Troubleshooting the Cron Not Completing

If the system cron tasks are not running normally, WHMCS warns administrators in the following ways:

  1. A red attention item at Configuration > System Health (Help > System Health Status in WHMCS 7.10 and earlier).
  2. A needs attention badge on the Automation Overview widget on the Admin Dashboard.
  3. A red x icon displayed on the Automation Status icon on every Admin Area page.
  4. A  yellow or red badge on the Automation Status page.
  5. The absence of the daily WHMCS Cron Job Activity Email.
System Health Attention Item - System Cron Tasks

Verify That the System Cron is Starting

Begin by following these steps.

If the warnings persist 5 minutes after making a correction for the detected issue, follow these additional steps:

Verify the System Cron is Completing

Go to Configuration > System Logs (Utilities > Logs > Activity Log in WHMCS 7.10 and earlier).

Navigate to Configuration > System Logs

Select Search/Filter (1) and then enter Cron Job: in Description (2). This will restrict the displayed activity log entries to just those relating to the cron.

Click Filter Log to perform the search.

Searching the System Activity Log

The resulting list will show all cron-related entries. If you do not see a Cron Job: Completed entry at the end, this indicates that the cron is not reaching completion. The last entry in the log will indicate the point at which it is failing.

This screenshot shows a truncated example of System Activity Log entries from a successful run of the system cron daily automation tasks:

System Activity Log Search Results - Successful run

The next guide shows help to identify the cause of the system cron daily automation tasks starting and failing to complete. Obtaining this information will enable you to resolve the error and WHMCS technical support to assist you faster if needed.