Are the websites in your server giving ‘500 internal server error’ all of a sudden? In our role as Outsourced server support specialists for web hosts, this is one commonly encountered errors in Apache web server.

A PHP upgrade, Apache recompilation, permission or ownership changes, anything can trigger a 500 error in a website. The impact of the error can vary based on the cause that triggered it.

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Today, we’ll discuss the probable causes for ‘500 internal server error’ in Apache and how to resolve them.

What causes ‘500 internal server error’ in Apache?

‘500 internal server error’ is a very broad error, and to pin-point the actual cause of the issue, it is very vital to observe the Apache/PHP error logs and to detect the recent changes made in the server.

With our years of experience handling web servers for a wide range of web hosting companies, we’ve come across several causes that can trigger this error, such as:

• A PHP upgrade or Apache recompilation that went wrong – Due to compatibility issues or unsupported modules in Apache/PHP, the websites can throw 500 errors.
• Errors in the format or content of PHP or CGI scripts – A code error, unsupported format or wrong path to the binary, can generate errors in the scripts.
• Settings in .htaccess or other config files that are not supported – For instance, servers that run SuPHP do not support php_flag or php_value directives in .htaccess files.
• Server or file system restrictions such as log file size, SELinux restrictions or time out settings for executing a script.
• Errors related to the PHP config file – Any unsupported or invalid setting in php.ini can lead to 500 errors.
• Incorrect permissions and ownership for the files – In SuPHP, files and folders should be under user ownership, folders should have 755 permissions, non-scripts files need 644, PHP Scripts require 600 and 755 is needed for CGI and shell scripts.
• A web server or PHP module that is not working fine – A corrupt php.ini file, a module that is no longer supported, etc. can also lead to 500 internal server errors in Apache.

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How to resolve ‘500 internal server error’ in Apache

When we come across customers who complain about 500 errors, we first check whether the error affects just one site or every site in the server. Depending on the impact of the error, we debug further.

If only one domain it affected, it can be pin-pointed to the specific script error or permission issues. If multiple domains show 500 error, it could be due to some server wide setting change or update.

From the Apache error logs, we detect the script or the module that is the culprit. We follow a systematic debugging approach, which helps us resolve the error in no time.

As improperly planned Apache updates or recompilation can cause server wide errors or PHP module to malfunction, we take proper caution and do adequate testing to avoid a web site downtime for our customers.

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At Bobcares, our 24/7 server specialists constantly monitor all the services in the server and proactively audit the server for any errors or corruption in them.

With our systematic debugging approach for service or other software errors, we have been able to provide an exciting support experience to the customers.

If you would like to know how to avoid downtime for your customers due to errors or other service failures, we would be happy to talk to you.