500 Internal Server Error

14 Jan 2008, 22:07

Not trying to a pain QB but have you looked at phpBB3 again recently? It's in 'proper' release now; I installed it for a client and it's a dream. I'm guessing it would be a pain in the unmentionables to upgrade though...

15 Jan 2008, 16:39

Another one @ 16.36 CET.

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@myheartland.co.uk and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

15 Jan 2008, 16:56

@ mf: the upgrade isn't too hard - i've tried it on a backup of HL. the main issues are that 1) the upgrade script takes about 4 hours to port all the posts across, and 2) the script to rebuild the search tables takes about a day to run

and all this would need to happen while HL was offline.

its the timing & the logistics that are tricky more than the technical aspect.

(it would come with new themes too, so i would need to design some headers for the various themes i have in mind. if anyone is feeling creative and wants to design a header for one of the new HL themes, drop me a PM and i'll send you some screenshots of what i have so far...

)

@ everyone else: our hosts seem to be having some network issues at the moment. the impact of which is that the webserver is under extreme load and generating those 500 http error messages you see for extended periods.

its out of my hands i'm afraid. suffice to say they are looking into it (its affecting many of their customers i gather

)

bloody hell.

part of me wonders if upgrading to phpbb3 (with its enhanced security, amongst other things) might help our meagre webserver out a little but

16 Jan 2008, 20:31

Quiff Boy wrote:@ mf: the upgrade isn't too hard - i've tried it on a backup of HL. the main issues are that 1) the upgrade script takes about 4 hours to port all the posts across, and 2) the script to rebuild the search tables takes about a day to run and all this would need to happen while HL was offline.

I didn't realise that doing an upgrade would be so much more hassle than a clean install.

James Blast · 16 Jan 2008, 21:41

Pan Breid! 20:00 ~ 20:40

Big Si · 16 Jan 2008, 22:19

James Blast wrote:Pan Breid! 20:00 ~ 20:40

Aye, slower than a week in Bar-L

17 Jan 2008, 13:08

markfiend wrote:
Quiff Boy wrote:@ mf: the upgrade isn't too hard - i've tried it on a backup of HL. the main issues are that 1) the upgrade script takes about 4 hours to port all the posts across, and 2) the script to rebuild the search tables takes about a day to run and all this would need to happen while HL was offline.
I didn't realise that doing an upgrade would be so much more hassle than a clean install.

yeah, mainly due to HL's size

you do a clean install, then run the upgrade scripts & point it at an existing phpbb2 installation and it sucks in all the posts & info and reformats them before putting them back into its own database.

because its all done through a web interface, it moves the posts over in batches of 2000. it's hands-free, but it takes an age.

presumably, the whole thing is possible via an sql script - which i could run directly on the server via ssh, in a fraction of that time... but i know not of any such sql scripts

mh · 17 Jan 2008, 14:24

It should be as simple as an INSERT INTO ... AS SELECT FROM ..., but the reformatting bit might throw that somewhat.

17 Jan 2008, 14:36

nah, the whole db structure has changed. the table schemas are quite different

i'm pretty sure its possible, but i wouldnt like to have to try it

the only show stopper i could think of is if the php does any processing or data manipulation prior to inserting it into the new db. that might not be possible from an sql script

i might have a look on the phpbb.com and phpbbhacks.com forums to see if anyone else has tried a direct sql-based upgrade

weebleswobble · 17 Jan 2008, 17:29

Do you have a Heartland For Dummies?

Big Si · 17 Jan 2008, 21:12

weebleswobble wrote:Do you have a Heartland For Dummies?

Scotty wrote:How you doin'?

6FeetOver · 26 Jan 2008, 18:38

After the most recent 500 error, I got this one, which is summat I'd never seen before:

"message_die() was called multiple times. This isn't supposed to happen. Was message_die() used in page_tail.php?"

