ACK! Need IPN help!

[Pammydee]

I've been haivng LOTS of trouble with my site lately, all my orders are getting stuck in the database - my customers are angry and no one seems to be able to help me. Paypla is telling me they can't access the server that handles IPN's and my host has no idea what that means. They want me to explain what IPN is and how to enable it - I have no idea! I had someone install zen-cart for me and now I'm on my own and have no idea how to answer this...anyone?

[DrByte]

What Is PayPal IPN .... sounds like an odd question from a webhost.
"IPN" = "Instant Payment Notification" ... part of PayPal's renamed "Payments Standard" service.

1. customer places an order on your site
2. for payment, they are taken to a link on paypal's site, where they provide their information and pay for their order
3. they click a link when finished (or wait 5 seconds) and return to your site


meanwhile, between steps 2 and 3 above, PayPal's server does this:

a. Paypal's server sends a request to your website ... which is waiting and listening for connections from PayPal to the /ipn_main_handler.php page.
b. Your server sits waiting and listening on ports 80 and 443.
c. When your server receives a request, it attempts to validate and be sure that the paypal data provided matches the order details for which it is intended.
d. If validation passes, the customer's order is released, and it lets the paypal server know that you received their confirmation. This handshaking happens bidirectionally on ports 80 or 443, depending on how it was originated.


Typical causes of payments notifications not being received are:
- .htaccess or other firewall blockings of IP addresses for the paypal servers
- misconfiguration of paypal settings in Zen Cart (ie: email address wrong or doesn't match upper/lower case exactly, or isn't the PRIMARY email address)
- misconfiguration of paypal account profile settings on the paypal site, where the URL to your site's ipn_main_handler.php is located.


SETUP AND TROUBLESHOOTING HELP:
http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.p...7s_not_working

[Pammydee]

I thought so too - I figured the tech people there should know that type of thing!! THANK YOU so much for your response. I will pass the info along and get this figured out.

May ask you if you are available for hire? I am looking to find someone to help me with tech problems and possible upgrades. I am in Ont. Canada too. Let me know and I will contact you privately to discuss.

Thanks so much!

[Pammydee]

Shouldn't my host know these things!??

Anyone know the answer to this since it will take 10 years to contact paypal?

FROM HOST RE: FIRST POST
I'm at a small loss; When I visit the ipn handler script, I don't see any http errors, nothing in the webserver's error log, nothing in a php-generated error log, and nothing in the server's error log.

If it's possible, please see if Paypal will let you know which IP their IPN system uses when contacting your site. This way I can go through both your .htaccess file and the server's firewall to make sure the problem isn't in either.

[Merlinpa1969]

make sure that they have port 80 and port 443 open to both send and recieve

[Pammydee]

Now paypal has completely disabled my Instant Payment Notifications for my PayPal account. Why does my host seem so lost about this? ARGH!

[Merlinpa1969]

I would suggest a certified host if the one you have is that clueless

[Pammydee]

They want to know what the ip of the ipn server is..so now i'm on the phone with (well on hold with) paypal...argh

[Pammydee]

they say both ports are open...

[Vger]

The bottom line is ....you shouldn't be having these problems. It's not right to expect a host to help with scripting matters - though many do. But this doesn't appear to be a scripting issue, and appears to be a problem with their server setup. And if they are this clueless about one of the largest card processing companies in the world then perhaps they are just as clueless as to how to run the server correctly.

Vger