Setting up the REDCap Cron Job

REDCap requires that a cron job be set up on your REDCap web server, in which the cron job will be run by the web server at a periodic frequency throughout the day. The cron will perform any necessary tasks that need to be performed and will run those tasks as asynchronous background processes. The steps below will guide you through setting up this cron job and troubleshooting any possible errors.

Diagnostic check
Current server type (Windows or Linux/Unix): Linux/Unix
Last cron job ran at: 12/19/2024 12:10pm
Cron job status: Good
How to schedule the REDCap cron job for a Linux/Unix server using CronTab
Start a telnet/SSH session on your Linux/Unix server and add the text in the box to your CronTab file (use 'crontab -e' to open your cron list for editing). This will create a scheduled job that will be run once per minute. If you receive a permission denied error after starting 'crontab -e', you may need to use sudo (i.e. 'sudo crontab -e'). To list your current existing crons in CronTab, use 'crontab -l'. If you do not have CronTab installed on your server, you will need to download and install it.
Add the following two lines to your CronTab file:
Trigger REDCap cron job in a web browser
If you are not able to set up the REDCap cron job on your web server just yet, you can easily trigger the scheduled jobs via your web browser. To trigger the jobs using a web browser, navigate to https://chi-redcap.dshs.texas.gov/redcap/cron.php
NOTICE: The cron job URL above is a publicly accessible URL, so anyone calling that web address can trigger the cron job. This is not really a concern unless the current server is a test/staging server that is a copy of the production server, in which triggering the cron might send out unwanted emails that should come from the production server rather than this one.

Cron History