What three times does every 8 hours run?

Midnight, 8 AM, and 4 PM by default — an even three-way split of the 24-hour day starting from hour 0.

How do I align every-8-hours with a 7 AM shift start instead?

Use an explicit list: 0 7,15,23 * * * keeps the 8-hour spacing but starts at 7 AM instead of midnight.

Is 0 */8 * * * the same as 0 0,8,16 * * *?

Yes, exactly equivalent — the step form is shorthand for that explicit list.

Cron: Every 8 Hours

0 */8 * * * fires three times a day — midnight, 8 AM, and 4 PM — evenly dividing the day into thirds. It naturally lines up with classic 8-hour shift patterns, making it a familiar cadence for operations and monitoring tasks tied to shift handoffs.

0 */8 * * *

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Examples & Variations

0 */8 * * *

Every 8 hours, all day

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0 6,14,22 * * *

Every 8 hours, aligned to a 6 AM shift start

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0 */8 * * 1-5

Every 8 hours, weekdays only

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Common Mistakes

Assuming the three run times automatically align with your team's actual shift schedule — the step form starts at midnight; use an explicit list (like 6,14,22) if shifts start at a different hour.
Treating three-times-daily as 'infrequent enough to skip monitoring' — a missed run here represents a third of the day's coverage, larger than it sounds.
Running resource-intensive jobs at all three slots without considering that one of them always lands overnight, potentially colliding with other nightly maintenance.

Best Practices

If this schedule is meant to mirror real shift handoffs, use the explicit hour list rather than the step syntax so the crontab entry documents the actual shift start times.
A reasonable default for reports or sync jobs that need same-day freshness without hourly overhead.
Restrict to weekdays if the job supports a Monday–Friday operation and shouldn't run on weekend shifts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What three times does every 8 hours run?: Midnight, 8 AM, and 4 PM by default — an even three-way split of the 24-hour day starting from hour 0.
How do I align every-8-hours with a 7 AM shift start instead?: Use an explicit list: 0 7,15,23 * * * keeps the 8-hour spacing but starts at 7 AM instead of midnight.
Is 0 */8 * * * the same as 0 0,8,16 * * *?: Yes, exactly equivalent — the step form is shorthand for that explicit list.

Related Tools

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Cron: Every 6 Hours

The cron expression for every 6 hours is 0 */6 * * *, firing 4 times a day. See examples, mistakes, and best practices for this schedule.

Cron: Every 12 Hours

The cron expression for every 12 hours is 0 */12 * * *, firing twice a day at midnight and noon. See examples, mistakes, and best practices.

Cron: Twice Daily

Run a cron job twice a day with 0 8,20 * * * or similar — see common AM/PM patterns, examples, and best practices for twice-daily schedules.