Troubleshooting WP-Cron Issues with WP-CLI

This article covers how to troubleshoot WP-Cron issues with WP-CLI. This will help you determine if the WP-Cron jobs are running. This is applicable across all server types.

Related Article

Enable/Configure Debugging for WordPress

Troubleshoot Issues

NOTE: It may be feasible to set up regular cron jobs instead of wp-cron.

1. SSH into the server as the cPanel user
2. cd into the Document Root for their site
   

   cd $(docroot.py domain.com)

   REPLACE: domain.com with the relevant domain.
3. List all wp-crons with wp cron event list
   

   EXAMPLE:

   [user@hostname public_html]$ wp cron event list
   +------------------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------+---------------+
   | hook                               | next_run_gmt        | next_run_relative     | recurrence    |
   +------------------------------------+---------------------+-----------------------+---------------+
   | action_scheduler_run_queue         | 2020-06-17 18:40:16 | 18 seconds            | 1 minute      |
   | jetpack_sync_full_cron             | 2020-06-17 18:42:14 | 2 minutes 16 seconds  | 5 minutes     |
   | jetpack_sync_cron                  | 2020-06-17 18:42:38 | 2 minutes 40 seconds  | 5 minutes     |
   | job_manager_check_for_expired_jobs | 2020-06-17 18:47:11 | 7 minutes 13 seconds  | 1 hour        |
   | jetpack_backup_cleanup_helper_scri | 2020-06-17 19:00:35 | 20 minutes 37 seconds | Non-repeating |
   | pts                                |                     |                       |               |
   | wp_privacy_delete_old_export_files | 2020-06-17 19:01:08 | 21 minutes 10 seconds | 1 hour        |
   | cleanUpOldLog                      | 2020-06-17 19:11:54 | 31 minutes 56 seconds | 1 hour        |
   | nxs_hourly_event                   | 2020-06-17 19:13:29 | 33 minutes 31 seconds | 1 hour        |
   .....

4. Test all wp-crons with wp cron test 
   

   EXAMPLE: 

   [user@hostname public_html]$ wp cron test
   Warning: The ALTERNATE_WP_CRON constant is set to true. WP-Cron spawning is not asynchronous.
   Success: WP-Cron spawning is working as expected.

   NOTE: If wp-cron isn't working you might see something like this:

   [user@hostname public_html]$ wp cron test
   Error: The DISABLE_WP_CRON constant is set to true. WP-Cron spawning is disabled.

5. If you received an error similar to the example in step 4, open the wp-config.php file in your favorite text editor and change the DISABLE_WP_CRON from true to false or add the DISABLE_WP_CRONline if needed, and set the value to false
   EXAMPLE: 
   

   /** Enable W3 Total Cache Edge Mode */
   define('W3TC_EDGE_MODE', true); // Added by W3 Total Cache
   define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256m');
   define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true); // <--change this to 'false'
   /**

6. Test a single wp-cron job wp cron event run <hook>
   TIP: Where <hook> is the actual name of the job being tested, see table in step 3 for examples of hooks.

   [user@hostname public_html]$ wp cron event run check_application_deadlines
   Executed the cron event 'check_application_deadlines' in 0.004s.
   Success: Executed a total of 1 cron event.

7. Look at the wp-cron schedule run wp cron schedule list
   

    EXAMPLE:

   [user@hostname public_html]$ wp cron schedule list
   +--------------------------------------+---------------------+----------+
   | name                                 | display             | interval |
   +--------------------------------------+---------------------+----------+
   | every_minute                         | Every minute        | 60       |
   | wphb_cache_preload_cron_interval     | Every 5 Minutes     | 300      |
   | jetpack_sync_interval                | Every 5 minutes     | 300      |
   | everyhour                            | Every hour          | 3600     |
   | hourly                               | Once Hourly         | 3600     |
   .....

8. If no errors are noted in any of the above steps, turn on debugging in WordPress and monitor error logs for wp-cron errors
   TIP: For more things you can do with wp cron in WP-CLI Run wp help cron for help.
   For the full Documentation on the wp cron command, view the documentation.