PHP- cannot change max_execution_time in xampp

Question

I've tried everything to change the max_execution_time of a php crawler script so that it can run an infinite amount of time.

I have changed the php.ini file setting max_execution_time to 0 or 100000000 but with no change

I've also tried setting it from the php script itself by using ini_set('max_execution_time', 0);

All php scripts throw the same error Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 3000 seconds exceeded, what could I be missing and how can I make sure there is no max execution time limit?

php script

<?php
ini_set('MAX_EXECUTION_TIME', -1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);  // turn on all errors, warnings and notices for easier debugging
//ini_set('max_execution_time', 123456);
ini_set('max_input_time', -1);
ini_set('memory_limit', '512M');
set_time_limit(0);
date_default_timezone_set('Europe/London');

/*code which scrapes websites*/

?>

phpinfo()

max_execution_time  0   0
max_input_time     -1   -1

Answer 1

Try turning off safe mode in php and then try the below code

if( !ini_get('safe_mode') ){ 
    set_time_limit(0); //this won't work if safe_mode is enabled.
}

This should allow you to run the script for infinite time.

In Apache you can change maximum execution time by .htaccess with this line

php_value max_execution_time 200

set_time_limit() php manual ref.

Answer 2

use

set_time_limit(0);

at the top of the script

Answer 3

If you are on windows, and this is a CLI run script maybe read this.

Answer 4

check phpinfo() from a temp script and search for max_execution_time. make sure that it has same value what you are setting. default should be 30 seconds. try to change it to a couple of different values and restart apache then check the value in phpinfo() to confirm.

if when you change the value it is reflected properly in the phpinfo() it means that there is some code in your script which is changing this value. search for two things in your code:

1. search your code for ini_set() and check if it is change max_execution_time
2. search for set_time_limit()

these functions can change maximum time limit of execution from script. otherwise you should check .htaccess from where this value may be set. but this will effect phpinfo() also.

Answer 5

In WAMP there is three PHP.ini files so you might find 3 in xampp also, so just search for it with find and replace max_execution_time to what you are setting. But you must keep something small not too large as for speedy the app you running.

Answer 6

You could also try setting ignore_user_abort(TRUE); in your script as it might be the browser timing out rather than the script.

From the php.net manual

<?php
// Ignore user aborts and allow the script
// to run forever
ignore_user_abort(true);
set_time_limit(0);

See here for more info

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.ignore-user-abort.php