# Your app always on, your tasks always on time Turn your app into a service that starts with the server and schedule recurring scripts — backups, cleanups, health checks — from simple forms. See status, logs and the next run, and act in one click. URL: https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/servicios-y-tareas/ - systemd services - Cron-style tasks - Logs included ## Here's what it looks like in the panel Real screenshots of the ArduMaker panel, not mockups. ![Services and scheduled tasks: systemd services](https://ardumaker.com/screenshots/servicios/servicios-y-tareas-1.jpg) **systemd services**. Your app as a service, with a unit preview and live logs. ## systemd and cron, minus the files What keeps your app alive and your tasks on schedule. - **Create services**: Paste the .service content, with the option to start it as you create it. There are templates for Node.js, Python and Docker. - **Safe by default**: If the service fails to start after you create it, it removes itself. Before you edit an existing one, the file is backed up. - **One-click control**: Start, stop, restart, and enable or disable start on boot. - **Clear status**: Active, enabled at boot, PID, memory and uptime. - **Protected**: ssh, nginx, docker, mysql, postgresql and other critical services can't be deleted by mistake. - **Scheduled tasks**: Name, command and schedule; the .service and the .timer are generated for you. Shortcuts like hourly, daily or weekly. - **Run now and pause**: Test a task without waiting for its schedule, pause it without deleting it, or stop a run in progress. - **Never skipped**: Persistent timers: if the VPS was off at the scheduled time, the task runs at boot. - **Logs for everything**: The output of every service and task, from the panel. ## Your app as a service 1. **Pick a template**: Node.js, Python or Docker. 2. **Create and enable**: It starts now and on every reboot. 3. **Schedule the recurring work**: Backups, cleanups or health checks, each with its schedule. ## How it works under the hood, and what to watch for What you should know before you start, no fine print. - It doesn't use cron but systemd timers: for each task a .service and a .timer are generated. It is more verbose than a crontab line, and in exchange you get status, per-task logs, and the last and next run. - The schedule uses systemd's OnCalendar format, with shortcuts like hourly, daily or weekly. It is not cron syntax: daily in OnCalendar means midnight, which is not the same as cron's @daily. - Timers are persistent: if the VPS was off at the scheduled time, the task runs at boot. With cron, that run is simply lost. - If a service fails to start right after you create it, it removes itself and shows you the error, instead of leaving you a broken unit enabled at boot. - Before you edit an existing service, a copy of the original file is saved. - Critical services — ssh, nginx, docker, mysql, postgresql and others — are protected and can't be deleted by mistake from the panel. - Task commands use absolute paths, and scripts need the execute permission. It is the number one reason a task "does nothing": a timer's PATH is not your interactive PATH. - Names go in lowercase and without spaces. - Needs systemd running. Verified in production on Ubuntu 22.04 and compatible with 18.04, 20.04, 24.04 and 26.04; not available on 16.04. - Real root over SSH: the panel is a shortcut, not a cage. Anything it does with a button, you can also do by hand. ## Or just ask Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor Everything you see in the panel, your AI agent can do through the ArduMaker MCP server: with your authorization, within the scope you grant, and with every action audited. [See what the MCP does](https://ardumaker.com/en/mcp/servicios/) ## Services and scheduled tasks: frequently asked questions ### How do I make my app start on its own when the VPS reboots? You create its service and enable it with one click. ### What happens if my service doesn't start when I create it? It is rolled back and removed automatically, and you see the error. ### Do I use cron syntax? No, systemd's OnCalendar format, which also has shortcuts like daily or weekly. ### Can I test a task without waiting? Yes, with "run now". ### What happens if the VPS was off at the scheduled time? The task runs when it boots back up. ### Why systemd timers and not cron? Because each task ends up with its own status, its own logs and its next run in plain sight, and because timers are persistent: if the VPS was off at the scheduled time, the task runs at boot. With cron that run is lost and you never find out. ### My task runs but does nothing, what do I check first? The paths. A timer's PATH is not your interactive shell's: commands have to use absolute paths and scripts need the execute permission. After that, the task logs from the panel. ### Can I pause a task without deleting it? Yes, and you can also run it now without waiting for its schedule, or stop a run that is in progress. ## Services that go well together Everything runs on the same VPS and is managed from the same panel. - [GitHub deploys](https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/deploy-github/): Link a repo and every push to your chosen branch updates your app on the VPS, with build and restart scripts. - [Web terminal](https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/terminal-web/): Persistent in-browser terminals built on tmux that survive dropped connections and disconnects. - [Automatic backups](https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/backups/): A full live backup every week, the last 4 kept, and a final copy when you delete the VPS. **Less SSH, more time for your app** Services and scheduled tasks in every VPS panel. Not a separate product: it's in the panel of every ArduMaker VPS, right next to real root over SSH. [See plans](https://ardumaker.com/en/precios/)