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Setting up a Shopware cronjob: the call through /backend/cron

Shopware 5 ships a cron plugin that triggers all due tasks through a single address: newsletter, search index, cleanup work, article images. This guide shows how to protect that address and have it called regularly – and why this does not apply to Shopware 6.

Why at all

The address is open unless you protect it

The Shopware 5 cron plugin accepts every call to /backend/cron unless you configure otherwise. The plugin offers three locks for that: an allowed key appended to the address as ?key=, a list of allowed IP addresses separated by semicolons, and protection through a logged-in backend account.

One detail from the Shopware documentation matters here: the filters cannot be combined. It is enough for one of the fields to match. So setting a key and additionally entering IP addresses does not tighten anything, it opens a second route.

For an external call the key is the right choice. An IP list looks safer but is awkward to maintain: we call from several servers, and that list can change without notice. A cronjob that ran for months and then gets stuck on an IP filter is often only noticed when the newsletter does not go out.

The second point, as everywhere, is traceability: Shopware tells you in the backend when a task last ran. It does not tell you how long the call took or whether it is slowly getting out of hand – and when the shop itself does not answer, it tells you nothing at all.

URL to call
https://ihr-shop.de/backend/cron?key=IHR-SCHLUESSEL
Recommended interval
every five minutes
Tested with
Shopware 5 (Cron-Plugin)
Sufficient plan
The free plan covers the five-minute interval that is common for Shopware. Minute-precise execution starts with Plus, the call log with output with Unlimited.

Setup

Step by step

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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. Check the cron plugin

    The "Cron" plugin is part of Shopware 5 and has to be active. You find the individual tasks and their intervals under Settings → System → Cronjobs.

  2. Set a key

    In the cron plugin configuration enter a long random secret under "Allowed key". Leave the fields for IP addresses and backend account empty – one filled field is already enough to let a call through.

  3. Assemble the address

    The address is your shop base address plus /backend/cron, followed by the key as a parameter.

    https://your-shop.com/backend/cron?key=A-LONG-SECRET

  4. 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.

  5. Create a cronjob with that address

    Enter the address and set the interval. Five minutes is common for Shopware; which task actually runs is decided by the shop from the intervals in its cronjob settings.

    */5 * * * *

  6. Switch on error notifications

    Enter an email address in the folder settings. That way you learn about an outage even when the shop itself is unreachable.

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?

Under Settings → System → Cronjobs you see the last run of every task. The Cronjob.de call log additionally shows the time, runtime and status code of every call. A permanent 403 means the key is wrong or the IP filter is still in effect.

FAQ

Common questions about Shopware

Does this guide apply to Shopware 6 as well?
No. Shopware 6 runs its scheduled tasks through the command line, with scheduled-task:run and a message queue. There is no documented way to trigger that through an address – your host scheduler or a worker on the server is responsible for it.
Should I use the key and the IP filter together?
No. According to the Shopware documentation the filters cannot be combined: if one of the fields matches, the call goes through. Two filled fields mean two ways in, not double security. Use the key.
Why no IP filter?
Because we call from several servers and the list can change. An IP filter would then block silently. We do publish the addresses currently in use, but we advise against a fixed allow list.
Do I need one cronjob per task?
No. A single call to /backend/cron is enough, Shopware then works through the due tasks. You set the intervals of the individual tasks in the shop, not with us.

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More guides

Official documentation of Shopware

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