SOS!! Internal Server Error 500

  • I am in urgent need of assistance as this has been going on for a week now and the web host nor myself are unable to identify what the problem is. The site needs updates made which are impossible while this error is occurring.

    For a week a client site has been getting the following errors:
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    Internal Server Error
    The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

    Please contact the server administrator at [email protected] to inform them of the time this error occurred, and the actions you performed just before this error.

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

    Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
    **********************************************************************
    It only seems to occur on the WP backend however now we are having it intermittently occur on the front end also. It is not related to any specific area of the dashboard. One minute I click Users and it loads, next 10 seconds I go elsewhere and try to go back and the error shows up. Have to use refresh 3 or 4 times to get the page to load or use Back and try again till it eventually loads.

    The hosting company has cPanel. The cPanel error logs are showing HEAPS of the “cannot allocate memory” errors such as:
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    [Tue Jun 11 23:37:53.509198 2019] [:error] [pid 3404287] (12)Cannot allocate memory: [client 157.55.39.153:12269] couldn’t create child process: /opt/suphp/sbin/suphp for /home/xxx/public_html/index.php

    **********************************************************************
    Some of the client IP’s listed in the errors are myself but others I have no idea.

    Initially, the web host identified a cron job which was running every 5 minutes and said that was the cause of the Internal Server Error. I deleted the cron job through cPanel as I have no idea when or how it got there (I didn’t create it and no one else has access). Didn’t fix the error.

    Then the host spent a good 24+ hours not sure why the error was still occurring. Next they tell me that the memory allocation issue indicates the website is using more resources than usual. They tell me that a faulty or outdated plugin could be the cause.
    I had already followed this course of troubleshooting before contacting them but just to be safe, I deactivate all plugins one by one – still the error continues.

    I switch back to Twenty Nineteen theme to see if the theme is causing the issue – still the error continues. I roll back to WordPress 5.1 – still the error continues. I had already tried recreating a new .htaccess file – again that didn’t help.

    I have been into cPanel and chosen “Select PHP Version” and then chose “Switch to PHP Options”. memory_limit has already been set to 512M which I assume the web host has done during their troubleshooting.

    I have just now uploaded a new copy of wp-admin and wp-includes via FTP – again still getting the error message.

    I have searched and cannot find any other information about what could be causing this error.. Is anyone able to provide suggestions or assist with this?

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 3 replies - 16 through 18 (of 18 total)
  • Thread Starter beltanconsultancy

    (@thetraininglady)

    UPDATE:
    Website is back functional however have not been given an explanation by host.

    NOW a second client is having the exact same error. Again host doesn’t seem to know what on earth is going on. I received an email this morning saying that although this website is also giving the Internal Server Error 500 that the issue is different to the first website.

    This morning they said the problem was the theme was using more than the allocated resources and so they renamed the theme and said if I rename it back the error comes back. BUT, I’ve switched back to Twenty Seventeen theme and still getting the error. Tried Twenty Nineteen – still getting the error. I really do not think the host knows what is going on. Every solution they’ve given hasn’t worked and I still don’t know what they ended up doing to the first clients’ website to make it work but by gosh the site speed is ridiculously slow.

    Does anyone have any suggestions? Is this a server issue or should I be investigating the WordPress side more? Am I missing something? On client1 site, I deactivated all plugins and switched back to the default theme and it didn’t solve it – I took this to mean that this eliminated those as the potential cause.

    Thread Starter beltanconsultancy

    (@thetraininglady)

    P.S. Also did a reverse DNS lookup for the client currently affected, did a random pick of some of the other websites hosted on the same server and found half a dozen within 5 minutes which also display the Internal Server Error 500. So judging off that it all keeps pointing to a server issue and nothing related to the actual website content, configuration, plugins or themes.

    Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    side note to @pjebber ,

    Please do not jump into other topics and detract from their problem. If the troubleshooting already posted made no difference for you, then, as per the Forum Welcome, please post your own topic. A lot more people will see your post, and that way you stand a good chance of getting the assistance you want. Despite any similarity in symptoms, your issue is likely to be completely different because of possible differences in physical servers, accounts, hosts, plugins, theme, configurations, etc. Thus one problem, on one setup is not indicative of the functionality and reliability of an application as a whole.

    I’ll be archiving your post.

Viewing 3 replies - 16 through 18 (of 18 total)
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