internal server error

[River]

Hi.

I have 2 sites on a baby account. Since this morning I got internal server error on both sites.

I have mailed support, but no reply yet. Was just wondering if this is happening to someone else?

I have not made any modifications on the sites. They just stopped working this morning.

Also my 2 sites run 2 totally different php scripts so it can't be related to the scripts. They have worked without problems until today and as I said I haven't done modifications...

[River]

Hi again. Support just fixed the problem. Great support here at hostgator. You can delete the thread........

[Sam]

Can you post what was wrong? so other people that have the same problem know how to fix it.

[pmusu]

I have been getting internal server error for the past 2 days.

Not sure if it is related but I upgraded manually to Wordpress 2.3.

I opened a support ticket, they restart apache but it fails again. Hostgator has an excellent support service, but I would like to know if it is an error from my part or it is a hostgator problem.

[slapshotw]

I assume your permissions are OK? Are you on a shared server? On most hostgator servers, anywhere that you'd usually make permissions 777, you need to make them 755.

[pmusu]

Originally Posted by slapshotw

I assume your permissions are OK? Are you on a shared server? On most hostgator servers, anywhere that you'd usually make permissions 777, you need to make them 755.

I am on a shared server. I did not change any permissions. How can I check the permissions.

I have been with Hostgator since Febuary. It is the first time I had an internal server error for more than a couple of minutes.

Edit:

This is an example I am getting from the error logs.:

Premature end of script headers: /home/xxx/public_html/index.php

[GatorDaveC]

Its your wp-cron.php file constantly running. The server is denying you from running any more processes since you have 25 running.

Doing a simple strace tells me that one of your plugins are constantly connecting to IPs, do you have any plugins installed? Obviously there is either an issue with a plugin, or you are just connecting to too many URLs which is causing the script to stack.

pmusu     1767  0.2  0.5 33944 23880 ?       SN   02:01   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    18983  0.2  0.5 33944 23880 ?       SN   02:01   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    26107  0.2  0.5 34028 23964 ?       SN   02:02   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    17055  0.3  0.5 34016 23952 ?       SN   02:03   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    10683  0.2  0.5 34012 23948 ?       SN   02:04   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    13151  0.2  0.5 33992 23928 ?       SN   02:05   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    30886  0.3  0.5 33996 23932 ?       SN   02:06   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    29591  0.2  0.5 33988 23924 ?       SN   02:06   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     6518  0.2  0.5 33964 23900 ?       SN   02:08   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    26941  0.2  0.5 34168 24104 ?       SN   02:08   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    23132  0.2  0.5 33940 23876 ?       SN   02:10   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    20595  0.2  0.5 33932 23868 ?       SN   02:11   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    10762  0.2  0.5 33932 23868 ?       SN   02:12   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    12831  0.2  0.5 33920 23856 ?       SN   02:12   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     8153  0.2  0.5 33932 23868 ?       SN   02:13   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    14142  0.2  0.5 33912 23848 ?       SN   02:14   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    29924  0.2  0.5 33908 23844 ?       SN   02:14   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     3301  0.2  0.5 33888 23824 ?       SN   02:15   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    31396  0.2  0.5 33904 23840 ?       SN   02:16   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    11578  0.2  0.5 33876 23812 ?       SN   02:17   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     9388  0.2  0.5 33788 23724 ?       SN   02:17   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    19245  0.2  0.5 33780 23716 ?       SN   02:18   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    27328  0.2  0.5 33976 23912 ?       SN   02:19   0:11 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    27522  0.2  0.5 33768 23704 ?       SN   02:20   0:11 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    31998  0.2  0.4 29572 19452 ?       SN   02:28   0:10 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php


fcntl64(5, F_GETFL)                     = 0x2 (flags O_RDWR)
fcntl64(5, F_SETFL, O_RDWR|O_NONBLOCK)  = 0
gettimeofday({1191054636, 917160}, NULL) = 0
poll([{fd=5, events=POLLOUT, revents=POLLOUT}], 1, 0) = 1
send(5, "\200\2\1\0\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\3api\10feedster\3com\0\0\1"..., 34, MSG_NOSIGNAL) = 34
poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN, revents=POLLIN}], 1, 5000) = 1
ioctl(5, FIONREAD, [64])                = 0
recvfrom(5, "\200\2\201\200\0\1\0\2\0\0\0\0\3api\10feedster\3com\0\0"..., 1024, 0, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(53), sin_addr=inet_addr("74.52.123.178")}, [16]) = 64
close(5)                                = 0
socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_IP) = 5
fcntl64(5, F_GETFL)                     = 0x2 (flags O_RDWR)
fcntl64(5, F_SETFL, O_RDWR|O_NONBLOCK)  = 0

