Task Scheduling

Creating a task

You can create a task (Console Command) in Laravel using Artisan. From your command line:

php artisan make:console MyTaskName

This creates the file in app/Console/Commands/MyTaskName.php. It will look like this:

<?php

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;

class MyTaskName extends Command
{
    /**
     * The name and signature of the console command.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $signature = 'command:name';

    /**
     * The console command description.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $description = 'Command description';

    /**
     * Create a new command instance.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
    }

    /**
     * Execute the console command.
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function handle()
    {
        //
    }
}

Some important parts of this definition are:

The $signature property is what identifies your command. You will be able to execute this command later through the command line using Artisan by running php artisan command:name (Where command:name matches your command’s $signature)
The $description property is Artisan’s help/usage displays next to your command when it is made available.
The handle() method is where you write the code for your command.

Eventually, your task will be made available to the command line through Artisan. The protected $signature = 'command:name'; property on this class is what you would use to run it.

Making a task available

You can make a task available to Artisan and to your application in the app/Console/Kernel.php file.

The Kernel class contains an array named $commands which make your commands available to your application.

Add your command to this array, in order to make it available to Artisan and your application.

<?php

namespace App\Console;

use Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Console\Kernel as ConsoleKernel;

class Kernel extends ConsoleKernel
{
    /**
     * The Artisan commands provided by your application.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $commands = [
        Commands\Inspire::class,
        Commands\MyTaskName::class // This line makes MyTaskName available
    ];

    /**
     * Define the application's command schedule.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule  $schedule
     * @return void
     */
    protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
    {
    
    }
}

Once this is done, you can now access your command via the command line, using Artisan. Assuming that your command has the $signature property set to my:task, you can run the following command to execute your task:

php artisan my:task

Scheduling your task

When your command is made available to your application, you can use Laravel to schedule it to run at pre-defined intervals, just like you would a CRON.

In The app/Console/Kernel.php file you will find a schedule method that you can use to schedule your task.

<?php

namespace App\Console;

use Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Console\Kernel as ConsoleKernel;

class Kernel extends ConsoleKernel
{
    /**
     * The Artisan commands provided by your application.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $commands = [
        Commands\Inspire::class,
        Commands\MyTaskName::class
    ];

    /**
     * Define the application's command schedule.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule  $schedule
     * @return void
     */
    protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
    {
        $schedule->command('my:task')->everyMinute();
        // $schedule->command('my:task')->everyFiveMinutes();
        // $schedule->command('my:task')->daily();
        // $schedule->command('my:task')->monthly();
        // $schedule->command('my:task')->sundays();
    }
}

Assuming your task’s $signature is my:task you can schedule it as shown above, using the Schedule $schedule object. Laravel provides loads of different ways to schedule your command, as shown in the commented out lines above.

Setting the scheduler to run

The scheduler can be run using the command:

php artisan schedule:run

The scheduler needs to be run every minute in order to work correctly. You can set this up by creating a cron job with the following line, which runs the scheduler every minute in the background.

* * * * * php /path/to/artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1