wp_cron scheduled but not firing - wordpress

Question

I am trying to run a background script fired on a user action using wp_schedule_single_event, and although I have confirmed that the event is being scheduled and that wp_cron recognizes that the scheduled time has passed, it will not fire the event handler. To further complicate things, the code runs fine on my local WP install, but does nothing on my server.
To schedule the event, I am using:
if ( ! wp_next_scheduled( 'my_action_name' ) ) {
wp_schedule_single_event( time(), 'my_action_name' );
}
My handler action is defined as:
add_action('my_action_name', 'my_action_handler');
function my_action_handler () {
// do stuff
}
I have testing the wp core files and found that the following block (from wp-includes/cron.php:322) is where the script terminates:
var_dump('test1');
$cron_request = apply_filters( 'cron_request', array(
'url' => add_query_arg( 'doing_wp_cron', $doing_wp_cron, site_url( 'wp-cron.php' ) ),
'key' => $doing_wp_cron,
'args' => array(
'timeout' => 0.01,
'blocking' => false,
/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/class-wp-http-streams.php */
'sslverify' => apply_filters( 'https_local_ssl_verify', false )
)
), $doing_wp_cron );
var_dump('test2'); //exit here to test
wp_remote_post( $cron_request['url'], $cron_request['args'] );
On my local machine, the filter is applied, 'test2' is printed, and the script can continue to call wp_remote_post. On the server, however, the script terminates during the execution of apply_filter('cron_request'), printing 'test1' but not 'test2' and failing to reach wp_remost_post.
I have been unable to find the source for this filter to further debug. Wordpress.org says that the filter is defined within wp-includes/cron.php and that the one instance I have already cited is the only place it is ever applied, however, using Sublime multi-file search reveals that the string 'cron_request' appears only in the filter application I have cited.
I have read many post on wp_cron failing and have found no help other than non-descript 'Server configuration blocking wp_cron' answers. Any additional information on what type of server config or what else could be occuring here?

Answer 1

This action will trigger when someone visits your WordPress site, if the scheduled time has passed.
Maybe you can use
wp_schedule_event()
Instead of
wp_schedule_single_event()