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Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when the cron runs

If your export is not working, verify with your host that the cron command is properly configured and executing from their end — hosts sometimes have unique paths or command requirements.

Work through the list in order:

  1. Run the command by hand. Paste it into a shell, or open the generated URL in a browser. If it works manually but not on schedule, the problem is with the cron entry, not the export.
  2. Check the path. The php and curl commands include the absolute path to your WordPress index.php. Some hosts run cron from a different filesystem root, or need a different PHP binary (/usr/local/bin/php, php8.2, /opt/alt/php82/usr/bin/php).
  3. Confirm the secret key matches. If the key was regenerated after you set up the cron job, the old command is dead — the request is rejected silently. Copy the command again.
  4. Confirm the export is still automatic. Switching an export back to Manual Export clears its automatic settings and kills the command.
  5. Check the export ID. The dms_export_id in the command must match an existing export.

The request returns a blank page

That's expected. The automatic export runs and then exits without output — successful and rejected requests look the same from the outside.

Confirm the outcome in DMS → Import/Export, where every accepted run appears in the log with the Automatic badge.

The log shows a run but the file didn't arrive

The export ran; delivery is the problem. Destination settings belong to the export itself, not to this extension:

  • Local file — check that the target directory exists and is writable by the web server user. A cron job invoked as a different system user can also write the file with ownership you don't expect.
  • FTP — re-test the host, username, password, and remote path on the export's own settings. Credentials that expired, or a remote directory that was renamed, fail silently from the cron job's point of view.

The export times out or dies partway

Large inventories generated over HTTP can hit the web server's timeout or PHP's max_execution_time.

  • Switch to the wp-cli command (wp dms export <id>). It runs on the CLI, where those limits generally don't apply.
  • Failing that, use the php command, which also runs outside the web server.

The exported file has stale data

The web-facing commands read through whatever page/object cache is active. The wp-cli command purges the cache before generating the file, so switch to it if you see values that no longer match the dashboard.

The Automatic Export option isn't there

Confirm the extension is active in DMS → Extensions and that your license is Standard or higher. The option lives in the Export Type step of the export wizard — see Settings.