Paypal IPN stopped working on 12/20

I made no changes to my store at all, but all of a sudden on 12/20 my paypal paments stopped going through.

Paypal processed them, but I do not get the order in my admin, no email is sent to the customer from my store, and this has caused a big problem because my store is download only.

I received an email from paypal that said:

Please check your server that handles PayPal Instant Payment Notifications (IPN). IPNs sent to the URL(s) are failing.

I patched to the latest paypal ipn, but still the same issue.

Check your settings for the Return URL etc on the Paypal site.

I did that first - they are all correct.

What changes did your host make on that date?

What version of Zen Cart are you using?
What happens when you test IPN communications using the tool in this forum thread:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65680

Kim:

What changes did your host make on that date?

I'm not sure. If I email them, are there some common things I can ask them to check?

I uploaded the ipncheck.php file to my server and every time I try and access it, my browser locks up:

http://www.i-doser.com/storev2/ipncheck.php

chriscana:

I uploaded the ipncheck.php file to my server and every time I try and access it, my browser locks up

If you are patient, it comes back with this information:> IPNCHECK.PHP - Version 1.0

IPN TESTING - POSTING to PayPal via: ssl://www.paypal.com:443

Warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect to www.paypal.com:443 in /home/.media/idoser2/i-doser.com/storev2/ipncheck.php on line 81
IPN FATAL ERROR :: Could not establish fsockopen.
Host Details = ssl://www.paypal.com:443 (110) Connection timed out

Trying again without SSL ...

Warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect to www.paypal.com:80 in /home/.media/idoser2/i-doser.com/storev2/ipncheck.php on line 85
IPN FATAL ERROR :: Could not establish fsockopen.
Host Details = http://www.paypal.com:80 (110) Connection timed out

Warning: fputs(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource

Warning: feof(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resourceThese all show that your host server's configuration is preventing you from communicating to servers outside of itself ... including PayPal.

Specifically, attempting to use the fsockopen() command in PHP encounters a timeout ... which basically means the server cannot find or connect to the external URL. This is typically a firewall problem ... ie: either they've blocked all outbound traffic (probably because they're scared of spammers and can't think of better ways to secure their server) or they've blocked PHP from making external connections (for same reason). I would have expected a different error if it was a PHP configuration thing though. Thus, I suspect it to be a firewall issue.

And then there's the fact that your server appears to be running slowly anyhow.

if I email them and tell them to open the firewall, what should my specific request to my host state?

I want to make sure I state the correct thing to them.

Tell them that you're unable to communicate to PayPal's server from your server using fsockopen().
Tell them that points 7 and 11 from the Things To Check section of this troubleshooting guide might be of relevance:
http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/PayPal#Things_to_check_if_it.27s_not_working
And give them the URL to the ipncheck.php that you uploaded, so they can test and know when it's working.

This is the response I received from my host:

Hello,

I'm unable to communicate toPayPal's server from your server using
fsockopen().

I apologize for the problem you are having. The cause is because our
default PHP installation does not allow using file read
(fopen/fread/fclose) with URLs, this is a security feature in our global
PHP configuration.

What perplexes me is that you should have always been receiving this
error because this shouldn't have worked even before the 20th. Have you
possible performed any software updates or PHP shanges on your site
recently?

The way around the fsockopen issue is to either use cURL functions (
http://wiki.dreamhost.com/CURL ) or install a custom version of PHP for
your website. There are instructions available on our wiki for how to do
this here: http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Installing_PHP5 it is fairly simple,
but we do not offer assistance with the installation or debugging.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask, I would be glad to
help where I can.

Thanks!

I do not get it, because this just recently became a problem.

So, my question is - what do I do? I have no clue how to install a custom php, and how would I use curl with paypal ipn?

Hi Chriscana,

I am in the same situation! I use dreamhost too and my Paypal stops in 20/12 too!
I am sending a email to Dreamhost to say that it stop works and it was working before!
Please, if you figure it out how to make this work tell me...
Thanks,