o

Cronjob.de › Guides › Host Europe

Setting up a Host Europe cronjob and when an external call is simpler

At Host Europe it depends on the product whether there are cronjobs at all. And even where they exist, they run files on the server instead of calling an address. This guide covers both routes and says when each one is shorter.

Why at all

Two hurdles most people notice late

The first: the WebHosting packages from Basic to Supreme have no cronjobs. In its own blog Host Europe points to an upgrade to WebServer or WebServer Dedicated for that. Anyone who needs a single recurring task faces a decision far bigger than the task itself.

The second one hits everybody on a WebServer product: the scheduler in the KIS starts program files on the server, not addresses. The Host Europe FAQ states this explicitly – entering an address such as https://your-domain.com/backend/cron is not supported there. Beforehand, SSH access has to be enabled with a password, a contact email address has to be stored, and the script needs file permissions of 750 plus a shebang line.

For many purposes that is still the right route, and if your package offers it, use it. This applies to tasks that run on the server anyway: backups, cleanup work, an import from a file.

As soon as an address is supposed to be called, though – and that is exactly what WordPress, Gambio, Matomo and most other systems expect – it gets awkward: you build a small shell script calling curl and maintain it alongside the actual task. And when the server itself does not answer, its scheduler stays silent too, because it sits on the same machine.

URL to call
https://ihre-domain.de/ihr-skript.php
Recommended interval
every five minutes
Tested with
WebHosting, WebServer, cPanel-Hosting
Sufficient plan
The free plan covers three cronjobs on a five-minute grid. Minute-precise execution starts with Plus, the call log with output and the runtime statistics with Unlimited.

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. First check what your product can do

    On a WebServer product you find the cronjobs in the KIS under Produktverwaltung → WebServer → Konfigurieren → Skripte & Datenbanken → Cronjobs; SSH access has to be enabled under Allgemeines first. On a cPanel product the cronjob area sits on the dashboard under "Advanced". On a plain WebHosting package there are no cronjobs at all, so only the external route works.

  2. Decide on the address and protect it

    For the external call you need an address reachable without a login. Protect it with a long random parameter that your script checks in its first line and aborts on immediately if it does not match.

    https://your-domain.com/your-script.php?key=A-LONG-SECRET

  3. Create an account at Cronjob.de

    Registration takes a minute and is free. The first 14 days run on the Unlimited plan, after that the account simply continues on the free plan.

  4. Create a cronjob with that address

    Enter the address and set the schedule, by clicking, as a crontab expression, or by describing the interval in one sentence.

    */5 * * * *

  5. Switch on error notifications

    Enter an email address in the folder settings. That way you learn about an outage even when the server at Host Europe is not answering at all – a scheduler on that same server could not tell you.

  6. If you stay with the KIS: the wrapper script

    If the call should still originate at Host Europe, create a file with a shebang and permissions 750 that does nothing but call your address. That is how Host Europe describes it in its own FAQ.

    #!/bin/sh
curl -Iso /dev/null "https://your-domain.com/your-script.php?key=A-LONG-SECRET"

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 the Cronjob.de call log you see the time, runtime and status code for every call, and with Unlimited the response of your script as well. A permanent 401 or 403 means a directory protection is still in the way; a 404 means the address is wrong.

FAQ

Common questions about Host Europe

Do the Host Europe WebHosting packages have cronjobs?
No. Host Europe itself points to an upgrade to WebServer or WebServer Dedicated for that. A call from outside works with any package, because all it needs is your address to be reachable.
Why does the KIS scheduler not accept an address?
Because it starts program files on the server and does not make HTTP calls. The Host Europe FAQ states explicitly that entering an address is not possible. With a small shell script calling curl it still works – but then you need SSH, file permissions of 750 and a shebang line.
Do I really have to enable SSH first?
For the cronjobs inside the KIS yes, the function only appears in the menu afterwards. For the external call you need no SSH access, because nothing is set up on the server.
Should I switch off the cronjob at Host Europe then?
If you would trigger the same task from both sides, yes. Otherwise two schedules run side by side and you can no longer tell which run came from where.

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.

Start for free See pricing

More guides

Official documentation of Host Europe

The details about Host Europe come from their own documentation, as of September 2026. Please check there whether anything has changed since. Host Europe is a trademark of its respective owner. This guide comes from Cronjob.de and has no business relationship with that provider.