Fix: an order fails at Create, or setup fails after the order was accepted

What you're seeing

An order can fail at one of two points:

• Create refused the order. WHMCS ran the module's Create (usually after payment, or when you clicked Module Create) and showed an error. The service stays Pending.
• Setup failed after the order was accepted. The service is Active in WHMCS, but no server was delivered. The Dashboard shows a critical alert such as Provisioning failed for service #N or Provisioning stuck for service #N, which is also emailed to you while Send operator alert emails is on.

Why it happens

Create checks and queues the order without contacting the provider. The provision task then creates and delivers the server. Neither stage ever switches the location, size, operating system or provider account. Both kinds of failure are listed under Diagnostics → Activity.

Fix: Create refused the order

Nothing was queued or created. Match the reason WHMCS shows:

• the ImpulseVPS license is not active: add or renew your IVPS- key in ImpulseCore → Modules & Licensing → Licenses. Existing servers keep running.
• is not connected to an ImpulseVPS server plan, the server plan connected to this product is inactive or has no provider account: connect the product to an active server plan under Plans & Products → WHMCS Products, or edit the plan and choose its provider account.
• which this release doesn't offer: the server plan is on Proxmox VE, which this version doesn't sell. Connect the product to a server plan on Vultr, Hetzner Cloud, DigitalOcean or Linode, or retire the product.
• this order has no location: publish a Region choice, or set a default region on the server plan, then click Publish choices on the product.
• is not offered by this server plan: the order carries a location, size or operating system the server plan no longer allows. Allow it on the server plan again, or change the service's configurable option to an allowed value. Then click Publish choices so new orders can't pick it.
• A missing provider mapping, such as has no provider-native mapping or has no live mapping: map the region in ImpulseCore → Projects → Regions, the size under Plans & Products → Server Sizes or the image on the Images tab.
• includes paid option(s): the provider can't deliver an option the order bought (Additional Storage is Vultr only), and a critical alert opens too. Take the option off the service and refund it, or connect the product to a server plan on a provider that supports it.
• not a recognized OpenSSH public key: ask the customer for their .pub file's contents; private keys are always refused.

After you fix the cause, click Module Create again.

Fix: setup failed after the order was accepted

Open the service from the Customers tab: Last error shows the reason, and Provider account the account the order is pinned to.

The provider refused to create the server

Nothing was created. Usually the provider doesn't sell the size in the ordered location, which WHMCS can't rule out at checkout. On Vultr, Hetzner Cloud and DigitalOcean the error starts No capacity in <location> for plan '<size>'; on Linode, and for other refusals, it's the provider's own message.

Module Create queues the order again with the same location, size and operating system, so it only succeeds once the provider sells that size there. ImpulseVPS also reports no capacity when it can't read the provider's availability, so first click Test connection on the account in Addons → ImpulseVPS → Settings → Providers & Regions. To prevent this, allow only locations that sell every size on the server plan.

The provider account isn't set up in ImpulseCore

The error points to ImpulseCore → Operations → VPS Providers, for example because the account was removed after the server plan was created. The order never moves to another account: set that one up again, click Test connection on it in Addons → ImpulseVPS → Settings → Providers & Regions, then click Module Create.

The server didn't become ready in time

The error reads provision timed out: instance did not become ready within the provision timeout (15 minutes by default, under Settings → Alerts & Notifications). The provider returned a server, which may exist and bill there, and ImpulseVPS doesn't delete it. It keeps checking for a day after setup started and delivers the service if the server finishes starting. If you won't deliver it, delete it in the provider account.

No server ID was recorded

The error reads provision timed out: claimed but no instance was created before the timeout, or a critical alert warns of a possible orphan server because the create's outcome is unknown. ImpulseVPS doesn't check again, but a server may still exist.

1. In the provider account, look for a server labelled impulse-vps-N or tagged svc-N, where N is the service number.
2. Delete any server you find. It was never delivered.
3. Click Module Create. If it's refused because the last create never confirmed its outcome, click Resolve unknown create on the service, then run Module Create again.

The error is about the root password or one-time credential

The server was created, but ImpulseVPS has no credential it can give your customer, so it isn't delivered and isn't checked again. Delete it in the provider account if you won't deliver it.

In this case and when the server didn't become ready, the service already has a server ID, so Module Create doesn't retry: it reports success and changes nothing.

What your customer sees

Their service page says We hit a snag setting up your server and asks them to contact support if it isn't ready soon, without showing the error. ImpulseVPS also tries to email them with the WHMCS template Other Product/Service Provisioning Issue. It doesn't install that template, so the email only goes out if your WHMCS has one with that exact name.

How to confirm it worked

• When Module Create puts a failed order back in the queue, the service's failure alert closes and the customer's page shows setup progress again.
• When the server is ready, its Customers page shows an instance ID and IP address, and the welcome email is sent.

Still stuck?

Open a ticket from the portal at www.impulsesoftware.com with the provider, the service number and the last error, and attach the support snapshot from Diagnostics → Help (it masks secrets).

Related

• How provisioning works
• Adding a provider account to ImpulseVPS
• Server plans: how they tie to WHMCS products
• Understanding ImpulseVPS licensing