If you're not sure if the cron job is running on your server, use this guide to troubleshoot this issue.

First of all, check if that is really the case - use this guide to check if cron job is set up and running. Once you are sure that cron doesn't work, proceed with the troubleshooting steps below to find out what caused that and how to fix it.

• If the knowledge base opens via https only
• Check if the cron job is setup to run each 1 minute
• Windows XP/2003
• Windows 7/2008
• Try to run cron from the command line
• Ensure that cron.vbs and php.exe are not blocked
• Check if the URL to KMP has a trailing slash
• If paths contain spaces
• Enable the error log

If the knowledge base opens via https only

If you're using an SSL certificate for secure connection (https), you need to add two lines to the cron.php file.

It is easy to check if you're using SSL. Simply take a look at the browser address bar when a knowledge base page is opened. If it starts with "https://", then you're using SSL. If you've got "http://" there, then you're not.

Check if the cron job is setup to run each 1 minute

Remember that if cron job runs less frequently than once per minute, KMP will still display that "You have to setup cron script..." message. So cron might actually be running correctly, just not as often as expected. Use the instructions below that match your Windows version to check how often cron is set to run on your system.

Windows XP/2003

Go to Start > Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks.

Right-click on the KMP cron task and click Properties.

Then click the Schedule tab on the window with cron task properties. You'll see the schedule.

Click the "Advanced" button.

Check that the Start Date is in the past and that all other settings are the same as on the screenshot above. Pay attention to the part marked on the screenshot. It is recommended to repeat the task every 1 minute.

Save the new settings and hold on a minute. Then check if cron job is now working. If it still doesn't work, proceed to the next step.

Windows 7/2008

Open Control Panel and type "Schedule Tasks" into the search field.

You will see the "Schedule Tasks" link. Click on it.

Find the KMP cron task, right click on it and select Properties.

Click on the Triggers tab.

Select the trigger and click Edit.

Check that the Start date is in the past and that all other settings are the same as on the screenshot above. Pay attention to the part marked on the screenshot. It is recommended to repeat the task every 1 minute. Since there is no option "1 minute" in the selection list, it is a common issue when users select "5 minutes" instead.

You can simply type "1 minute" to the field and it will be accepted as a valid repetition period.

Save the new settings and hold on a minute. Then check if cron job is now working. If it still doesn't work, proceed to the next step.

Try to run cron from the command line

Now let's check if the cron.vbs file is valid.

Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.

Copy-paste the full path to php.exe with the two parameters from the cron.vbs (that is what you've got between quotation marks on the second line after WinScriptHost.Run).

Valid command usually doesn't generate any input like shown on the screenshot. So if you do not see any errors, it should be OK and you can proceed to the next step.

If an error has been displayed and you understand what the error means (for instance it may tell you that the path to php.exe is incorrect - so you need to adjust it), try to fix it. Then try to launch the updated command once again. If the error message is unclear, make a shot of your screen (you might need to send it to us for a research) and proceed to the next step. We've got some common errors explained below along with appropriate solutions.

Ensure that cron.vbs and php.exe are not blocked

Open properties of the php.exe file and cron.vbs and make sure that these files are not blocked.

If one of these files is blocked, click the "Unblock" button to unlock it.

Check if the URL to KMP has a trailing slash

Open the cron.vbs and check if the last parameter on the second line - the URL to KMP has a trailing slash.

This is correct:

This is incorrect:

 If the trailing slash is missing, add it, save the cron.vbs file and check if cron is working normally now.

If paths contain spaces

If the path to php.exe or to cron.php contains spaces, it is necessary to take that path into double quotes:

The matching pairs of quotes are shown in the same color in the example above for your convenience.

Enable the error log

Enable the error log, then try to run cron job once again. Check if anything has been added to the log file, which is located in the /admin/tmp/ directory.

If this guide haven't helped or you have any questions feel free to contact our Support Team. Please attach the error log file and the screenshot of the output produced by the cron.vbs file to your email. This will help us to resolve the issue faster. Thank you.

It is easy to check if cron job is set up and running. KMP checks if cron job is set up on certain pages, and if it is not - it shows the following message:

Simply go to Articles > Subscribers > Article Subscribers. If this message is displayed there, then cron job is probably not set up or not configured correctly.

Please note that if cron job runs less frequently than once per minute, KMP will still display this message.

Why do I need to setup Cron job?

If you knowledge base runs via https:// (i.e. with SSL) just add the following lines (highlighted in yellow) to the /admin/CRON/cron.php file:

There are two solutions to this problem. Right solution for you depend from what emails have incorrect links:

• Emails sent manually (e.g. "Email to a Friend" email)
• Emails sent automatically (e.g. "Article Subscription" email)

Emails sent manually

When you send an email from a KMP page manually (e.g.: via "Email to a Friend" form),  it inserts the same hostname to the URL as one in the address bar of your browser. For example if you're sending an email from a page on web-site-scripts.com, it will have the article URL with "web-site-scripts.com" domain.

