Installation

Composer

composer require crustum/cakephp-scheduling

Load the Plugin

Ensure the Scheduling Plugin is loaded in your src/Application.php file (or via bin/cake plugin load Crustum/Scheduling):

$this->addPlugin(\Crustum\Scheduling\SchedulingPlugin::class);

Load SignalHandler Plugin (Required)

The Scheduling plugin requires the SignalHandler plugin for graceful termination support:

$this->addPlugin(\SignalHandler\SignalHandlerPlugin::class);

The plugin automatically registers the scheduling services and integrates with CakePHP's console system and event manager. No additional configuration is required for basic scheduling functionality.

Install Configuration (Plugin Manifest)

After the plugin is registered, install published assets with the Plugin Manifest system:

bin/cake manifest install --plugin Crustum/Scheduling

This will:

• Copy monitoring migrations into the application's config/Migrations directory
• Create config/scheduling.php (copy-safe; will not overwrite an existing file)
• Append loading of config/scheduling.php to config/bootstrap.php when the file exists

You can then run migrations for monitoring features:

bin/cake migrations migrate

Alternatively, migrate from the plugin path without publishing:

bin/cake migrations migrate -p Crustum/Scheduling

Published migrations and config/scheduling.php support:

• monitored_scheduled_tasks — task metadata and status
• monitored_scheduled_task_log_items — execution logs with metadata
• Monitoring options (delete_log_items_older_than_days, grace_time_in_minutes, etc.)

Platform Support

The plugin works on all platforms supported by CakePHP:

• Linux: Full support with all features
• Windows: Full support with all features
• macOS: Full support with all features

The plugin uses the SignalHandler plugin for cross-platform signal handling, ensuring consistent behavior across all operating systems.

Requirements Verification

The plugin automatically checks for required dependencies:

• CakePHP 5.0+ framework
• PHP 8.4+ runtime
• SignalHandler plugin for graceful termination
• Access to system commands for shell execution tasks

If any requirements are missing, the plugin will provide clear error messages during initialization.

Automatic Integration

The plugin automatically integrates with CakePHP's systems:

• Registers scheduling services in the dependency injection container
• Integrates with CakePHP's console command system
• Connects to the event manager for task lifecycle events
• Provides commands for running and managing scheduled tasks
• Sets up signal handling for graceful termination

No manual configuration is required for basic scheduling functionality.

Configuration Options

The plugin supports optional configuration for advanced use cases:

• Cache configuration for task overlap prevention
• Timezone settings for scheduled tasks
• Event listener registration for custom monitoring
• Mutex implementations for single-server execution

For detailed configuration options, see the Integration documentation.

Verification

To verify the plugin is installed correctly, run:

bin/cake --help

You should see the following scheduling commands available:

• schedule run - Run scheduled tasks (typically called by cron)
• schedule work - Run the scheduler continuously for development
• schedule list - List all scheduled tasks
• schedule pause - Pause scheduled task processing
• schedule resume - Resume scheduled task processing after a pause
• schedule interrupt - Interrupt the current schedule run (sub-minute loop)
• schedule test - Test scheduled task execution
• schedule finish - Finish a scheduled task execution
• schedule clear - Clear scheduling cache
• schedule monitor list - List all scheduled tasks
• schedule monitor prune - Prune scheduled tasks
• schedule monitor sync - Sync scheduled tasks

Next Steps

After installation, proceed to the Integration guide to learn how to define and configure your scheduled tasks.