Hi @tabledesigns,
Thank you for reaching out!
Can you send a diagnostic report to wftest @ wordfence . com please? You can find the link to do so at the top of the Wordfence > Tools > Diagnostics page. Then click on “Send Report by Email”. Please add your forum username where indicated and respond here after you have sent it.
NOTE: It should look as follows – Screenshot of Tools > Diagnostic > Send by Email
Thanks,
Margaret
Thank you for your quick response Margaret. I have sent it.
Hi @tabledesigns,
Thanks for sending that over! From the diagnostics, your site looks to be able to connect back to itself.
However, you have quite a few overdue cron jobs, which can impact Wordfence’s functionality. DISABLE_WP_CRON is set to true, preventing the cron jobs from running through WordPress normally. Do you have cron jobs configured to run on the system? Please review any cron job setup you have, or re-enable cron jobs in WordPress. Your host can likely assist with this.
You can check how many overdue cron jobs you have in the Wordfence diagnostics under Wordfence Status > Cron Status or under Cron Jobs. Once those are running again, please wait a day or so and let me know if your firewall rules still haven’t been updated or if Live Traffic is still empty.
Thanks,
Margaret
I haven’t done anything to or with cron jobs, I frankly don’t even know what that is?
Right now, FTP has been running for over 24 hours removing all of the files created from the faulty caching plugin (that I just learned today they have known about for about a week and if affected a lot of us using the plugin)
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/excessive-files-creation-issue/
That said, I don’t know if it is in fact because I am running FTP and removing files still OR if I do need to contact the host because they did whatever they did when they falsely claimed we had malware and installed THEIR firewall – then removed it. So it got out of my control and I don’t know what next steps are … hence asking for your advice.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by
tabledesigns.
Hi @tabledesigns,
Cron jobs are used to run the time-based processes plugins use. For example, automatically checking for updates or running a daily scan are done via cron jobs. Your host can best help with ensuring your cron jobs are running if you’re unsure, but I’ll give you what advice I can.
Check your wp-config.php file. You should see a line in it that looks like the following:
define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);
Change true to false and save the file. After a bit, check the Cron Jobs in Wordfence’s diagnostics. See if the ones originally marked Overdue start to have a new due date in the future. There are quite a few, so it may take a bit of time before all of your overdue cron jobs have been completed.
Let me know how it goes!
Thanks,
Margaret
Thank you, was just looking at that and found the instructions (same as you said) to editing in the config file. So will do that next and get back to you. Thank you so much for your help.
Hi @tabledesigns,
I wanted to check in since it’s been a few days now. How are things looking on your end?
Thanks,
Margaret
I’m glad you did Margaret – I was going to write you today – no dates have changed – the crons haven’t run and I don’t know how to get them to run?
I don’t see live traffic and that concerns me – I want to be sure Wordfence is doing its job.
Hi @tabledesigns,
To confirm, you’ve updated your wp-config.php file to enable the WordPress cron jobs, correct? That would be done by setting this line:
define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', false);
If you’ve already done that, can you send me an updated diagnostics please? As always, please send that to wftest @ wordfence . com and let me know here once you’ve sent it.
Thanks,
Margaret
Yes, I updated the config last week when we spoke … I just sent you the report again.
Hi @tabledesigns,
Thanks for sending the diagnostics. Unfortunately, while I can confirm that WordPress reports cron jobs are enabled, the overdue cron jobs all still have the same due date, indicating that they have not run successfully. This includes the Wordfence cron jobs.
It may be a good idea to check the cron jobs manually using a plugin, such as WP Crontrol (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-crontrol/).
You can delete any Wordfence-related cron jobs that currently aren’t working, then deactivate Wordfence and enable it again to repopulate the cron jobs.
Here is a list of the Wordfence cron jobs you will want to observe:
- wordfence_ls_ntp_cron
- wordfence_hourly_cron
- wordfence_daily_cron
- wordfence_start_scheduled_scan
- wordfence_email_activity_report
Let me know how it goes!
Thanks,
Margaret
Thank you Margaret so much. I will get back to you!
@wfmargaret
Hello again Margaret … sorry it has been a while since I last spoke with you – the holidays and the disaster I am dealing with on the site has prevented me from getting to everything I need to do inclusive of installing the WP Crontrol etc
In any case, this is the issue I am running into now and unsure about how to proceed…
So we had the major issue with W3 Total Cache and it created MILLIONS of files that are currently being deleted from the Cache (object.cache) …. It has been running for well over a week now … and still only 67% complete (smh)
I mention it BECAUSE, when I try to deactivate Wordfence in order to follow thru on the steps you provided, it won’t allow me to … I get an error message having to do with the W3 Total Cache issue
I WONDERED if I can’t just delete Wordfence via FTP or if I should in fact wait until this object cache is finally deleted (and by the looks of how long it is taking, I am afraid the website will not be protected)??
This is the error:
update failed: W3 Total Cache Error: some files appear to be missing or out of place. Please re-install plugin or remove /home/qhcxp598jsqd/public_html/wp-content/object-cache.php. {“success”:true,”data”:{“update”:”plugin”,”slug”:”wordfence”,”oldVersion”:”Version 7.11.7″,”newVersion”:”Version 8.0.1″,”plugin”:”wordfence\/wordfence.php”,”pluginName”:”Wordfence Security”}}
AND
W3 Total Cache Error: some files appear to be missing or out of place. Please re-install plugin or remove /home/qhcxp598jsqd/public_html/wp-content/object-cache.php.
Hi @tabledesigns,
I’m glad to hear back from you and I hope you had a happy holidays! It might be a good idea to contact W3 Total Cache’s support regarding the error you see, especially if it prevents you from deactivating plugins or if you think it may be blocking the cron jobs. They would be far more familiar with their plugin and could give you better advice on those errors.
You can manually deactivate Wordfence by doing the following:
- Please use FTP/SFTP — or any file manager your web host provides via their administration panel.
- Look inside the /wp-content/plugins/ directory and rename the wordfence directory to wordfence.bak.
- Visit your Plugins page and confirm Wordfence is deactivated.
- Rename the folder back to wordfence.
- Refresh the Plugins page and activate Wordfence.
Please keep in mind that your cron jobs weren’t running, which isn’t typically impacted by Wordfence, so ultimately you need to ensure cron jobs are working normally. Investigating with WP Crontrol or your host would be your best bet if all of your cron jobs (including Wordfence’s) aren’t running. You can always check your cron job status in Wordfence > Tools > Diagnostics > Cron Jobs.
Thanks,
Margaret
Thanks so much Margaret. So I have stepped through your instructions and Wordfence is reactivated now however I am STILL not seeing any Live Traffic??
When I check this on my other personal sites – I DO see live traffic – so I am at a loss. Ive done what you instructed and not seeing the traffic, I don’t know how to be sure Wordfence is working properly?
