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Setting up a Gambio cronjob: starting scheduled tasks reliably

Under Toolbox, Gambio ships its scheduled tasks: image processing, deleting guest accounts, updating currency rates, cleaning up log files, exporting the sitemap and more. The shop does not run them by itself, though – it waits for somebody to call the task address.

Why at all

Why the shop needs somebody from outside for this

A scheduled task in Gambio is not a service of its own running in the background. It is an address waiting to be called. If that never happens, the task keeps showing as "active" and still does nothing: image processing falls behind, currency rates freeze, the sitemap goes stale.

In its manual Gambio explicitly recommends setting the interval to one minute. That sounds like a lot but is the right idea: the call is only the clock. What work is actually due is decided by the shop itself, based on the settings of the respective task. A call with nothing to do costs almost nothing.

This is where things get tight with many hosts. Some schedulers only allow every five or fifteen minutes, others are tied to a plan, and others again do not call addresses at all, only files on the server. A call from outside does not know those limits – and it also notices when the shop itself is unreachable.

The second reason is traceability. In Gambio you can see whether the task was called correctly last time. What you cannot see there: how long the call took, whether it gets slower over the weeks, and what the shop answered. That is exactly how you spot a shop losing its footing before customers do.

URL to call
https://ihr-shop.de/shop.php?do=Cronjob&...
Recommended interval
every minute
Tested with
Gambio GX / Cloud, Toolbox
Sufficient plan
Gambio recommends the one-minute interval, which needs at least Plus. On the free plan it runs every five minutes and therefore coarser than intended.

Setup

Step by step

The AI does it faster

You do not have to transfer any of this by hand. Paste this guide – or the one for your own system – into the assistant, and Cronjob.de fills in address, method, schedule and headers. Where something is unclear it asks instead of guessing. At the end you see what was entered and create the job with one click.

Included in the free plan at no extra cost. You will find it after signing in under "Cronjobs" → "Create with AI".

  1. Activate the task in the shop

    In the Gambio admin area open Toolbox → Scheduled tasks, click the pencil icon next to the task you want, tick the "active" box and save.

  2. Copy the cronjob address

    The same dialog shows the cronjob address of that task. Copy it in full. Every task has its own address – treat it like a password and do not publish it.

  3. Create an account at Cronjob.de

    Registration takes a minute and is free. For the one-minute interval Gambio recommends you need the Plus plan; the first 14 days run on Unlimited anyway.

  4. Create a cronjob with that address

    Enter the copied address and set the interval to every minute. You can assemble the schedule by clicking, enter it as a crontab expression, or describe it in one sentence.

    * * * * *

  5. Add the remaining tasks

    If you activated several tasks, create a separate cronjob for each, because each has its own address. Sort them into a folder named "Shop" so that one error-notification setting covers all of them.

  6. Switch on error notifications

    Enter an email address in the folder settings. You then hear about a stalled shop before a customer points it out to you.

What the five fields of an expression like */5 * * * * mean is explained in the crontab reference – with examples and the most common pitfalls. You can build the expression in the crontab generator.

Verification

Is it actually running?

In Gambio the task shows that it was called correctly last time. The Cronjob.de call log additionally shows the time, runtime and status code of every single call, and with Unlimited the shop response as well. A permanent 401 means a directory protection still sits in front of the shop.

FAQ

Common questions about Gambio

Do I need a separate cronjob for every scheduled task?
Yes. Every task in the toolbox has its own address, so every one needs its own call. The free plan allows three cronjobs, which covers the most common tasks.
Why does Gambio recommend every single minute?
Because the call is only the clock. Whether work is actually due is decided by the shop from the settings of that task. On a five-minute grid everything runs correspondingly later, but nothing becomes wrong.
The call asks for a username and password – what now?
Then a directory protection (.htaccess) sits in front of the shop or of the admin directory. You can store the credentials in the advanced settings of the cronjob, and the call will authenticate itself.
What happens if a call takes longer than 60 seconds?
We abort it then. With image processing that happens on large catalogues. Usually the better answer is to let the task run more often and in smaller portions.

Create your cronjob now

Create an account, enter the address, click the schedule. Three cronjobs are free forever, the first 14 days run on the Unlimited plan.

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More guides

Official documentation of Gambio

The details about Gambio come from their own documentation, as of September 2026. Please check there whether anything has changed since.