27 Jan 2008, 08:13

SINsister wrote:After the most recent 500 error, I got this one, which is summat I'd never seen before:

"message_die() was called multiple times. This isn't supposed to happen. Was message_die() used in page_tail.php?"

Looks like it could be a rarity. You thought about the trading section?

6FeetOver · 27 Jan 2008, 18:15

Oy, Steve!

weebleswobble · 27 Jan 2008, 20:44

That's nothing! I got 500 error Fek Off Ging-er!!

mh · 28 Jan 2008, 21:27

Just got this little bundle of joy - anyone else?

28 Jan 2008, 22:34

i think the webserver and the db server both have software on them that monitors their load. if they come under an undue amount of stress they will automatically reboot

i'm guessing the db server was about to reboot when you get that

hmmm

mh · 28 Jan 2008, 23:01

So if the error 500 comes while it's actually in the process of rebooting...?

The game's afoot, Watson

28 Jan 2008, 23:29

i think the 500s are a sign that it might be struggling and so about to trigger reboot... maybe.

04 Feb 2008, 10:12

ok guys, here's a bit of an update...

i contacted the hosting co's tech support again and asked them to look into the webserver logs regarding the spate of internal server errors that we've been getting over the weekend, and got this response:

Dreamhost wrote:
Code: Select all
2008-02-03 11&#58;51&#58;39 kill 9418 user	 php5.cgi "Process
puts user over total memory limit &#40;xx.37 used + 12.29 additional would be
over xxx.00 limit&#41;"
It looks like your forum is starting to creep up on memory usage (this
will just happen over time as it gets busier)

You may just be outgrowing shared hosting. Perhaps its time to look at a
virtual private server? http://dreamhostps.com

Maybe there are some mods/plugins/modules that you can install or remove,
or features you can disable to reduce memory usage.

which in short means the forum software is hogging their server resources, and some automatic tripwire security software is killing the PHP process (a pretty typical anti-hacking security measure), which the forum requires. hence the errors.

there's nothing i can really do re: disabling plugins etc, so it looks like we have just outgrown a 'shared server'. thus i have decided to register for one of their private servers:

http://www.dreamhostps.com/

starting off with this level of service:

RAM> 300 MB
CPU> 300 MHz
TOTAL $30.00/month

to start with, with a view to increasing that to "515 MB / 515 Mhz / $50.00 pcm" if it seems to make a difference.

what else does it offer us? well.....

dreamhostps.com wrote:What's so great about it?
You get your own protected CPU and memory!
You can still burst up to the much more cpu and memory!
It works just like your current shared service!
We'll never kill a persistent process / cronjob you run!
You can name your own "server"!
You get a unique IP (a $4.95/month value)!
You can change your memory and CPU on the fly... no reboot needed!
You can reboot your own server from our panel instantly!
You get historical memory / load graphs on our panel!

this is the bit that s of particular interest to us:

"We'll never kill a persistent process / cronjob you run!"

the package will also enable me to ramp up (or down, i guess) the amount of cpu & memory available to the webserver at any one time, which should hopefully avoid the errors we've been getting, as detailed above.

there's a waiting list for a personal server, but i've added my name to the list so in a couple of weeks it should be up and running.

its a bit more expensive than the existing package, but its worth it if it makes the whole thing a bit more stable again

i'll keep you all updated with the request as it gets processed.

in the meantime, please just hang on in there....

04 Feb 2008, 21:25

Thirty dollars a month? Jeez!

05 Feb 2008, 12:19

@Quiffy

Mail me the bank details, so I can transfer a donation via the interwebby.

05 Feb 2008, 21:59

markfiend wrote:Thirty dollars a month? Jeez!

Having said that, we've just bought a dedicated server at work for Â£89.99 a month plus VAT...

Dark · 05 Feb 2008, 22:58

Do you get your own personal ISP for that price?

07 Feb 2008, 12:58

Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited mySQL databases, unlimited domains, 160GB storage, right on the ISP's backbone...