Run On Second Tuesday Morning | CronBase
0 0 7 ? * 1#2 On the second Tuesday of the month at 7 AM
* In a Nutshell
The cron expression 0 0 7 ? * 1#2 runs On the second Tuesday of the month at 7 AM. This cadence is crucial for tasks that need to occur with monthly regularity but are tied to a specific day of the week, avoiding manual errors. It's ideal for recurring reports that require a consistent reference point or for scheduled maintenance that should minimally disrupt operations by occurring mid-week.
* When to use this
Use 0 0 7 ? * 1#2 when a recurring task needs to run On the second Tuesday of the month at 7 AM. This schedule is commonly associated with monthly schedules and report generation and weekday schedules workloads. It uses Quartz Scheduler (6–7 Fields) syntax, supported by Unix cron daemons, cloud schedulers such as AWS EventBridge, and container orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes CronJob.
CronBase parses 0 0 7 ? * 1#2 using a dialect-aware rules engine that identifies the Quartz Scheduler (6–7 Fields) format, validates field structure against the Quartz Scheduler (6–7 Fields) specification, and produces the translation above. Next run times are calculated by forward-scanning from the current UTC clock. Learn how CronBase works.
Platform Implementations
Bash
Prerequisites
Unix/Linux host with a cron daemon running (vixie-cron, cronie, or systemd-cron). The script at /usr/local/bin/run-task.sh must exist and be executable (chmod +x).
Configuration
Run crontab -e to open the crontab editor. Cron reads the server's local timezone; prefix with CRON_TZ=UTC before the expression to pin to UTC. Always redirect output with >> /var/log/cron-tasks.log 2>&1 to capture both stdout and stderr.
Gotchas
Cron jobs inherit a minimal PATH — use full binary paths or set PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin at the top of the crontab. For sub-hourly schedules, add flock -n /tmp/run-task.lock before the command to skip overlapping runs if the previous execution is still running.
# Add to crontab with: crontab -e
0 7 * * 1#2 /usr/local/bin/run-task.sh >> /var/log/cron-tasks.log 2>&1Last verified:
Nodejs
Prerequisites
Node.js 18+ with node-cron installed (npm install node-cron). Add "type": "module" to package.json to use the import syntax shown above.
Configuration
Pass { timezone: 'UTC' } as the third argument to cron.schedule(). Without this option the schedule uses the Node.js process timezone, which shifts during DST transitions when servers are not pinned to UTC.
Gotchas
node-cron uses standard 5-field cron syntax — not Quartz 6-field. If your job runs longer than the schedule interval the next trigger fires while the previous is still executing. Use a boolean guard or a queue to skip concurrent runs rather than relying on the scheduler to enforce it.
import cron from 'node-cron';
cron.schedule('0 7 * * 1#2', async () => {
console.log('[cron] running at', new Date().toISOString());
// your task logic here
}, { timezone: 'UTC' });Last verified:
Python
Prerequisites
Python 3.8+ with apscheduler installed (pip install apscheduler). For Python 3.12+ use apscheduler>=3.10.
Configuration
CronTrigger.from_crontab() accepts a standard 5-field cron string. Always pass timezone='UTC' to both the BlockingScheduler constructor and the trigger to ensure consistent scheduling regardless of the server's locale.
Gotchas
BlockingScheduler.start() blocks the calling thread indefinitely. For a web application, use BackgroundScheduler instead and call scheduler.start() at application startup. APScheduler logs missed fires if the process is stopped and restarted — configure misfire_grace_time (in seconds) to control how late a missed job is allowed to run.
from apscheduler.schedulers.blocking import BlockingScheduler
from apscheduler.triggers.cron import CronTrigger
scheduler = BlockingScheduler(timezone='UTC')
@scheduler.scheduled_job(
CronTrigger.from_crontab('0 7 * * 1#2', timezone='UTC')
)
def run_task() -> None:
print('task running')
# your task logic here
scheduler.start()Last verified:
Golang
Prerequisites
Go 1.18+ and github.com/robfig/cron/v3 (go get github.com/robfig/cron/v3).
