Master Laravel Scheduled Tasks: From Command Creation to System Cron

Scheduled tasks are a common backend requirement for data aggregation, cleanup, and similar scenarios, and Laravel provides a full-featured scheduler that lets you focus on business logic.

Generating a Command

<code>php artisan make:command AreYouOK</code>

In Laravel 5.2 and earlier the command is created with php artisan make:console xxx .

Editing the Command

Open app/Console/Commands/AreYouOK.php and set the signature and description, then implement the constructor and handle method.

<code>protected $signature = 'areyou:ok'; // command name
protected $description = '雷军，科技圈最会唱歌的男人'; // description

public function __construct()
{
    parent::__construct();
    // initialization code
}

public function handle()
{
    // task logic here
}</code>

Registering the Command

Add the command class to the $commands array in app/Console/Kernel.php :

<code>protected $commands = [
    \App\Console\Commands\AreYouOK::class,
];</code>

Defining the Schedule

In the schedule method of Kernel.php , schedule the command to run every minute (or any interval supported by Laravel):

<code>protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
{
    $schedule->command('areyou:ok')
        ->timezone('Asia/Shanghai')
        ->everyMinute();
}</code>

Laravel offers time‑based methods ranging from minutes to years.

Adding Laravel to System Cron

Append the following line to /etc/crontab (replace /var/www/xxxlaravel with your actual project path):

<code>* * * * * root /usr/bin/php /var/www/xxxlaravel/artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&amp;1</code>

Restart the cron service to activate the schedule:

<code>systemctl restart crond.service</code>