Cron Expression for Every 2 Minutes

*/2 * * * *

*/2 * * * * runs at every even minute: :00, :02, :04 and so on — 720 times a day. For odd minutes, start the range at 1: 1-59/2.

Next runs, in your timezone

 

Even minutes by definition

The step expands from the range start, so */2 means minutes 0,2,4,…,58. Pair jobs deliberately: one service on even minutes, its counterpart on odd minutes halves the contention.

*/2 * * * *   /path/to/job-a.sh
1-59/2 * * * * /path/to/job-b.sh

At this frequency, think about overlap

A two-minute cadence leaves little headroom. Any run that exceeds two minutes overlaps the next; use flock or an in-job lock, and make sure logging appends rather than truncates.

*/2 * * * * flock -n /tmp/myjob.lock /path/to/job.sh >> /var/log/myjob.log 2>&1

Equivalent expressions

  • 1-59/2 * * * *the odd-minutes counterpart

Run a SQL query on this schedule

If the job behind this schedule is a database query, you can skip the server and the crontab: SaturnSQL runs saved SQL queries on a cron expression — this exact syntax, with a real timezone field — and delivers the results to Google Sheets or Slack. Minimum interval 5 minutes.