Difference between revisions of "Cron Configuration"

Revision as of 15:10, 13 November 2015

The WHMCS cron job is the process that performs all the automated actions.

Just 1 single cron job needs to be setup to automate all the core functions of the system (invoicing, reminders, suspensions, etc...)

The cron must be configured to run no more than once per day.

Setting Up Cron Jobs

The tutorials & screenshots below demonstrate how to configure the WHMCS cron on the most common hosting control panels.

You can obtain the exact cron command you need to use for your installation from Setup > Automation Settings at any time.

The examples below will setup the cron to run at 9am every day.

cPanel

Click on the Cron Job icon in cPanel, select the Once A Day option from the Common Settings dropdown menu. Then paste the cron command into the Command field.

Alternatively click the Advanced (Unix Style) button and use the following:

cPanel Cron
Option	Hour	Day	Month	Weekday	Command
a)	9	*	*	*	php -q /path/to/home/public_html/whmcspath/adminpath/cron.php
b)	9	*	*	*	wget -O http://www.yourdomain.com/whmcspath/adminpath/cron.php >/dev/null
c)	9	*	*	*	GET http://www.yourdomain.com/whmcspath/adminpath/cron.php

Direct Admin

The command for Direct Admin is generally the same as cPanel, however, you need to reference the full path to the php binary.

This can be /usr/bin/php, /usr/bin/home/php or /usr/local/bin/php but this is dependent on the server setup and you should check with your Server Administrator for the full path to the php binary.

An example command to run is:

Command
/usr/bin/php -q /home/demo_user/domains/testdomain.com/public_html/whmcspath/admin/cron.php
/usr/local/bin/php -q /home/demo_user/domains/testdomain.com/public_html/whmcspath/admin/cron.php
wget -O /dev/null http://domain.tld/path/to/cron.php
GET http://www.yourdomain.com/whmcspath/admin/cron.php

DotNetPanel

Navigate to the hosting space in which WHMCS is installed and click Scheduled Tasks from the Hosting Space Menu, then click Add Scheduled Task.

From the Task Type dropdown menu select the Check Web Site Availability option and enter the URL of the cron.php file into the URL field. Use the Schedule options to run this task Daily and finally ensure it's active and running.

Windows Server

Depending on your server setup, you can run the cron directly from the php executable. If this is not possible, you would need to use the server browser to run the cron

An example command to run is:

Command
C:\php\php.exe -q "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\whmcs7\admin\cron.php"
"c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.php" "http://www.yourdomain.com/whmcspath/cron.php"

You should then set the task to run at a certain time every day. The time is up to you.

Plesk

You can specify the php command using the following on Linux Plesk:

env php -q /home/user/whmcs/admin/cron.php

The Windows version of Plesk is slightly different. You need to specify the path to the php executable and then specify the path to your cron.php file.

Check the appropriate boxes to run at the time you wish and press ok to save.

Helm

InterWorx

Option Flags

Passing in option flags to the cron process allows you to customise the actions that get performed. By default, all actions will run but you can pass in any of the flags below to skip or only do certain processes.

Flags

affcommissions - Calculate affiliate commissions
affreports - Send affiliate reports on the first day of the month only
backups - Generate WHMCS database backup
cancelrequests - Process cancellation requests
ccexpirynotices - Send credit card expiration notices
ccprocessing - Process credit card payments
clientstatussync - Change client statuses (Active, Inactive, Closed)
closetickets - Auto-close answered tickets
domainrenewalnotices - Send upcoming domain renewal notice emails
emailmarketing - Send email marketer emails
fixedtermterminations - Terminate fixed-term products due today
invoicereminders - Send invoice payment reminder emails
invoices - Generate due invoices
latefees - Apply late fees to overdue invoices
overagesbilling - Generate overage invoices on the last day of the month only
suspensions - Suspend overdue accounts
terminations - Terminate overdue accounts
updatepricing - Update product prices based upon the currency base conversion rates
updaterates - Update currency base conversion rates
usagestats - Update usage statistics from the server
skip_report - Do not send the WHMCS Cron Job Activity email

How to use Option Flags

Flags are passed in by simply appending them to the cron command. All the flags can be preceded with do_ or skip_. When running with do_, the cron will only complete the actions listed, everything else will be skipped. When using skip_, WHMCS will run all other commands except those specified to be skipped.

Note:
Skipping or doing functions will not stop the cron job hooks from running. These will run any time the cron.php file is accessed, irrespective of the number of actions to be completed.

Option flags should be specified after the cron path. For example, to skip credit card processing, you would configure the cron command as follows:

php -q /path/to/cron.php skip_ccprocessing

To perform automatic ticket closure and usage status updating, you would configure the cron command as follows:

php -q /path/to/cron.php do_closetickets do_usagestats

Or alternatively as a browser request, like this:

GET http://www.yourdomain.com/crons/cron.php?do_closetickets=1&do_usagestats=1

You can specify as many option flags in a single cron command as you require.

@@ Line 186: / Line 186: @@
 <source lang="php">
-GET http://www.yourdomain.com/admin/cron.php?do_closetickets=1&do_usagestats=1
+GET http://www.yourdomain.com/crons/cron.php?do_closetickets=1&do_usagestats=1
 </source>
 You can specify as many option flags in a single cron command as you require.

Documentation