diff --git a/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/MainServlet.java b/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/MainServlet.java
index 3974d0a..6926687 100644
--- a/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/MainServlet.java
+++ b/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/MainServlet.java
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 import org.retrostore.request.FaviconRequest;
 import org.retrostore.request.ImportRpkRequest;
 import org.retrostore.request.LoginRequest;
+import org.retrostore.request.PingRequest;
 import org.retrostore.request.PolymerRequest;
 import org.retrostore.request.PublicSiteRequest;
 import org.retrostore.request.ReportAppRequest;
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ static class Modules {
 
   private static List<Request> createRequests(Modules m) {
     return ImmutableList.of(new FaviconRequest(m.defaultResourceLoader),
+        new PingRequest(),
         new PublicSiteRequest(m.defaultResourceLoader),
         new ReportAppRequest(m.defaultResourceLoader, m.appManagement, m.imgServWrapper,
             m.mailService),
diff --git a/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/request/PingRequest.java b/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/request/PingRequest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2c72be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appengine/src/main/java/org/retrostore/request/PingRequest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ *  Copyright 2018, Sascha Häberling
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.retrostore.request;
+
+import org.retrostore.data.user.UserService;
+
+/**
+ * We use ping requests to check that the AppEngine instance is alive. This is the class that
+ * handles these requests.
+ */
+public class PingRequest implements Request {
+  private static final String PATH_SERVE = "/ping";
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean serveUrl(RequestData requestData, Responder responder, UserService userService) {
+    if (!PATH_SERVE.equals(requestData.getUrl())) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    responder.respond("OK", Responder.ContentType.PLAIN);
+    return true;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/appengine/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/cron.xml b/appengine/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/cron.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1eabd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appengine/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/cron.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+  ~  Copyright 2018, Sascha Häberling
+  ~
+  ~  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+  ~  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+  ~  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+  ~
+  ~         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+  ~
+  ~  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  ~  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  ~  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  ~  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  ~  limitations under the License.
+  -->
+
+<cronentries>
+    <cron>
+        <url>/ping</url>
+        <description>Keep-alive for the AppEngine instance.</description>
+        <schedule>every 1 minutes</schedule>
+    </cron>
+</cronentries>
\ No newline at end of file