Run Python At Specific Time

Question

I am working on a Python program. It needs to run every 15 minutes. It currently waits 870 seconds (14.5 mins) before running again, but as the time it takes to complete the action varies, sometimes it runs before it has been 15 minutes since it last run, sometimes after 15 minutes.

My code for this part currently looks like this:

print(colour.BOLD, colour.PURPLE, "Finished", colour.END)
    print(colour.BOLD, colour.BLUE, 'WAITING 15 MINUTES (900 SECONDS)', colour.END)
    time.sleep(870)

Is there a way I can get it to run at xx:15, xx:30, xx:45, xx:00 where xx is every hour from 00 to 23?

Sorry if I'm being confusing here. Thanks for any help in advance.

store the first time.. check if it has been 15mins .. update the time and run the task again.. Dont try to use sleep follow the above loop again and again.. — Yatish Kadam, Sep 25 '19 at 19:00

Mason Caiby · Answer 1 · 2019-09-25T19:07:13.733

1

I would use the schedule module: https://pypi.org/project/schedule/

you would run:

schedule.every().minute.at(":00").do(job)
schedule.every().minute.at(":15").do(job)
schedule.every().minute.at(":30").do(job)
schedule.every().minute.at(":45").do(job)

edited Sep 25 '19 at 19:07

answered Sep 25 '19 at 19:01

Mason Caiby

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In case the script crashes this solution will not restart it – Pitto Sep 25 '19 at 19:07
I use it in this way too, but it takes up a lot of CPU, and I don't know how to solve it. – Hami Nov 18 '22 at 02:14

Pitto · Answer 2 · 2019-09-25T19:16:22.087

Use your OS tools to achieve similar results.

They are very reliable and, in case of your script failure, it will run anyway next time.

Linux
Use crontab.
How to set it will slightly change depending on your Distribution.

As a general idea:

sudo crontab -e

Inside the crontab write (be sure to customize the python executable and script path):

*/15 * * * * /usr/bin/python /path/to/your/script.py

This will make sure that your script is executed every 15 minutes.

Windows
How to schedule a task on Windows is more dependent on the Windows version you are using and it is a very visual task. Googling "How to schedule a task in Windows" will return way better / more specific / updated results than the one I could clumsily explain here.

Here's a nice one I have found for you.

Mac
Read the amazing answer by Meki here on StackOverflow.

Hi @Noah, if my answer was useful for you please consider upvoting it and/or choosing it as final answer. Thanks! — Pitto, Oct 15 '19 at 15:15

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 25 '19 at 19:13

Having a script that does a thing at discrete intervals taking control of its own destiny like that makes me squirrely. I would use an external scheduling framework to run this job at discrete intervals. In Linux, this can be done with cronjobs; in Windows, it can be done with Task Scheduler.

Linux: In terminal, type

crontab -e

to edit the cron schedule for the current user context. Docs on editing cron can be found all over the internet - here's one: https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/linux/usage/cron.md

Windows: You can schedule a python script to run on that schedule in Windows Task Scheduler. here's a link walking through that: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/product/analytics/scheduling-a-python-script-or-model-to-run-at-a-prescribed-time/

be certain to utilize the "if the task is already running" and "run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed" options if you do this method to control appropriate behavior:

Run Python At Specific Time

3 Answers3