easyMultiple Choice
XK0-006 Schedule a script to run every Monday at 3 AM Practice Question
An administrator wants to schedule a script to run every Monday at 3 AM. Which crontab entry is correct?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the distinction between the minute field and the day-of-week field, trapping candidates who confuse the first field (minute) with the hour field, or who misinterpret the day-of-week field as the day-of-month field.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
0 3 * * 1 /path/to/script
The crontab syntax requires five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. '0 3 * * 1' means minute 0, hour 3 (3 AM), any day of month (*), any month (*), and day of week 1 (Monday). This precisely schedules the script to run at 3:00 AM every Monday.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
0 3 * * 1 /path/to/script
Why this is correct
The five fields map to minute 0, hour 3, every day of month, every month, and day-of-week 1 (Monday), so the script runs weekly at 03:00. This satisfies the exact schedule constraint; alternatives misplace the weekday or hour fields.
- ✗
* 3 * * 1 /path/to/script
Why it's wrong here
The minute field holds an asterisk, so the script launches every minute during the 03:00 hour on Mondays, not once. Wildcards in the minute field suit recurring intra-hour polling, where repeated execution within the window is intended.
- ✗
0 3 * * * /path/to/script
Why it's wrong here
The `*` in the day-of-week field means the job runs daily, not only Mondays, so it fails the weekly requirement. It is tempting because this syntax correctly schedules a 3 AM run, which would be the right entry for a script needed every day at that time.
- ✗
0 3 1 * * /path/to/script
Why it's wrong here
Runs on the 1st of every month at 3 AM.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This XK0-006 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the XK0-006 exam.