Cron Halts on Tenant Usage Metrics

Symptom

During the daily automation cron run, the script requires a long amount of time and eventually fails to complete. Attempting the Advanced Cron Troubleshooting steps indicates that the cron times out during Tenant Usage Metrics polling.

Cause

During Tenant Usage Metrics polling, the system connects to hosting servers in order to provide usage data to WHMCS for usage billing-based invoicing and metrics.

This error occurs when there is a connection issue between WHMCS and the hosting servers. 

This may be due to incorrectly-configured servers in WHMCS or firewall or network issues between WHMCS and the server.

The polling times out while WHMCS is waiting for data from the server, according to the configured PHP max_execution_time value. If this value is large, then the cron will wait for that amount of time.

Solution

To resolve the issue, perform the steps in the two sections below.

1. Check whether server settings are properly-configured.

To do this:

1. Go to Configuration > System Settings > Servers.

2. Click Edit for the desired server.

3. Click Test Connection.

4. If the test failed, check to ensure that the Server Name and Port values are correct, and then click Save.

5. Repeat these steps for each server.

If the test succeeds for all of your servers, the server configurations are correct. If the issue persists, proceed to the next section.

2. Check for firewall and connectivity issues.

If the server connection test fails for correctly-configured servers, the issue is due to an underlying firewall or connectivity issue between WHMCS and the servers. 

For example, this may be due to firewalls that have closed essential ports or have not whitelisted necessary hostnames.

Contact your hosting provider or system administrator to resolve the issue and allow WHMCS and your hosting servers to connect.