Service Unavailable

Hi, i have the same problem since 2 days.
My web host is also OVH.

My form was ok for a few days but now i have the error “MailChimp API error: 503 Service Unavailable.”.

Thanks to help leug59 and i,

Cécile.

Hi,
Maybe your webhost is blocking access to the MailChimp API servers.
To fix it, you should ask your webhost for the following URL to be whitelisted: https://*.api.mailchimp.com

If that’s not it, it might be that you are blocked in the MailChimp firewall.
Akamai is the firewall MailChimp and many other major websites use to protect their servers, which is why this is somewhat harder to fix.
When this happens, we recommend you to change your IP address because having a bad reputation at Akamai does not just affect the MailChimp API.
There are various ways to go about this.
Ask your webhost for a new IP address.
Migrate to a new webhost if your hosting company is unwilling to fulfill your request.
Configure your server to connect to the MailChimp API server using a proxy.
Advanced
If you have SSH access to your server, running the following command provides a quick way to test if remote requests to the MailChimp server should actually work and what exactly is going on.

curl -v https://us1.api.mailchimp.com/3.0/?apikey=test
Replace us1 with the characters in the end or your API key, after the minus sign.
Replace test with everything in front of the minus sign of your API key.

If you are able to run this SSH command line, or you can ask your hosting provider to do this (don’t forget to replace the us1 and the test part for them before forwarding it to them) so we can make sure what the problem really is. So it would be best to try this first, if possible.

Also see: https://mc4wp.com/kb/solving-connectivity-issues/

Hope that helps. If you have any questions, please let us know!

Hi Cecile and Lap,

I contacted OVH and I am still waiting for there answer.

I hope this problem will be sorted out quickly as it is very important for my activity.

Cécile, did you also contact OVH?

Julien

9 out of 10 times it really is the Akamai firewall. Usually you will be removed from their blacklist automatically after awhile.
The only way to make sure is to run cURL from SSH so you can see the full output, that will in this case mention that the request is blocked by Akamai.

The reason for being blocked can be another user of the same hosting provider you are using, as in most cases you will share your hosting IP with a number of websites.

The other 1 out of 10 times it is any other network issue between apache – php – curl – openssl – hosting firewall and routing / proxies. That too will usually be indicated in the verbose cURL output (the SSH command).

I suspect MailChimp / Akamai runs some sort of “autoban” script periodically, as we usually get multiple reports at once about Akamai blockades.

To confirm that it is not a problem with the API key itself, you can just type the URL in your browser:
https://us1.api.mailchimp.com/3.0/?apikey=test
Replace us1 with the characters in the end or your API key, after the minus sign.
Replace test with everything in front of the minus sign of your API key.

If everything works well you should see a lot of data from your account. If you get an error when trying this from your own browser that would indicate there is an issue with your API key and generating a new key will usually solve the issue.

Please keep in mind that your API key gives full access to your MailChimp account, so take care of your browser history or use incognito mode!

Hope that helps,

From the https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/error-503-service-unavailable-8/ thread I conclude that at least one of OVH’s IP adresses is/was/is indeed blocked by Akamai.