[pmusu]

Thanks for the quick reply. This is why I recommend Hostgator.

ATM I cannot check the plugins, from the wordpress panel, but if I remember correctly I disabled all plugins with the exception of Akismet.

Could it be Search Engine Bots that is causing these requests?

Thanks

Edit: Just managed to login. Akismet is enabled only.

Originally Posted by GatorDaveC

Its your wp-cron.php file constantly running. The server is denying you from running any more processes since you have 25 running.

Doing a simple strace tells me that one of your plugins are constantly connecting to IPs, do you have any plugins installed? Obviously there is either an issue with a plugin, or you are just connecting to too many URLs which is causing the script to stack.

pmusu     1767  0.2  0.5 33944 23880 ?       SN   02:01   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    18983  0.2  0.5 33944 23880 ?       SN   02:01   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    26107  0.2  0.5 34028 23964 ?       SN   02:02   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    17055  0.3  0.5 34016 23952 ?       SN   02:03   0:15 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    10683  0.2  0.5 34012 23948 ?       SN   02:04   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    13151  0.2  0.5 33992 23928 ?       SN   02:05   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    30886  0.3  0.5 33996 23932 ?       SN   02:06   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    29591  0.2  0.5 33988 23924 ?       SN   02:06   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     6518  0.2  0.5 33964 23900 ?       SN   02:08   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    26941  0.2  0.5 34168 24104 ?       SN   02:08   0:14 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    23132  0.2  0.5 33940 23876 ?       SN   02:10   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    20595  0.2  0.5 33932 23868 ?       SN   02:11   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    10762  0.2  0.5 33932 23868 ?       SN   02:12   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    12831  0.2  0.5 33920 23856 ?       SN   02:12   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     8153  0.2  0.5 33932 23868 ?       SN   02:13   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    14142  0.2  0.5 33912 23848 ?       SN   02:14   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    29924  0.2  0.5 33908 23844 ?       SN   02:14   0:13 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     3301  0.2  0.5 33888 23824 ?       SN   02:15   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    31396  0.2  0.5 33904 23840 ?       SN   02:16   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    11578  0.2  0.5 33876 23812 ?       SN   02:17   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu     9388  0.2  0.5 33788 23724 ?       SN   02:17   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    19245  0.2  0.5 33780 23716 ?       SN   02:18   0:12 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    27328  0.2  0.5 33976 23912 ?       SN   02:19   0:11 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    27522  0.2  0.5 33768 23704 ?       SN   02:20   0:11 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
pmusu    31998  0.2  0.4 29572 19452 ?       SN   02:28   0:10 /usr/bin/php wp-cron.php
 
 
fcntl64(5, F_GETFL)                     = 0x2 (flags O_RDWR)
fcntl64(5, F_SETFL, O_RDWR|O_NONBLOCK)  = 0
gettimeofday({1191054636, 917160}, NULL) = 0
poll([{fd=5, events=POLLOUT, revents=POLLOUT}], 1, 0) = 1
send(5, "\200\2\1\0\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\3api\10feedster\3com\0\0\1"..., 34, MSG_NOSIGNAL) = 34
poll([{fd=5, events=POLLIN, revents=POLLIN}], 1, 5000) = 1
ioctl(5, FIONREAD, [64])                = 0
recvfrom(5, "\200\2\201\200\0\1\0\2\0\0\0\0\3api\10feedster\3com\0\0"..., 1024, 0, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(53), sin_addr=inet_addr("74.52.123.178")}, [16]) = 64
close(5)                                = 0
socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_IP) = 5
fcntl64(5, F_GETFL)                     = 0x2 (flags O_RDWR)
fcntl64(5, F_SETFL, O_RDWR|O_NONBLOCK)  = 0

[rota919]

Originally Posted by GatorDaveC

Its your wp-cron.php file constantly running. The server is denying you from running any more processes since you have 25 running.

