Quick Start Guide

Get your first monitor running in under 5 minutes!

Step 1: Create an Account #

  1. Go to cronmonitor.io/register
  2. Enter your email and password
  3. Verify your email address
  4. Log in to your dashboard

Step 2: Create Your First Monitor #

  1. Click "New Monitor" button in the dashboard
  2. Fill in the basic information:
Name: Daily Backup
Schedule: 0 2 * * * (Every day at 2:00 AM)
Timezone: Europe/Warsaw
Grace Period: 5 minutes
  1. Click "Create Monitor"

What is Grace Period? #

The grace period is how long we wait after the expected time before alerting you. For example:

  • Job scheduled at 2:00 AM
  • Grace period: 5 minutes
  • Alert sent if no ping by 2:05 AM

Step 3: Get Your Ping URL #

After creating the monitor, you'll see your unique ping URL:

https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456

Keep this URL safe! Anyone with this URL can ping your monitor.

Step 4: Integrate With Your Cron Job #

Add a simple curl command to your existing cron job:

Option A: Append to Existing Command #

# Before
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup.sh

# After
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup.sh && curl -m 10 https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456

Option B: In Your Script #

Add at the end of your script:

Bash:

#!/bin/bash
# Your backup logic
/usr/bin/mysqldump -u root database > backup.sql

# Ping CronMonitor
curl -m 10 --retry 3 https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456

PHP:

<?php
// Your backup logic
exec('mysqldump -u root database > backup.sql');

// Ping CronMonitor
file_get_contents('https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456');

Python:

import requests
import subprocess

# Your backup logic
subprocess.run(['mysqldump', '-u', 'root', 'database'], 
               stdout=open('backup.sql', 'w'))

# Ping CronMonitor
requests.get('https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456', timeout=10)

Step 5: Test Your Setup #

Manual Test #

Click the "Send Test Ping" button in your monitor details to simulate a successful run.

Real Test #

Wait for your cron job to run, or trigger it manually:

# Run your cron job manually
/path/to/backup.sh && curl https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456

Step 6: Verify It Works #

  1. Go to your monitor details page
  2. Check the "Last Ping" timestamp
  3. Status should show as "Up" or "Running"
  4. View the ping history

What Happens If Job Fails? #

Scenario 1: Job Doesn't Run #

# Cron job disabled or server down
# Result: No ping sent β†’ You get alert after grace period

Scenario 2: Job Fails But Pings #

# Job fails but still pings (wrong setup)
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup.sh; curl https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123

# Better: Only ping on success
0 2 * * * /path/to/backup.sh && curl https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123

Notice the difference:

  • ; (semicolon) - Always runs second command
  • && (double ampersand) - Only runs second command if first succeeds

Scenario 3: Job Succeeds #

βœ… Job runs successfully
βœ… Ping sent to CronMonitor
βœ… Monitor status: "Up"
βœ… No alert sent

Configure Notifications #

By default, you'll receive email notifications. To add more:

  1. Go to "Settings" β†’ "Notifications"
  2. Add notification channels:
    • Slack: Connect your workspace
    • Webhook: Send to your own endpoint

Learn more about notifications β†’

Video Tutorial #

πŸ“Ί Watch: "Quick Start - Your First Monitor in 5 Minutes"

πŸŽ₯

Quick Start Tutorial

Video coming soon

What you'll learn:

  • Creating an account (0:30)
  • Setting up your first monitor (1:00)
  • Integrating with a cron job (2:00)
  • Testing and verification (1:30)

Common Issues #

"I pinged but monitor still shows down" #

Check:

  1. URL is exactly correct (copy-paste from dashboard)
  2. Cron job actually ran (check system logs)
  3. Server has internet access to reach cronmonitor.io
  4. No firewall blocking outbound HTTPS

"Getting 404 on ping URL" #

Solution: Copy the URL again from dashboard. Make sure there are no extra spaces or characters.

"Cron runs but ping fails" #

Debug:

# Test ping manually
curl -v https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456

# Check for errors
curl -v https://cronmonitor.io/ping/abc123def456 2>&1 | grep -i error

Next Steps #

Now that your first monitor is running:

Need Help? #