Problem #

You see the following error while attempting to run the system cron:

Whoops\Exception\ErrorException' with message 'Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded

Cause #

This error indicates that the system is terminating the cron job because it has exceeded the max_execution_limit value of 30 seconds.

To check this limit, use this command:

php -ini | grep "max_execution_time"

Solution #

To resolve this issue, choose one of the following options:

• Increase this to an appropriate value for the size of your installation. For most servers, a limit of 120 is sufficient, but larger servers may need a value of 300.
  For help, contact your hosting provider or system administrator.
• Set the max_execution_time value directly in the cron command. For example: php -d max_execution_time=300 -q /path/to/whmcs/crons/cron.php

Last modified: 2025 October 17