Operations in WP Toolkit fail: WP-CLI command has not finished working in 60 seconds, so it was terminated

Symptoms

• Operations in WP Toolkit fail with the following error message:

  PLESK_INFO: WP-CLI command has not finished working in 60 seconds, so it was terminated. Usually this means that there are problems with WordPress installation itself, for example it could be infected with malware. Check the wp-config.php file of the installation for potential malware code.

• A Plesk Administrator / Reseller / Customer recieves an email notification with the content below:

  PLESK_INFO: The following WordPress installations are unresponsive:
  
  Website "MYSITE" (https://example.com): Unable to finish running an operation on this site in 60 seconds. Operation was canceled. This is most likely caused by a server load spike, uncommon directives in wp-config.php, or a malware infection. Try running the operation again later. If this problem persists, make sure there are no customizations in wp-config.php that could slow down parsing this file, and consider checking the website for viruses and malware.

  PLESK_INFO: WP Toolkit was not able to finish running an operation on this site in 60 seconds, so the operation was terminated. This could mean that your WordPress installation might be infected with malware. Check the wp-config.php file of the installation for potential malware code or run an anti-virus scan. If you cannot find any traces of malware, try running the operation again later.

• WP Toolkit dashboard of a domain shows "Unresponsive WordPress site" with the following message:

  PLESK_INFO: Unable to retrieve information about the website: operation timed out. This is most likely caused by a server load spike, uncommon directives in wp-config.php, or a malware infection. Click to try retrieving the information again. If this problem persists, make sure there are no customizations in wp-config.php that could slow down parsing this file, and consider checking the website for viruses and malware.

Cause

The WordPress instance couldn't be scanned/processed by WP Toolkit within 60 seconds (default timeout).

This usually happens when:

• some WordPress plugin is slowing down the operation
• WordPress installation is infected by malware
• the system performance is slow

Resolution