Maintenance Tasks Not Running error on the dashboard

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Hi 
I have been getting the below error on my IP board dasboard

" 

Maintenance Tasks Not Running

Routine maintenance tasks are performed as users access the site but it looks like the traffic to your community is not sufficient to run these tasks on time. This will cause significant damage to your community if not resolved. It is recommended that you set up a cron or a web service so that these tasks can be run even when there isn't any traffic coming to your community.

"

I have tried adding the cron command suggested as a solution when I click 'Fix this' button under the error. However, the cron command returns empty results. I have reached out to my hosting provider as well for this but the command doesn't work.

Here's the command that appears when the recommended option is selected
When this setting is enabled you MUST ensure that the cron is set up properly. If this setting is turned on but no cron is set up it will cause significant damage to your site.

You should set the cron to run the following command every minute:
/usr/local/php80/bin/php -d memory_limit=-1 -d max_execution_time=0 /home/customer/www/domain/public_html/forum/applications/core/interface/task/task.php e466ee8537f63fade8e0f89741adf7e2

Can anyone help with this?

[Marc]

Im not sure what result you was expecting when running the cron there. It would not return you anything. It will run the tasks on your site

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Hi @Marc Stridgen

Thank you for checking and providing the insight.
 

The script didn't work, when added it wasn't recognized and the error kept showing to add the script. Is there any other way for the tasks to run?

[Jim M]

The system would ensure that it is running for a little bit successfully before the warning is lifted. Has the task been running successfully? Are there any errors in the System Log related?

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Hi @Jim M
I am not entirely sure if it was working. It kept showing the Cron command in the maintenance notice appearing after I added the command on the server.

[Jim M]

Just now, Ben Adam-Smith said:

Hi @Jim M
I am not entirely sure if it was working. It kept showing the Cron command in the maintenance notice appearing after I added the command on the server.

You would want to check with your hosting provider to ensure the cron task is running then.

If it still appears, is the cron command running on your server every minute? If it is not, that is a requirement or this would show up. Additionally, checking the System Log in the software, would outline any errors from tasks.

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Quote

You would want to check with your hosting provider to ensure the cron task is running then.

If it still appears, is the cron command running on your server every minute? If it is not, that is a requirement or this would show up. Additionally, checking the System Log in the software, would outline any errors from tasks.

I checked in with server support and they mentioned that it's not possible to run it every minute, since it's a shared server.

Is there any other way to get the tasks running?

[Jim M]

3 minutes ago, Ben Adam-Smith said:

I checked in with server support and they mentioned that it's not possible to run it every minute, since it's a shared server.

Is there any other way to get the tasks running?

I'm afraid, this warning message would be expected then.

You can run via traffic but if you do not have enough traffic then the only other option is a web service option, such as EasyCron. You can find this in ACP -> System -> Advanced Configuration.

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Quote

I'm afraid, this warning message would be expected then.

You can run via traffic but if you do not have enough traffic then the only other option is a web service option, such as EasyCron. You can find this in ACP -> System -> Advanced Configuration.

Thank you for sharing that. Can you please confirm if the plugin would work without any other issues occurring?
I really appreciate the help!

[Jim M]

1 minute ago, Ben Adam-Smith said:

Thank you for sharing that. Can you please confirm if the plugin would work without any other issues occurring?
I really appreciate the help!

Sorry, I am not quite sure what you mean by "plugin"? Could you please clarify?

[Ben Adam-Smith]

My apologies for using the incorrect term, I meant the Easy cron web service.
What I need confirmation about is if the service works without any issues and whether a free plan would do the job or a paid plan would be suitable.
 

[Jim M]

2 minutes ago, Ben Adam-Smith said:

My apologies for using the incorrect term, I meant the Easy cron web service.
What I need confirmation about is if the service works without any issues and whether a free plan would do the job or a paid plan would be suitable.
 

As mentioned, the service would need to run every minute if you want cron to run successfully.

It is worth mentioning that unless you need tasks to run per their scheduled times, e.g. you need invoice renewals to go out exactly at the time they renew, you may not need cron and traffic may be perfectly fine for your community's need. This warning will pop up but you can safely ignore it.

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Just checked and it seems like the free plan won't do as it doesn't have the per-minute option listed.

Quote

It is worth mentioning that unless you need tasks to run per their scheduled times, e.g. you need invoice renewals to go out exactly at the time they renew, you may not need cron and traffic may be perfectly fine for your community's need. This warning will pop up but you can safely ignore it.

The community is set up as a hobby and there's not a lot of traffic. There are no such tasks that I needs to run per their scheduled times.  Could you please confirm if I can ignore the warning?

Attached is a screenshot of tasks that I see when I click view tasks under the settings

[Ben Adam-Smith]

To add to the above, it seems to me that the tasks are running (as can be seen in the screenshot), however, what's confusing is the warning showing up even though there doesn't seem to be a back log. 

Is there a way to check the backlog? I clicked 'view log' for each of these and it seems to me that it should be what the warning refers to as backlog. Here's a screenshot of what I see:

[Jim M]

I wouldn't worry about it then. Unless you need background tasks to run exactly, there's really no worry.

The background tasks run things like:

• Publishing content
• Send out follow content digests
• Cleanup of items
• Update view counts
• etc...

 

[Ben Adam-Smith]

Great, thank you for confirming this. 
Really appreciate the help. 

[Jim M]

You're very welcome 🙂