How to Setup Cron Job in Laravel?

Hi,

This article will provide an example of how to setup cron job in laravel. we will help you to give an example of laravel run cron job automatically. We will look at an example of how to create cron job in laravel. If you have a question about how to add cron job in laravel then I will give a simple example with a solution. Alright, let’s dive into the details.

Why do we have to use a cron job? and what is a benefit to using cron jobs in laravel and how to set up cron jobs in laravel?, If you have this question then I will explain why. Many times we need to send notifications or send emails automatically to users to update property or products. So at that time, you can define some basic logic for each day, hour, etc can run and send email notifications.

Here, I will give you a very simple example. we will create a cron job command to get users from API and create new users in our database. we will set tasks automatically done by every minute task. You can write your own logic on command. I will also show you how to set up a cron job in server with laravel. so let's follow the below step to do this example.

Step 1: Install Laravel

This is optional; however, if you have not created the laravel app, then you may go ahead and execute the below command:

composer create-project laravel/laravel example-app

Step 2: Create New Command

In this step, we need to create our custom command. custom command will execute with task scheduling scron job. so, let's run bellow command to create new custom command.

php artisan make:command DemoCron --command=demo:cron

Now make some changes on Command file.

app/Console/Commands/DemoCron.php

<?php
  
namespace App\Console\Commands;
  
use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
use App\Models\User;
  
class DemoCron extends Command
{
    /**
     * The name and signature of the console command.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $signature = 'demo:cron';
  
    /**
     * The console command description.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $description = 'Command description';
  
    /**
     * Create a new command instance.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
    }
  
    /**
     * Execute the console command.
     *
     * @return int
     */
    public function handle()
    {
        info("Cron Job running at ". now());
  
        /*------------------------------------------
        --------------------------------------------
        Write Your Logic Here....
        I am getting users and create new users if not exist....
        --------------------------------------------
        --------------------------------------------*/
        $response = Http::get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users');
      
        $users = $response->json();
  
        if (!empty($users)) {
            foreach ($users as $key => $user) {
                if(!User::where('email', $user['email'])->exists() ){
                    User::create([
                        'name' => $user['name'],
                        'email' => $user['email'],
                        'password' => bcrypt('123456789')
                    ]);
                }
            }
        }
  
        return 0;
    }
}

Step 3: Register as Task Scheduler

In this step, we need to define our commands on Kernel.php file with time when you want to run your command like as bellow functions:

app/Console/Kernel.php

<?php
  
namespace App\Console;
  
use Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Console\Kernel as ConsoleKernel;
  
class Kernel extends ConsoleKernel
{
    /**
     * Define the application's command schedule.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule  $schedule
     * @return void
     */
    protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
    {
        $schedule->command('demo:cron')
                 ->everyMinute();
    } 
  
    /**
     * Register the commands for the application.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    protected function commands()
    {
        $this->load(__DIR__.'/Commands');
   
        require base_path('routes/console.php');
    }
}

Step 4: Run Scheduler Command For Test

now we are ready to run our cron, so you can manually check using following command of your cron. so let's run bellow command:

php artisan schedule:run

After run above command, you can check log file where we already print some text. so open you your log file it looks like as bellow:

storage/logs/laravel.php

[2022-03-01 03:51:02] local.INFO: Cron Job running at 2022-03-01 03:51:02  
[2022-03-01 03:52:01] local.INFO: Cron Job running at 2022-03-01 03:52:01  
[2022-03-01 03:53:02] local.INFO: Cron Job running at 2022-03-01 03:53:02  

Laravel Cron Job Setup on Server

Here, i will show you how to setup cron job command on server. you need to install crontab on server. if you are using ubuntu server then it already installed. so let's run bellow command and add new entry for cron job.

crontab -e

Now, add bellow line to crontab file. make sure you need to set your project path correctly on it.

* * * * * cd /path-to-your-project && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Now, you can check on server as well.

I hope it can help you...