Site Down: How to Triage Those First Important Minutes

John P. Gamboajpgamboa.com

@jgamboa

WordCamp Tampa 2016

@jgamboa• Technical Project Manager, WP

Engine

• 2+ years in technical support

• Developed and managed sites in China

Is it just you?• Downforeveryoneorjustme.c

om• GeoPeeker.com• Check on mobile Internet• Webpagetest.org

Is it just you?• Downforeveryoneorjustme.c

om• GeoPeeker.com• Check on mobile Internet• Webpagetest.org

What if it is just me?• Reconnect to Network/Restart Computer or Router• Ensure no changes to network

security/firewall/NetNanny• Cached DNS after domain changes• Run Traceroute to server to confirm hole in connection

It’s not me. The site’s still down

• What is the error code on the site?• What kind of error is it?• Is it a WordPress problem, or a server problem?• Is the DNS configured correctly?

My site’s down! Help!Working, but not ideal

• SSL Error• Google Malware

Message• Non-fatal Theme and

Plugin error

My site’s down! Help!Working, but not ideal

• SSL Error• Google Malware

Message• Non-fatal Theme and

Plugin error

My site’s down! Help!Working, but not ideal Site is down

• SSL Error• Google Malware

Message• Non-fatal Theme and

Plugin error

• White Screen of Death (WSoD)

• Redirect Loops

• Fatal Error in Plugin and Theme

Site Down, cont.• Database error• Multisite

registration/domain mapping issue

• Datacenter issue/Connection Timeout

Know Your HTTP Codes• 500 – Internal Server Error• 502 – Bad Gateway• 504 – Gateway Timeout• 522 – CloudFlare Connection

Issue

• 200 – HTTP OK• 301/302 – Permanent

and Temporary Redirect

• 404 – Not Found• 403 - Forbidden

Know Your HTTP Codes• 500 – Fatal Error or

bad .htaccess• 502 – Server issue or

overload• 504 – Server issue or bad

process• 522 – A likely 504 or 502

without CloudFlare

• 200 – Page loads• 301/302 – Permanent and

Temporary Redirect• 404 – Not Found• 403 – Security or

Authentication

cURL the site

• Use Terminal/Putty or any command line tool to confirm site down.

• Cross check HTTP code with common causes.

cURL Examplesfile:///Users/john.gamboa/Desktop/

wso200.swf

Videos of site down curls which can’t be embedded.

What to do with the results• Check your Error logs. They are a window into 500

Errors

• Use WordPress debug for additional data

• If system issue, contact your server administrator/host

Questions to Ask, Things To Do

• What changes have been made?

• Is system maintenance expected?

• What am I seeing?• Are all pages on the site

down?

• Take a screenshot• Make note of the

domain• Is this multisite-

related?

When asking for help

• Don’t just say “Help! My site is down.” More info, the better

• Provide screenshots and cURL results• Stay calm!

Common WordPress Site Down Causes

• Old plugins breaking after core updates• Bad code changes to plugins, themes or or

core• Malformed changes to .htaccess and wp-

config.php• Database issues in multisite management

When The Dust Settles

• Pingdom, Uptime Robot, and Jetpack (be careful of false positives!)

• Keep your plugins, theme and core updated

• Don’t modify code on your live site

• Website IP browser extension

Knowledge for Future Resolution

• Know your server architecture (NGINX, Apache, IIS)

• Learn WP-CLI• Track hosting maintenance and status pages• Don’t be afraid of PHPMyAdmin

Q & A

John P. Gamboa@jgamboa

jpgamboa.com