Check why this page is constantly being run.
I doubt that it is a SE bot.
You can try to disallow this file in the robots.txt file, but I don't think it is going to make a difference.

[pmusu]

Everything is working fine now. Did not change anything, so I have no idea what happened. The most important thing however is that everything is fine now.

Thanks for all the help.

Originally Posted by rota919

Check why this page is constantly being run.
I doubt that it is a SE bot.
You can try to disallow this file in the robots.txt file, but I don't think it is going to make a difference.

[River]

I like hostgator and its friendly support, but it's a little scary a wordpress plugin can shut down your account like that.

I mean suppose you have 10 sites on your account and one of them has wordpress or some other script that goes bezerk because of a wordpress bug, so this 25 limit process is reached and bam all 10 sites goes down.

I only have 2 sites, one of which had the wordpress plugin and they both went down because of this wordpress crap. The funny thing is the site which had wordpress on it was inactive more or less but my main site which doesnt have wordpress suffered the most from it.

Wouldn't be better to atleast send out a warning mail to the siteowner that your "script is taking too much server resources, fix asap or the account will be shut down" or maybe just shut down the php file causing the problem?

Just do a search for wp-cron.php and you will get tons of hits of this wordpress script causing these problems and wordpress is the most famous blog script. Certainly we siteowners can not forsee a bug in wordpress.

Well, I don't have wordpress anymore, I deleted it on my site after all my sites went down with internal server error because of this plugin.

just my 10 cents.....

[chaloupe]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your Wordpress installation.

Here's a scenario:
What happen if you would take 10 hours to respond to the email sent by Hostgator: Please fix bugs ASAP, you are causing the server to reboot every 2 minute?

If you would be another user on the server, would it be fair for you also?

Best Regards,

[River]

yeah I guess you have a point, but maybe you can also see my point it is not a good situation when all sites go down because one site (which you had more or less forgot about) got a wordpress plugin that goes mad for no apparent reason.

maybe a good thing would be an indicator of some sort in the cpanel when one of your sites goes near this 25 process limit.

I mean, there is an indicitator there how much bandwidth you use.

We would all benefit because then, us users, get a chance to fix the problem and support gets less job to do


Well, this problem was caused by a bug in script. I wonder, could it also happen if you got a blog or forums that becomes really popurlar? So, the 25 process limit gets reached then too?

I chose hostgator because I hope someday my sites will be succesful, and I saw hg allowed lots of bandwidth, but I didnt know about this 25 process limit..

Well, an indicator for cpu use or process limits or whatever would be good I think, same as bandwidth indicator.


just my 10 cents

[chaloupe]

Originally Posted by River

Well, an indicator for cpu use or process limits or whatever would be good I think, same as bandwidth indicator.


just my 10 cents

I approve this. It could be nice but maybe a bit complicated to develop.

[rota919]

Hi River and welcome to the forums

Originally Posted by River

but maybe you can also see my point it is not a good situation when all sites go down because one site...

I understand exactly where you are coming from, I am also on a shared server and someone else's site caused my site to take about 3 minutes to load the other day.
I contacted support and they suspended that problem site right there no questions asked, 10 seconds later and everything is fine. That's what I like about HG.

No it wasn't yours, it was about a month ago.

I feel it is each of ours responsibility to make sure we don't use to much resources. When I am uploading a lot of stuff or have just installed a new script or something I would have a resource meter visible all the time to see what is happening at the server. There is no way I would know if it is me causing a high load, but at least I can contact support and ask them about it before my account gets suspended.
To make sure I stay below the sql connection limit I would monitor using the Server Monitor function in Navicat. It works 100%

[pmusu]

Yes on a shared account, they should immediately disable the site causing trouble.

Anyway from my part everything is fine now, and did not change anything.

However I think that is why there is the 25 connections limit, so the other sites will not be affected.