Configuration
Always create the scheduler with cron.New(cron.WithLocation(time.UTC)). Without WithLocation, the library defaults to the server's local timezone. Call c.Start() to begin the scheduler, then block with select {} to keep the process alive.
Gotchas
robfig/cron v3 uses standard 5-field cron expressions by default. To add second-level precision (6 fields), pass cron.WithSeconds() to cron.New() — but this changes field positions, so never mix syntaxes in the same scheduler. Always check the error returned by c.AddFunc() — a malformed expression is silently ignored without it.
package main
import (
"fmt"
"time"
"github.com/robfig/cron/v3"
)
func main() {
c := cron.New(cron.WithLocation(time.UTC))
_, err := c.AddFunc("0 7 * * 1#2", func() {
fmt.Println("task running at", time.Now().UTC())
// your task logic here
})
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
c.Start()
defer c.Stop()
select {}
}Last verified:
Java
Prerequisites
Spring Boot 2.7+ (or Spring Framework 5.3+) with spring-context on the classpath. Annotate your @SpringBootApplication class with @EnableScheduling — without it, @Scheduled methods are silently ignored.
Configuration
Spring @Scheduled uses a 6-field Quartz-style expression: [sec] [min] [hr] [dom] [mon] [dow]. The expression 0 0 7 ? * 1#2 is derived from 0 0 7 ? * 1#2 — a leading 0 is prepended for the seconds field, and ? replaces the unconstrained day field.
Gotchas
Standard Unix cron has 5 fields; Spring requires 6. Pasting a 5-field expression directly into @Scheduled shifts every field by one and the job misfires silently. Use ? for either dom or dow — Quartz does not allow both to be *.
import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.Scheduled;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
@Component
public class ScheduledTask {
@Scheduled(cron = "0 0 7 ? * 1#2")
public void runTask() {
System.out.println("task running at: " + java.time.Instant.now());
// your task logic here
}
}Last verified:
Kubernetes
Prerequisites
Kubernetes 1.21+ (CronJob API is GA). kubectl configured with cluster access. Container image must be pullable from within the cluster.
Configuration
Apply with kubectl apply -f cronjob.yaml. Check status with kubectl get cronjobs and inspect run history with kubectl get jobs. concurrencyPolicy: Allow is set because this schedule fires infrequently — parallel runs are acceptable.
Gotchas
Without startingDeadlineSeconds, a missed job (e.g., due to cluster downtime) triggers as soon as the controller recovers. Kubernetes 1.25+ supports timeZone: UTC in the spec to avoid timezone ambiguity. Keep successfulJobsHistoryLimit and failedJobsHistoryLimit low to avoid accumulating stale Job objects in the cluster.
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
name: scheduled-task
spec:
schedule: "0 7 * * 1#2"
concurrencyPolicy: Allow
jobTemplate:
spec:
template:
spec:
restartPolicy: OnFailure
containers:
- name: task
image: alpine:3.19
command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo 'task running'"]Last verified:
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the `0 0 7 ? * 1#2` cron expression actually do?
This cron expression is configured to trigger a job precisely at 7 AM on the second Tuesday of every month. It ensures a task runs consistently on this specific weekly occurrence within the monthly cycle.
How does this schedule handle timezones and Daylight Saving Time changes?
Cron schedules operate based on the server's local time. It's important to verify the server's timezone configuration to ensure the job runs at the intended time, especially around Daylight Saving Time transitions which can shift execution by an hour.
How can I verify that my job is running according to the `0 0 7 ? * 1#2` schedule?
To verify, check your job execution logs for entries appearing consistently at 7 AM on the second Tuesday of each month. You can also set up alerts for successful job completions to confirm its reliability.
What are common pitfalls with this specific monthly weekday schedule?
A potential issue is that the second Tuesday might fall close to a month's end or beginning, which could matter for time-sensitive operations. Always consider how the day of the week impacts month-boundary processes.
What is a common alternative or variant for this type of schedule?
A frequent variation is to schedule a task for the first Tuesday of the month instead. This adjustment helps spread out monthly tasks more evenly across the beginning of the month.
More schedules like this
Explore Monthly Schedules →* Try any expression
Standard, Quartz, AWS EventBridge, Jenkins, named schedules (@daily, @hourly…)
* Keep Exploring