This article spotlights alternative tools to cron.
The software featured here is free and open source. All tools provide a command-line interface (CLI) unless otherwise stated.
Cronie contains the standard UNIX daemon crond that runs specified programs at scheduled times and related tools.
| Alternatives to cron | |
|---|---|
| cronie | Modern day version of cron and associated tools |
| fcron | Designed for systems which are not continuously running or regularly |
| Cronicle | Multi-server task scheduler and runner |
| systemd | Suite of basic building blocks for a Linux system |
| Supercronic | Crontab-compatible job runner designed for container environments |
| Ofelia | Low-footprint job scheduler for Docker environments |
| Dkron | Distributed job scheduling system for cloud native environments |
| mcron | 100% compatible replacement for Vixie cron |
| Dagu | Lightweight workflow orchestration engine |
| anacron | Designed for systems which are not continuously running |
| Jobber | Run commands to a schedule |
| bcron | Designed with secure operations in mind |
| Chadburn | Modern job scheduler for Docker environments |
| runcron | Minimal cron alternative for automated and container-friendly environments |
Have we missed any open source alternatives to cron?
Please let us know!
All the CLI tools in this series.
| Alternatives to CLI tools |
|---|
| age // awk // bc // cal // cat // cd // chmod // cksum // cloc // cmp // compress // cp // cron // curl // cut // date // dd // df // diff // dig // du // fdisk // file // find // free // ftp // grep // gzip // hexdump // history // jq // kill // less // locate // ls // lsof // make // man // more // mv / ping // ps // psql // rename // rm // sed // split // ssh // stow // strings // sudo // sysctl // tail // talk // tar // telnet // time // top // touch // traceroute // tree // uname // uniq // uptime // vi // watch // Wget // who // whois // xargs |
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There’s also the mature mcron as well as Jobber you could add.
Thanks for all the work putting this all together. LinuxLinks is a great resource.
Thanks Kile. I’ve never heard of Jobber before, but will test both of them.
Both are now included.