Website down on an Apache server

Work from the outside in: reachable, Apache running, config valid, PHP and database up, disk not full. A broken .htaccess is the Apache-specific cause to check first.

Is this urgent?

Yes.

Easy fix, no technical skills

If you do not run the server yourself, send the block below to whoever does.

Hand it to your IT person

Copy this into an email or chat. Replace the brackets with the details from your alert.

example.com is down since (time). Please check Apache status, apachectl configtest, the error log, .htaccess changes, PHP, disk and memory.

Technical fix (commands)

Service status and config test.

systemctl status apache2
sudo apachectl configtest && sudo systemctl reload apache2
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Read the errors.

sudo tail -n 100 /var/log/apache2/error.log
sudo journalctl -u apache2 --since "1 hour ago"

A bad .htaccess gives a 500 on every page.

mv /var/www/html/.htaccess /var/www/html/.htaccess.off

Resources.
```
df -h
free -m
```

Check it worked

From another machine:
```
curl -sI https://example.com
```

Check whether the site is up with the free tool. All free tools.

Prevent it next time

Test .htaccess changes on staging.
Unattended security updates.
Monitoring from outside the server.

The same fix on other platforms

Common questions

Is this urgent?

Yes.

Can I fix this without technical skills?

This one needs someone comfortable with a server. The hand-over block below tells them exactly what to do.

How long does it take?

About 15 minutes once you know who runs the website.

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