Scheduling tasks in Plesk allows you to automate routine actions such as running scripts, executing commands, or fetching URLs at defined intervals. This is commonly used for maintenance jobs, background processing, and recurring application tasks.
Plesk is typically used on environments where you have control over the hosting stack, such as setups based on Plesk-hosting.
When Scheduled Tasks Are Useful
Scheduled tasks are often used for:
- Running maintenance or cleanup scripts
- Executing recurring PHP scripts
- Triggering background jobs
- Fetching URLs for cron-based automation
Automating these tasks reduces manual work and helps keep services running consistently.
Adding a Scheduled Task
Stap 1: Open Scheduled Tasks
Log in op het Plesk-controlepaneel.
From the right-hand sidebar, klikken Scheduled Tasks.
[Schermafbeelding: Plesk sidebar with Scheduled Tasks option]
Stap 2: Create a new task
Klikken Add Task to open the task configuration screen.
[Schermafbeelding: Add Task button in Scheduled Tasks]
Stap 3: Choose the task type
In de Task type sectie, select one of the following options:
- Run a command to execute system commands available to your environment
- Fetch a URL to request a specific URL at scheduled intervals
- Run a PHP script to execute a PHP file stored on the server
When running a PHP script, specify the script path, optional arguments, and the PHP version that should be used.
[Schermafbeelding: Task type selection screen]
Stap 4: Set schedule and notifications
Choose how often the task should run and at what time.
Optionally add a description to help identify the task later.
In the notification section, select when you want to receive execution reports.
To test the task immediately, klikken Run Now. To save it, klikken OK.
Editing an Existing Task
If you need to change a scheduled task:
- Open Scheduled Tasks from the Plesk sidebar
- Click the task you want to edit
- Update the task settings as needed and save the changes
[Schermafbeelding: Scheduled task list with edit option]
Removing a Scheduled Task
To delete one or more tasks:
- Open Scheduled Tasks
- Select the checkbox next to the task
- Klikken Remove and confirm the action
[Schermafbeelding: Remove scheduled task confirmation]
Praktische opmerkingen
- Test new tasks using Run Now before relying on schedules
- Avoid overlapping tasks that may consume excessive resources
- Review logs and notifications regularly
Scheduled tasks are commonly used on server-level deployments such as cloud-servers and more advanced setups running on speciale server environments where automation plays a key role in daily operations.