TOPIC: [SOLVED] PayPal IPN Failing

Joomla! 3.6.2
DT Register 3.1.10

Per the readme instructions I have IPN enabled with the site URL in the box.

If you return to the site after payment at paypal the site registers that the payment was made and the proper confirmation emails are sent out. But it looks like something happened and a number of people did not return to the site and the ipn wasn't transmitted properly. When I check the paypal ipn history page I have a number of entries that show the same error.

Here's the error I'm seeing in the PayPal IPN History page:

Notification URL: http://www.site_name_removed.com/components/com_dtregister/success.php?return=158&Itemid=158&task=notification
HTTP response code: 500
Delivery status: Retrying

It looks like paypal retries for a while then gives up.

What might be causing the http 500 error and how can I get this data to transmit properly so DT Register will see that the payment was successfully made?

Hello. First, update to the new 3.1.11, just made available today. See if your issue remains. To test IPN, do a registration and payment at PayPal but do NOT click the button to return to your site. Wait a few seconds and check your DT records. If you see the record, then all is well. If not, you have an IPN issue.

There's about a million threads in this forum about PayPal IPN, but assuming you have your account properly setup, items that most commonly get in the way of this working are:

- permissions. Make sure your site has 755 directories and 644 files, from the directory containing the Joomla install on down.

- security. Make sure nothing is blocking direct access to:
/components/com_dtregister/success.php

Extensions like Admin Tools can modify your .htaccess file for added security, but end up blocking necessary items such as this.

I've updated to 3.1.11, checked permissions (they are set to 755 and 664) and I do not have Admin Tools extension but I checked the .htaccess and didn't see anything that would be blocking it but I am still seeing the IPN issue.

When I check the paypal IPN History I see that all are failing and I've also received an email from paypal that IPNs sent to my url are failing with a link.

When I follow the link I get the following message:

lvl: 8 | msg:Constant JPATH_BASE already defined | file:/var/www/components/com_dtregister/success.php | ln:125
[SHUTDOWN] lvl:1 | msg:Call to undefined function curl_init() | file:/var/www/components/com_dtregister/lib/payment/paypal.php | ln:253

Ah, now that message gives the reason for your issue! The "undefined function curl_init()" tells you that your server does not have CURL support installed. This should be as simple as contacting your web host and telling them you need CURL support and having them put it in place. If they can't or won't (not likely), you should reconsider your hosting choice.

Regardless, it's not a DT Register bug, but a server missing piece.

Thanks, cURL has been added and I checked and it is enabled, that looks like it cleared the issue and the paypal IPN is showing that they have been successfully sent to the server. The only issue is that two of the registrations that had completed payments did not generate a record in the system.

I've given it some time and did have some of the old registrations that were missing from the backend process through but there are a couple that haven't. Does that mean those are lost and I need to contact the people who tried to register (it's for a training program and they had different class options to select and that data usually shows up in their registration)?

I believe your PayPal account should have the ability for you to push those IPN notifications through... if they are still sitting there as failed attempts. That's your only shot at retaining those previous records. If they are not there as failed attempts, then you'll have to manually create them.

Glad your issue is resolved though!