Configuring CronJobs in Kubernetes

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Configuring CronJobs in Kubernetes

Pods are not the only way to run workloads in Kubernetes. You can also use jobs to execute something once, or you can use cron jobs to execute workloads on a schedule. This lab provides an opportunity to learn about cron jobs by implementing a simple scheduled job in a working Kubernetes cluster.

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Aug 29, 2025

Duration

1h 0m

Challenge

Create the cron job in the cluster

Create a descriptor for the cron job with vi ~/cleanup-cronjob.yml.

apiVersion: batch/v1beta1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: cleanup-cronjob
spec:
  schedule: "*/1 * * * *"
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: data-cleanup
            image: linuxacademycontent/data-cleanup:1
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

Create the cron job in the cluster.

kubectl apply -f ~/cleanup-cronjob.yml

Challenge

Allow the cron job to run successfully
Give the cron job a minute or so to run once, and then check the status.
```
kubectl get cronjob cleanup-cronjob
```
You should see a timestamp under LAST-SCHEDULE, indicating the job was executed.

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