However, if you opened KMP from a local server ("localhost"), the email will have URL with "localhost" for domain, e.g.:

Email sent automatically

The domain part of the URL is taken from the second parameter of the cron job command.

e.g. for Linux/Unix:

e.g. for Windows (cron.vbs):

Solution is the same for all systems - replace "localhost" with correct domain name:

e.g. for Linux/Unix:

e.g. for Windows (cron.vbs):

Even if you're using a different hosting administration tool, you can use this article as a general guide to Cron job setup. Although screenshots may look differently, general directions on Cron job setup are commonly the same.

1. Click on the "Domains" on the left pane and then select the domain with Knowledgebase Manager Pro on the right.
2. Find the "Scheduled Tasks" button under the "Additional Tools" section and click on it.
   
   
   
   
3. Select the system user under whom the scheduled task should be run.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the "Schedule New Task" button.
   
   
   
   
5. Set the "Switched on" checkbox and input an asterisk (*) for Minute, Hour, Day of the Month, Month, and Day of the Week.
6. Add the following line to the "Command" field with the replacements below:
   
   %PATH-TO-PHP% %PATH-TO-KMP%/admin/CRON/cron.php %URL-TO-KMP%

   Replace %PATH-TO-PHP% with path to PHP executable file. If you don’t  know the path to PHP, then you can ask your server admin. Here are some examples of possible paths to PHP:

   /usr/bin/php
   /usr/local/bin/php

   Replace %PATH-TO-KMP% with physical path (not URL) where you have  installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro. If you know the path to your  account, then you can simply add the remainder of the path to your  actual script e.g. /home/user1/public_html might be the path to your  account (document root) and the script might be in  kmp/admin/CRON/cron.php resulting in  /home/user1/public_html/kmp/admin/CRON/cron.php

   Replace %URL-TO-KMP% with URL to location where you have installed KnowledgeBase  Manager Pro (if open this URL in your browser, you'll see the front-end  part of your knowledge base).

   Example:

   /usr/bin/php /usr/www/kmp/admin/CRON/cron.php http://www.mywebsite.com/kmp/
   Warning

   Please, do not forget the slash at the end of the last parameter.

   This is correct:
   

   http://www.mywebsite.com/kmp/

   This is incorrect:
   

   http://www.mywebsite.com/kmp

   
   
   

7. Open the KMP control panel and go to Administration > General Settings > Auto Related Articles. You may see the following message there previously: "You have to setup cron script in order to use this functionality."
   
   
   
   
8. This message will disappear after the first run of the Cron script. Click "Recheck"  in about a minute to see that Cron job has been successfully installed.
   
   
   

1. Create a new text file somewhere, for example in the root of disk C. Name it "cron.vbs".
2. Put these lines into the file with the replacements specified below:
   

   Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

   WinScriptHost.Run "%PATH-TO-PHP%\php.exe %PATH-TO-KMP%\admin\CRON\cron.php %URL-TO-KMP%/", 0

   Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

   
   Replace %PATH-TO-PHP% with path to php executable file (php.exe). Be sure to use "php.exe", not the "php-cgi.exe"!
   
   Replace %PATH-TO-KMP% with physical path (not URL) where you have installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro.
   
   Replace %URL-TO-KMP% with URL to location where you have installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro (if open this URL in your browser, you'll see the front-end part of your knowledge base). Please note that website name should not be "localhost", otherwise you would get incorrect URLs in emails that KMP sends - users won't be able to open articles they are subscribed to, reset password, etc.
   
   Example:
   

   Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

   WinScriptHost.Run "C:\PHP\php.exe c:\inetpub\wwwroot\kmp\admin\CRON\cron.php http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp/", 0

   Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

   Example #2 (if PHP and/or KMP path contains whitespaces - in this case, you need to take path to double quotes):
   
   Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

   WinScriptHost.Run """C:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe"" ""C:\Inetpub\Some Folder\kmp\admin\CRON\cron.php"" http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp/", 0

   Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

   
   
   
   
   Warning
   

   Please, do not forget the slash at the end of the last parameter for the php.exe.

   This is correct:
   

   http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp/

   This is incorrect:
   

   http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp

3. Go to the Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks.
4. Select File > New > Scheduled Task. Give it an appropriate name, for example "KMP Cron Task".
5. Double-click on the new task. You will see the window with its properties.
   
   
6. Put the path to the cron.vbs file to the "Run:" field, for example:
   
   C:\cron.vbs
7. Specify user under which this task will run in the "Run as" field.
8. Click "Set password" and specify password for that user.
9. Click on the "Schedule" tab.
   
