Cron schedules need a timezone, not just an expression
Read the five cron fields, confirm the scheduler timezone, and avoid duplicate or skipped runs around daylight-saving changes.
A cron expression describes calendar fields, but the scheduler decides which timezone interprets them. Record both together and test the next runs before enabling a production job.
Read the five fields from left to right
Standard cron uses minute, hour, day of month, month and day of week. The expression 0 9 * * 1-5 means minute zero, hour nine, any day and month, Monday through Friday.
Find the scheduler's actual timezone
Container time, application time and managed scheduler time can differ. Check the product documentation or runtime configuration instead of assuming local time.
Plan for clock changes
A local time can repeat or disappear during daylight-saving transitions. Use UTC for fixed intervals, or make the job idempotent when local business time matters.
Test safely before activation
Preview several upcoming runs, use a non-destructive target, and record the timezone beside the expression in source control.
Check the source against the result
Run the weekday report at 09:00 Asia/Kolkata.
0 9 * * 1-5 with scheduler timezone Asia/Kolkata.
The timezone is part of the deployment configuration even though it does not appear in the five-field expression.
Build the fields, then record the clock
Choose a tested preset, inspect all five fields and keep the scheduler timezone beside the expression.
Open Cron Expression Generator