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I have a php script for making catalog updates of prices and inventory. This script might take quite a long time to run, because I need to update around 3k skus.

The site is on a shared hosting, so not all php.ini changes might be possible.

I have 3 problems / questions:

  1. Should I shut down the site or can I avoid it?
  2. If I can avoid shutting down the server, I need to preserve some cpu in order to let people access the site with decent reponse times
  3. How can I avoid the max_execution_time error? Is there a suggested strategy for breaking the task into smaller chunks?
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  • What version of Magento are you using? Around version 1.5 they vastly improved the speed of imports. How many attributes are you importing? How large is your import file in MB? Jan 19, 2014 at 19:38
  • Just run it through the php cli, then you don't have the problem wit max_execution_time Jan 19, 2014 at 20:01

2 Answers 2

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To answer your questions:

  1. It is not necessary to shut down your server/site. You didn't specify if you have a supplier or you are managing your own inventory. In either scenario if a file is provided daily to run with the script, setup a cron to run it on "off" hours.

  2. If you run the script on non-peak times, there shouldn't be a problem.

  3. If there is no possibility of modifying the appropriate files, consider separating your script into 2. 1 for inventory updates and the other for price updates.

You should also have a quick run through of the following links and implement those that are applicable:

http://www.gxjansen.com/101-ways-to-speed-up-your-magento-e-commerce-website/ http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/36225/

Note: 3k products should be easily handled by a shared hosting environment. If you find your server too slow, contact your service provider and ask to be moved to another server.

Good luck,

SR

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  • Thanks, after spending some time in tests, I agree with your suggestions. Thanks
    – perissf
    Jan 19, 2014 at 21:44
  • No problem, thank you for accepting this as a solution. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate! SR
    – SR_Magento
    Jan 19, 2014 at 21:48
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Bulk product updating process runs a quite long time, because of product model updating ($product->save()) fires a lot of observers. If you can add some coding to the script try add this logic given below.
1.Switch index process to "Manual indexing" before updating runs, after updating I revert to auto indexing:

//swich indexer to "manual update" mode
$pCollection = Mage::getSingleton('index/indexer')->getProcessesCollection();
foreach ($pCollection as $process) {
   $process->setMode(Mage_Index_Model_Process::MODE_MANUAL)->save();
}

//Your script starts.
//Here is your codes
//which updates collection of products within the loop.
//foreach($collection as $product){
//   ...
//   $product->save();
//   ...
//} 
//
//End your custom update script.

//swich indexer to "update on save" mode
$pCollection = Mage::getSingleton('index/indexer')->getProcessesCollection();
foreach ($pCollection as $process) {
   $process->setMode(Mage_Index_Model_Process::MODE_REAL_TIME)->save();
}

After sucessfully updating all products you should re-index all indexers via Magento admin panel.

2. If you want update some attributes of products (but not inventory attributes), use this code also:

Mage::getSingleton('catalog/product_action')
   ->updateAttributes($arrayOfProductIds, array('some_attribute' =>'some_value'), Mage::app()->getStore()->getId());

Two snippets given above really help your script to run fast.

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