Fix Cron Jobs That Stop Working in Magento 1.8 After an Upgrade

Tip: Magento 1.8 is old software. Newer versions use a similar cron idea, but file names can differ.

What is a cron job?

A cron job is a task that the server runs on a timer. It is like an alarm clock that starts a job every few minutes. Magento uses cron for sending newsletters, updating indexes, cleaning logs and more.

Why does it stop after an upgrade?

• The cron command in cPanel points to an old path.
• The file cron.php has the wrong permissions.
• The PHP version changed and the command uses a different one.
• The cache is old and still holds old settings.

Take a backup of your files and database before you change anything.

Steps

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Open Cron Jobs.
3. Look at your current Magento cron line. Check that the folder path is right.
4. Remove any old or broken Magento lines.
5. Add a new job that runs every 5 minutes. Use the command below. Change the path to your own Magento folder.

*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/php /home/USERNAME/public_html/cron.php

This runs Magento's cron file every five minutes. Replace USERNAME with your cPanel username. The PHP path may differ. Ask Hostvento support if it fails.

6. Open File Manager and find cron.php in your Magento folder.
7. Check that its permission is 644. Right-click it and choose Change Permissions to fix it.
8. Go to the Magento admin panel. Open System, then Cache Management.
9. Click Flush Magento Cache.
10. Wait ten minutes. Then check that scheduled tasks run again.

Quick recap

• Magento uses cron for timed tasks.
• After an upgrade the path or PHP version may be wrong.
• Add a fresh cron job in cPanel that runs cron.php.
• Check permissions and flush the cache.
• Back up first, and ask support if it still fails.