Schedule API

API reference for Schedule CRD

Schedule allows you to run chaos experiments on a schedule using cron expressions.

API Version and Kind

apiVersion: chaos-mesh.org/v1alpha1
kind: Schedule

Metadata

Standard Kubernetes object metadata.

metadata.name · string · required

Name of the Schedule resource.

metadata.namespace · string

Namespace of the Schedule resource. Defaults to default.

Spec Fields

spec · ScheduleSpec · required

Defines the behavior of the scheduled chaos.

ScheduleSpec

schedule · string · required

Cron expression defining when to run the chaos experiment.

Supports standard cron format with optional seconds field:

• [Second] Minute Hour DayOfMonth Month DayOfWeek

Examples:

schedule: "0 */5 * * * *"    # Every 5 minutes
schedule: "0 0 0 * * *"      # Daily at midnight
schedule: "0 30 9 * * 1-5"   # Weekdays at 9:30 AM

startingDeadlineSeconds · *int64

Deadline in seconds for starting the chaos if it misses the scheduled time.

Minimum: 0 (exclusive)

startingDeadlineSeconds: 300  # 5 minutes

concurrencyPolicy · ConcurrencyPolicy · default: "Forbid"

How to treat concurrent executions of a chaos experiment.

Enum values:

• Forbid - Do not allow concurrent runs (default)
• Allow - Allow concurrent runs

concurrencyPolicy: Forbid

historyLimit · int · default: "1"

Number of finished chaos experiments to retain for history.

Minimum: 1

historyLimit: 5

type · ScheduleTemplateType · required

Type of chaos to schedule.

Common values include:

• PodChaos
• NetworkChaos
• StressChaos
• IOChaos
• TimeChaos
• KernelChaos
• HTTPChaos
• DNSChaos
• JVMChaos
• BlockChaos
• AWSChaos
• GCPChaos
• AzureChaos
• PhysicalMachineChaos

Note: Cannot schedule Workflow type (nested workflows not supported).

ScheduleItem · ScheduleItem · required

Embedded chaos specification (inline). The actual chaos spec depends on the type field.

For example, if type: PodChaos, include podChaos spec inline.

Status Fields

status · ScheduleStatus

Most recently observed status of the schedule.

ScheduleStatus

active · []corev1.ObjectReference

List of currently running chaos experiments created by this schedule.

time · metav1.Time

Last time the schedule successfully created a chaos experiment.

Pausing a Schedule

To pause a schedule, add the annotation:

metadata:
  annotations:
    experiment.chaos-mesh.org/pause: "true"

Examples

Schedule PodChaos Daily

apiVersion: chaos-mesh.org/v1alpha1
kind: Schedule
metadata:
  name: schedule-pod-kill
  namespace: chaos-mesh
spec:
  schedule: "0 0 2 * * *"  # 2 AM daily
  type: PodChaos
  historyLimit: 3
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  podChaos:
    action: pod-kill
    mode: one
    selector:
      namespaces:
        - default
      labelSelectors:
        app: nginx

Schedule NetworkChaos Every Hour

apiVersion: chaos-mesh.org/v1alpha1
kind: Schedule
metadata:
  name: schedule-network-delay
  namespace: chaos-mesh
spec:
  schedule: "0 0 * * * *"  # Every hour
  type: NetworkChaos
  historyLimit: 5
  concurrencyPolicy: Allow
  startingDeadlineSeconds: 600
  networkChaos:
    action: delay
    mode: all
    selector:
      namespaces:
        - production
      labelSelectors:
        tier: backend
    delay:
      latency: "100ms"
      correlation: "50"
    duration: "30s"

Schedule StressChaos on Weekdays

apiVersion: chaos-mesh.org/v1alpha1
kind: Schedule
metadata:
  name: schedule-cpu-stress
  namespace: chaos-mesh
spec:
  schedule: "0 30 14 * * 1-5"  # Weekdays at 2:30 PM
  type: StressChaos
  historyLimit: 2
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  stressChaos:
    mode: one
    selector:
      namespaces:
        - default
      labelSelectors:
        app: worker
    stressors:
      cpu:
        workers: 2
        load: 80
    duration: "5m"