Setting up a Drupal cronjob: calling cron reliably from outside

Setup

Step by step

1. Find the cron address

   Sign in as an administrator and go to Configuration › System › Cron (path /admin/config/system/cron). Below the "Run cron" button the full cron address including its key is shown, introduced by "To run cron from outside the site, go to". Copy the address as a whole.

   https://your-domain.com/cron/YOUR-KEY

2. Switch off Automated Cron

   On the same page there is a setting called Run cron every. Set it to Never and save. As a permanent solution Drupal recommends uninstalling the Automated Cron module under Extend › Uninstall. The setting then disappears, and cron only runs through the call from outside.

3. Open the address in a browser once

   Call the copied address yourself once. An empty page is correct: Drupal answers with status 204, meaning success without content. Reload the Cron page afterwards; it now says "Last run: … ago" with a few seconds. Error 403 means the key is wrong.

4. Create an account at Cronjob.de

   Registration takes a minute and is free. Five cronjobs stay free forever, the first 14 days run on the Unlimited plan.

   Start for free 14 days of Unlimited included, no payment details

5. Create a cronjob with that address

   Enter the address and choose the interval: by clicking, as a sentence for the AI assistant or as a crontab expression. Hourly suits most sites; if you publish content on a schedule or want a fresh search index, use every five or fifteen minutes.

   */5 * * * *

   You can enter this expression at Cronjob.de exactly as it is – the schedule field understands crontab notation. But you do not have to know it: simply click the schedule together instead.

6. Switch on error notifications

   So that you notice when your site stops responding, enter an email address under Notifications. You will then be notified when a call fails. Failure notifications by email are included from the Plus plan, and free during the first 14 days.

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. Whether you need an outside service at all is shown in the comparison of the three ways.

Verification

Is it actually running?

In the Cronjob.de call log you will see the first calls with status 204 within a few minutes. Inside Drupal, the Cron page under Configuration › System › Cron shows when cron last ran. Reports › Status report also lists the cron maintenance tasks. That timestamp should never be older than your interval.

FAQ

Common questions about Drupal

Where do I find the Drupal cron key?

Drupal creates it by itself. You will not find it as a separate setting but as part of the finished address under Configuration › System › Cron. Copy the address as a whole.

How often should Drupal cron run?

According to the Drupal handbook, the default suffices for most sites, and that is every three hours. From outside you can call it more often, such as hourly or every five minutes. While a cron run is still going, Drupal does not start a second one: a lock holds for up to 15 minutes.

Is the cron address a security risk?

The key inside the address is the protection. Anyone who does not know it gets error 403 and cannot trigger cron. Treat the address like a password and do not pass it around openly.

Do I really have to switch off Automated Cron?

No, but it makes sense. Otherwise both run in parallel and the timing stays unpredictable. Drupal does use a lock to stop two runs working at once, but the extra check on every page request remains. Drupal therefore recommends uninstalling the module.

My call ends with error 403.

Then the key in the address is wrong. Fetch the address again from the Cron page. Directory-level password protection or a rule in .htaccess can also cause this. For directory protection, store user name and password in the cron job.

What about Drush?

On a server with a command line, drush cron runs all cron tasks. This guide is for hosting without a command line. If you can use Drush and have a crontab of your own, you do not need the call from outside, but you also get no call log and no alert on failures.