Communication Issues with UPS, PayPal, etc.

Using the utilities in the extras folder to diagnose communication issues

Zen Cart comes with a folder of utilities called /extras.

This folder should not be kept on a live site; it should only be present during troubleshooting or debugging.

The following scripts can be run from the /extras folder:

  • curltester.php - Tests cURL communication to some common third party services. Useful parameters for curltester.php are:

    • d=1 or details=1 – show CURL connection details – useful for determining cause of communications problems
    • r=1 – show Response obtained from destination server – this may contain an error message, but usually means communication was okay
    • i=1 – in conjunction with d or r, will show the detailed curlinfo certificate data from the host being connected to. Helpful for advanced debugging.

  • ipncheck.php - Determines if your server is able to connect TO PayPal in order to respond to an incoming IPN notification. (Note: To check whether PayPal can POST and IPN to your store, run a live transaction.)

    Common symptoms of bad IPN communications:

    • orders not showing up in Zen Cart but PayPal receipt issued when using PayPal IPN module
    • echeck updates not completing when using Express Checkout module

Execution of the scripts can be done by entering the following in your browser’s address bar (after uploading the /extras folder):

https://YOURSITE.com/extras/script-name.php

(where script-name is the name of one of the scripts above.)



Still have questions? Use the Search box in the upper right, or try the full list of FAQs. If you can't find it there, head over to the Zen Cart support forum and ask there in the appropriate subforum. In your post, please include your Zen Cart and PHP versions, and a link to your site.

Is there an error or omission on this page? Please post to General Questions on the support forum. Or, if you'd like to open a pull request, just review the guidelines and get started. You can even PR right here.
Last modified July 28, 2020 by Chris Brown (7ed1f6c6).