schedule->command('emails:send')
->daily()
->sendOutputTo($filePath);
Using the emailOutputTo
method, you may e-mail the output to an e-mail address of your choice. Note that the output must first be sent to a file using the sendOutputTo
method. Also before e-mailing the output of a task, you should configure mail services:
$schedule->command('foo')
->daily()
->sendOutputTo($filePath)
->emailOutputTo('foo@example.com');
NOTE: The
emailOutputTo
andsendOutputTo
methods are exclusive to thecommand
method and are not supported forcall
.
Task hooks
Using the before
and after
methods, you may specify code to be executed before and after the scheduled task is complete:
$schedule->command('emails:send')
->daily()
->before(function () {
// Task is about to start...
})
->after(function () {
// Task is complete...
});
Pinging URLs
Using the pingBefore
and thenPing
methods, the scheduler can automatically ping a given URL before or after a task is complete. This method is useful for notifying an external service that your scheduled task is commencing or complete:
$schedule->command('emails:send')
->daily()
->pingBefore($url)
->thenPing($url);
You need to install Drivers plugin before you can use either the
pingBefore($url)
orthenPing($url)
features.