I am using the paypal ipn simulator to test my ipn script, however I am getting an error from paypal.
IPN was not sent, and the handshake was not verified. Please review your information.
I looked in my apache log files and do not even see an access attempt from paypal. my access logs only show connections from my computer. The php error log shows no errors related to the ipn script.
How do i figure out why paypal is not attempting to call my ipn? i have tested and can manual call my ipn from out side my network so i know its not a firewall or port problem.
I was having this exact same issue and I called PayPal and spoke with a rep who could not give me an immediate answer and said she would get back with me within the next 24 to 48 hours.
I found a post (closed it a while ago so I can't reference it) where someone said the PayPal IPN Simulator is not currently working at this time, however the live IPN system is working.
I tested this and activated the live IPN on my PayPal account, and it worked perfectly (use $0.01 transactions while debugging). I verified it worked through my IPN log and it correctly wrote to my database. The downside is that every bug in your server side file will cost you a penny!
Note: Use code from one of these files. Don't forget to change the variables to live (they are defaulted for sandbox use). Hope that helps!