Magento 500 Internal Server Error and How to Fix it

Possible Fixes for Magento 500 Error

Before troubleshooting, enable developer mode in Magento 2 to uncover the cause of the error. To do so, run the following command:

php bin/magento deploy:mode:set developer

Here’s how to resolve the Magento 500 error.

Fix the File Permissions

The Magento 2 directory structure contains standard file and folder permissions. But when you install an extension or update to Magento 2 on the server, it changes those permissions. That causes the appearance of the Magento 500 internal server error when logging in to the admin panel. 

To fix this, change the file permissions of index.php in the root file from 664 to 644 through your website’s file manager. Resetting permissions can fix the Magento 500 error. 

Please run the following commands to set the permissions:

find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find ./var -type d -exec chmod 777 {} \;
find ./pub/media -type d -exec chmod 777 {} \;
find ./pub/static -type d -exec chmod 777 {} \;
chmod 777 ./app/etc
chmod 644 ./app/etc/*.xml
chmod u+x bin/Magento

Still stuck? Cloudways provides the easiest way to reset the file permissions.

How do you fix the file permissions in Cloudways?

1. Log in to your Cloudways Platform with your credentials.
2. From the top menu bar, open Applications.
3. Choose your desired application.

4. Select Application Settings.

5.  Scroll down to the General tab to see the option to ‘Reset File/Folders Permissions’. Check the dropdown next to this option to choose the desired user (master or application user).

6.  Click to reset the file permissions that you want to set.
7. Click on “Save Changes”.

Verify the permissions and then refresh the page to check if the 500 error is gone.

Fix Memory Limitations

The 500 Magento internal server error may appear on the product or checkout page of the Magento 2 website  when your server is unable to provide the resources to respond on request. To address this, increase the memory limit in the php.ini file or .htaccess file.

For the .htaccess file, write or change the lines as shown below:

<IfModule mod_php5.c>
php_value memory_limit 256M
</IfModule>
For the php.ini file, add or change the the lines as shown below, based on server health:
memory_limit = 1024M

If you are unable to make these changes due to a lack of permissions on your server, ask the hosting provider to make these changes.

There’s an easier way to fix memory limitations with Cloudways.

How do you fix the memory limit in Cloudways?

1.  Under Server Management, select Settings & Packages.

2.  Under the Basic Settings, configure the memory limitation as per need.

3. Click “Save Changes”.
4. Refresh the page again.

Fix Issues with the .htaccess File

To fix a 500 internal server error caused by the wrong configuration in the .htaccess file, try renaming or removing the .htaccess file and reloading the website again to check if the error is fixed.

If the Magento 500 internal server error is fixed, then there is some configuration issue with the .htaccess file that needs to be fixed. Take care to avoid any issues with broken 404 links in your store with this fix.

Fix Third-party Plugin Issues

You might be experiencing the Magento internal server error due to the installation of a third-party extension, or an extension upgrade that enables maintenance mode or creates version compatibility issues after configuration.

To fix this just need to disable the mod by running the following command

php bin/magento mod:disable

Or contact your extension support team to fix it.

Disable Magento Maintenance Mode

The 500 internal server errors can appear during maintenance mode. Developers often enable the maintenance mode to deploy a website to the other server, by putting the “maintenance.flag” file into the root folder and changing the permissions of index.php to 666.

To fix this, disable the maintenance mode by removing the maintenance.flag file or running the following command:

php bin/magento maintenance:disable

After this, change the index.php file permissions to 755, and clear the cache of your Magento 2 store.

Use the command blow to change permissions of index.php:

chmod 775 -R index.php

Fix the PHP Version Issue

Your PHP version might not be compatible with the server configuration. Check the logs to see what compatible version you need based on your requirements and install it.

Try the below command for PHP update version from ssh:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install php php-cli php-fpm php-json php-common php-mysql php-zip php-gd php-mbstring php-curl php-xml php-pear php-bcmath

How do you fix the PHP version issue in Cloudways?

1. Under Server Management, select Settings & Packages.

2. Under the Packages tab, select the PHP version from dropdown.

3. Click Save Changes.

Fix Missing Extensions

Missing extensions or modules in your server or PHP configuration might be behind your internal 500 server errors. Find out which extension is missing and install it to resolve the error.

Installing CURL Extension

To install and fix the missing CURL extension, use the command below:

Sudo apt-get install curl libcurl3 libcurl3-dev php5-curl

Check Server Error Logs

Check the log files to identify the actual problem.

Fixing Apache Logs

To resolve  missing configuration on your server or invalid commands in a server configuration error, check the web server logs need to be checked.

For Apache, the logs directory:

/var/log/httpd/ -> centos
/var/log/apache2/ -> debian, ubuntu

Directory List of Error Log

The Magento 2 Logger can help you determine which log file you need to debug for the problem. Enabling developer mode to reload the website, and check the error log of the Magento 2 store in the var/log directory.

Run Magento 2 All Commands

The Magento 500 server error could be resolved by running the following lines:

rm -rf generated/*
rm -rf var/*
cd pub/static
rm -r adminhtml
rm -r frontend
php bin/magento setup:upgrade
php bin/magento setup:di:compile
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f
php bin/magento indexer:reindex
php bin/magento cache:clean
php bin/magento cache:flush

Concluding Words

Avoid the Magento 500 error by being careful during store maintenance. Make sure you use the right file permissions in the Magento root directory. Make and follow a set of guidelines before upgrading or installing an extension that causes issues.

If, after following the steps in this article, you’re still unable to resolve this error, contact your hosting provider.

Abdur Rahman

Abdur Rahman is the Magento whizz at Cloudways. He is growth ambitious, and aims to learn & share information about Ecommerce & Magento Development through practice and experimentation. He loves to travel and explore new ideas whenever he finds time. Get in touch with him at [email protected]