{"id":44543,"date":"2026-07-09T12:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/help\/non-knowledgebase\/uncategorized\/execute-scheduled-tasks-cron-job\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T07:17:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T06:17:02","password":"","slug":"execute-scheduled-tasks-cron-job","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/administration\/other-administration\/execute-scheduled-tasks-cron-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Execute scheduled tasks (cron job)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A so-called cron job is a mechanism that bundles together many automatic maintenance, synchronisation and notification tasks. Rather than checking a single task, it checks which scheduled tasks are due and then <strong>carries them out<\/strong>. In your ChurchTools, too, a cron job carries out these important administrative tasks in the background.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These include, for example, the following areas of responsibility:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Calendar: Update external calendar sources<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Check-in:<\/strong> Delete old entries from the print\/queue<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Users\/Emails\/Administration<\/strong>: Reset login errors, clean up old email data, remove attachments that are no longer needed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reports<\/strong>: send scheduled reports<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Events<\/strong>: Send reminders, information about upcoming sessions and updates for leaders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>General maintenance<\/strong>: trigger reminder and notification emails, clean up data, retrieve licence information, delete old temporary files<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and lots more &#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Carrying out planned tasks<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scheduled tasks are triggered automatically every 4 hours on all systems. They always start at night. As soon as someone is actively using the system, they run additionally every hour.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can also trigger the cron job manually via the \u2018Manage\u2019 menu by clicking on \u2018Execute scheduled tasks\u2019.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Components of a cron job<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which of the scheduled tasks actually run depends on the <strong>timetable<\/strong>, the <strong>modules activated<\/strong> in the system and the <strong>type of call.<\/strong> <strong>Not everything runs every time a call is made<\/strong>. A cron job always consists of several parts. To illustrate what we mean, we\u2019ll give you a few examples in each case so that you can get a better idea.  <\/p>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Scheduled tasks that run continuously<\/strong><br \/>&#8211; Trigger reminder emails<br \/>&#8211; Delete temporary files<br \/>&#8211; Clear the authentication\/authorisation cache<br \/>&#8211; Mark the run as completed<br \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Depending on the time<\/strong>, additional time-scheduled cron jobs are executed\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Clearing\/Deleting <\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clear the cache<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deleting old photos<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delete expired registration\/invitation tokens<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clear up expired subscriptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clean up old log entries<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delete completed routine runs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Notifications\/emails<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Send birthday reminders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Initiate chat invitations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send follow-up emails<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generate and send scheduled reports<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send reminders about tasks, outstanding tasks and information for leaders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send emails from the normal email queue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Synchronisation\/Automation<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Update chat data<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start event chats automatically<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start sync jobs automatically<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recalculate dynamic groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carry out CCLI-related maintenance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Groups\/Appointments\/Check-in<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Processing group registrations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clear up completed groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Update group members<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create group appointments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Processing registration deadlines for groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carrying out routine tasks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send error emails regarding routine\/group processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Other system tasks<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Database\/Import Clean-up<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>View licence information<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Place automatic notifications in the email queue<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sending data security emails<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sending general emails<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start <strong>custom cron jobs for enabled modules<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Create scheduled reports and send them to recipients<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Update external iCal\/calendar sources<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Run a mail merge<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delete old files<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep group memberships up to date<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tidy<\/strong> up<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wenn der Cron mit&nbsp;<code>sendmail=true<\/code>&nbsp;aufgerufen wird, macht er&nbsp;nur&nbsp;den <strong>Hintergrundversand<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Send pending emails in batches<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If necessary, trigger the next background process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group ct-artikel-zum-weiterlesen has-background is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-79a8db7e wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:8px;background-color:#f9fafb;margin-top:24px;margin-bottom:24px;padding-top:32px;padding-right:24px;padding-bottom:32px;padding-left:24px\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Read more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/administration\/other-administration\/how-to-use-the-log\/\">How to use the log?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/administration\/simulate-user\/21-simulate-persons-for-troubleshooting-and-permissions-management\/\">Simulate users for troubleshooting and rights management<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A so-called cron job is a mechanism that bundles together many automatic maintenance, synchronisation and notification tasks. Rather than checking a single task, it checks which scheduled tasks are due and then carries them out. In your ChurchTools, too, a cron job carries out these important administrative tasks in the background. These include, for example, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"doc_category":[507],"doc_tag":[],"knowledge_base":[426],"class_list":["post-44543","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry","doc_category-other-administration","knowledge_base-administration"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"year_month":"2026-07","word_count":488,"total_views":"603","reactions":{"happy":"0","normal":"0","sad":"0"},"author_info":{"name":"Victoria Weidemann","author_nicename":"vweidemann","author_url":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/author\/vweidemann\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"Other","term_url":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/administration\/other-administration\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[],"knowledge_base_info":[{"term_name":"Administration","term_url":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/help\/administration\/","term_slug":"administration"}],"knowledge_base_slug":["administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/44543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44543"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/44543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79554,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/44543\/revisions\/79554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_category?post=44543"},{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=44543"},{"taxonomy":"knowledge_base","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchtools.academy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge_base?post=44543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}