2024 UPDATE - LARAVEL 11

We're excited to announce that we have updated all of our blog post examples to reflect the new Laravel 11 version! Our previous examples were based on Laravel 10, but with the release of Laravel 11, we wanted to ensure that our readers have access to the most up-to-date information and examples.

Automating Your Application

When managing an app, there are routine tasks that need to be run periodically, such as cleaning up old posts, optimizing images, or sending out email digests. Performing these tasks manually can be time-consuming and error-prone. Laravel's task scheduling provides an elegant solution for automating such tasks.

Understanding Task Scheduling in Laravel

Laravel's task scheduler allows you to fluently and expressively define your command schedule within the application itself. Instead of creating multiple Cron entries on your server for each task, you only need to add a single Cron entry that executes Laravel's scheduler.

This scheduler is located in the app/Console/Kernel.php file, where you can define all your scheduled tasks. Laravel will then evaluate these tasks and run them when they are due.

Setting Up the Cron Entry

The first step is to add the following Cron entry to your server. This entry calls the Laravel command scheduler every minute:

* * * * * cd /path-to-your-project && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Replace /path-to-your-project with the actual path to your Laravel application. This single Cron job is the engine that drives the execution of all your scheduled tasks.

Defining Scheduled Tasks

With the Cron entry in place, you can now define your scheduled tasks. Open the routes/console.php file and write the schedule method. Here's where you'll put your task schedules.

Let's say you want to clean up old posts from your blog every day at midnight. You might define a console command called posts:cleanup that performs this task. You would then schedule it like so:

<?php

use Illuminate\Foundation\Inspiring;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Artisan;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Artisan::command('inspire', function () {
    $this->comment(Inspiring::quote());
})->purpose('Display an inspiring quote')->hourly();


Schedule::call(function (Schedule $schedule) {
    $schedule->command('posts:cleanup');
})->daily();

Laravel's scheduler provides a variety of methods to specify when tasks should run, such as hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and even everyMinute for frequent tasks.

Creating Custom Console Commands

To create the posts:cleanup command mentioned above, you would use the command:

php artisan make:command PostsCleanup

This command generates a new command class in the app/Console/Commands directory. You can then define the logic for cleaning up old posts within the handle method of the generated class:

<?php

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use App\Models\Post;

class PostsCleanup extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'posts:cleanup';
    protected $description = 'Cleans up old posts from the blog';

    public function handle()
    {
        // Delete posts older than a year
        $deletedPosts = Post::where('created_at', '<', now()->subYear() )
					->delete();
        
        $this->info($deletedPosts .' old posts have been cleaned up!');
    }
}

Running the Command from the Terminal

You can also run the same command from the terminal by entering:

php artisan posts:cleanup

Conclusion

Laravel's task scheduling is a powerful feature that can significantly reduce the manual effort required to maintain your application. By automating routine tasks, you ensure that your application is not only up-to-date but also performing optimally.

Upcoming Articles in the Series

This article is part of our series Laravel 11 for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Learn the Concepts.

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Laravel 11 for Beginners: Task Scheduling for Automation