   
   
   
10. Click on the "Advanced" button.
11. Set the "Repeat Task" checkbox and set task to run every minute with duration "24 hours".
    
    
    
    
12. Click OK on both windows to save changes. It may ask you for a password for the user under which this task will run. Enter it and click OK.
13. Open the KMP control panel and go to Administration > General Settings > Auto Related Articles. You may see the following message there previously: "You have to setup cron script in order to use this functionality."
    
    
    
    
14. This message will disappear after the first run of the Cron script. Click "Recheck"  in about a minute to see that Cron job has been successfully installed.
    
    
    
    

If this fails you need root access. Try:

You need to add the following line to the crontab.

Format:

Where:

* * * * * - condition that tells cron to run this job every minute.

Replace %PATH-TO-PHP% with path to PHP executable file. If you don’t know the path to PHP, then you can ask your server admin. Here are some examples of possible paths to PHP:

Replace %PATH-TO-KMP% with physical path (not URL) where you have installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro. If you know the path to your account, then you can simply add the remainder of the path to your actual script e.g. /home/user1/public_html might be the path to your account (document root) and the script might be in kmp/admin/CRON/cron.php resulting in /home/user1/public_html/kmp/admin/CRON/cron.php

Replace %URL-TO-KMP% with URL to location where you have installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro (if open this URL in your browser, you'll see the front-end part of your knowledge base).

Example:

Open the KMP control panel and go to Administration > General Settings > Auto Related Articles. You may see the following message there previously: "You have to setup cron script in order to use this functionality."

This message will disappear after the first run of the Cron script. Click "Recheck"  in about a minute to see that Cron job has been successfully installed.

• send emails to subscribers
• reindexation of attachments (attachments are being indexed on the fly when you upload them; you would need cron only if you wish to reindex them)
• make automated database backups
• run automated related article linking
• regenerate sitemap

How to setup Cron job

Chose your platform:

• Windows XP/2003
• Windows 7/Vista/2008
• Linux/UNIX
• Control Panel (e.g. Plesk)

1. Create a new text file somewhere, for example in the root of disk C. Name it "cron.vbs".
2. Put these lines into the file with the replacements specified below:
   

   Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

   WinScriptHost.Run "%PATH-TO-PHP%\php.exe %PATH-TO-KMP%\admin\CRON\cron.php %URL-TO-KMP%/", 0

   Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

   
   Replace %PATH-TO-PHP% with path to php executable file (php.exe). Be sure to use "php.exe", not the "php-cgi.exe"!
   
   Replace %PATH-TO-KMP% with physical path (not URL) where you have installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro.
   
   Replace %URL-TO-KMP% with URL to location where you have installed KnowledgeBase Manager Pro (if open this URL in your browser, you'll see the front-end part of your knowledge base). Please note that website name should not be "localhost", otherwise you would get incorrect URLs in emails that KMP sends - users won't be able to open articles they are subscribed to, etc.
   
   Example #1:
   

   Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

   WinScriptHost.Run "C:\PHP\php.exe c:\inetpub\wwwroot\kmp\admin\CRON\cron.php http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp/", 0

   Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

   Example #2 (if PHP and/or KMP path contains whitespaces - in this case, you need to take path to double quotes):
   
   Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

   WinScriptHost.Run """C:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe"" ""C:\Inetpub\Some Folder\kmp\admin\CRON\cron.php"" http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp/", 0

   Set WinScriptHost = Nothing

   
   
   
   
   Warning
   

   Please, do not forget the slash at the end of the last parameter for the php.exe.

   This is correct:
   

   http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp/

   This is incorrect:
   

   http://www.yourwebsite.com/kmp

3. Go to the Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks.
4. Open Control Panel and type "Schedule Tasks" into the search field.
   
   
   
   
5. You will see the "Schedule Tasks" link. Click on it.
6. Click the "Create Task" on the right pane.
   
   
   
   
7. Give it an appropriate name, e.g. "KMP Cron Task" and set the "Run whether user is logged on or not" radio-button.
   
   
   
    You may want to change user under whom the scheduled task will run.
   
   
8. Go to the "Triggers" tab and click "New...".
9. Set checkbox on "Repeat task every" and enter "1 minutes" to the next dropdown menu (there is no "1 minutes" item, but you can easily enter it from keyboard).
   
   
   
   Click OK.
   
   
10. Go to the "Actions" tab and click "New...".
11. Click "Browse..." to select cron.vbs.
    
    
12. Click OK on both windows and you're done with Cron setup.
13. Open the KMP control panel and go to Administration > General Settings > Auto Related Articles. You may see the following message there previously: "You have to setup cron script in order to use this functionality."
    
    
    
14. This message will disappear after the first run of the Cron script. Click "Recheck"  in about a minute to see that Cron job has been successfully installed.