diff --git a/tasks/configure.yml b/tasks/configure.yml
index f13af54..3ef31bf 100644
--- a/tasks/configure.yml
+++ b/tasks/configure.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   with_items:
     - config:system:set trusted_domains 1 --value={{inventory_hostname}}
     - maintenance:update:htaccess
+    - background:cron
   args:
     chdir: /var/www/nextcloud
   become: true
diff --git a/tasks/cron.yml b/tasks/cron.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e5caa0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tasks/cron.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+
+- name: cron service
+  template:
+    src: nextcloud-cron.service
+    dest: /etc/systemd/system/nextcloud-cron.service
+
+- name: cron timer
+  template:
+    src: nextcloud-cron.timer
+    dest: /etc/systemd/system/nextcloud-cron.timer
+
+- name: cron timer started and enabled
+  systemd:
+    name: nextcloud-cron.timer
+    state: started
+    enabled: yes
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index d2bf05c..e1eb458 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -24,3 +24,5 @@
 - include: upgrade.yml
 
 - include: apache2.yml
+
+- include: cron.yml
diff --git a/templates/nextcloud-cron.service b/templates/nextcloud-cron.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8aa7b4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/nextcloud-cron.service
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=nextcloud cron job
+
+[Service]
+User=www-data
+Group=www-data
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/php -f /var/www/nextcloud/cron.php
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=basic.target
diff --git a/templates/nextcloud-cron.timer b/templates/nextcloud-cron.timer
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b39b927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/nextcloud-cron.timer
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=run nextcloud cron job every 15 minutes
+
+[Timer]
+OnBootSec=5min
+OnUnitActiveSec=15min
+Unit=nextcloud-cron.service
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=timers.target