Cron System Queue Timeout

Problem

During the daily automation cron run, the script takes a long time to complete, especially during the Executing System Queue step:

The Executing System Queue step.

Cause

The PHP process to generate and zip the database backup can take a long time to process on resource-restricted servers.

The backup process will require longer amounts of time to complete as your WHMCS database increases in size.

Solution

To resolve this issue:

  1. Perform the available system cleanup tasks to help reduce cruft from the WHMCS database.
  2. Disable FTP/SFTP Backup and Email Backup. To do this:
    1. Go to Configuration () > System Settings > Database Backups.
    2. Select FTP/SFTP Backups.
    3. Click Deactivate.
    4. Select Daily Email Backups.
    5. Click Deactivate.
If you have installed WHMCS on a cPanel & WHM server, we recommend configuring cPanel backups instead.
troubleshooting troubleshooting-article database system-cron

Last modified: 2025 March 19