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A 500 Internal Server Error after a website migration means the new server could not complete the request, but the status code does not identify why. The fastest reliable fix is to capture one failing request, inspect the new host’s error log at that exact time, and then test the failure layer in order: DNS and routing, redirects and rewrites, files and permissions, runtime and environment, database connectivity, and capacity. Avoid changing several layers at once; make each change reversible and retest the same URL.
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What a 500 error means after a migration
HTTP 500 is a generic server-side failure. MDN defines it as a response sent when the server encounters an unexpected condition that prevents it from fulfilling the request. Common causes include improper server configuration, an out-of-memory condition, an unhandled application exception, and incorrect file permissions. The browser’s error page cannot distinguish among them; the server log can.
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A migration changes more than the location of your files. DNS may now point to a different machine, the web server may use different modules or virtual-host settings, environment variables may be missing, the runtime may have another extension set, and database access rules may have changed. A redirect or rewrite rule that worked on the old host can also fail on the new one. Treat the 500 as a symptom and use the log entry for the failing request as your primary evidence.
Start with a controlled incident record
Before editing configuration, establish whether the failure affects the whole site or only one route. Record the details in UTC so they can be matched precisely against access and error logs.
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- Request the homepage.
- Request a known-good static asset, such as an image or CSS file.
- Request one migrated content URL that should work.
- Request one URL that returns 500.
- Note the exact host name, path, HTTP method, response status, response headers, and UTC timestamp.
- Record whether the response comes from the browser, a proxy, a load balancer, or the application itself.
Use a private browser window or a command-line request to avoid cached responses. For a header-only check, run:
curl -I https://example.com/path-that-failsFor a request that follows redirects while still showing each response, run:
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curl -I -L https://example.com/old-pathReplace the example host and path with your own values. Preserve the output with the UTC time. A site-wide 500 points toward host routing, server configuration, runtime startup, or capacity; a single path usually narrows the search to a rewrite rule, application route, database query, or migrated file.
Check DNS and confirm which server is answering
During an infrastructure move, DNS is the boundary between the public hostname and the new server. Confirm that the hostname resolves to the intended address from more than one resolver and that the request actually reaches the new host. If DNS still sends some users to the old server, you may be investigating the wrong logs or seeing inconsistent results.
- Resolve the hostname with your normal resolver and at least one independent resolver.
- Compare the returned address with the new server’s documented address.
- Check both IPv4 and IPv6 records if the site publishes both. An old IPv6 address can send some visitors to a different machine.
- Inspect the new host’s access log while making a test request. The request should appear there with the timestamp and path you recorded.
- Continue watching access and error logs on both old and new servers while traffic moves. Google describes changing DNS as the actual move step and recommends monitoring both systems during the transition.
You can perform a basic lookup with:
dig +short example.com A
dig +short example.com AAAADNS changes can be visible at different times because resolvers cache records according to their TTL. Do not lower a TTL after the change and expect already-cached answers to disappear immediately. The important test is whether the failing request reached the new server and whether that server produced the 500.
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Read the error log before changing the site
The access log tells you what was requested; the error log usually explains why it failed. Filter the new host’s web-server, runtime, and application logs around the exact UTC timestamp. Look for the request path, process ID, upstream name, exception text, permission denial, memory exhaustion, or timeout.
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- Configuration syntax or startup error: the web server may reject a virtual host, include file, module, or directive.
- Rewrite or redirect failure: the request may be looping or a rule may be invalid on the new host.
- Permission or ownership error: the web-server account cannot read a file or traverse a directory.
- Runtime exception: the application crashed while handling the route.
- Memory or worker exhaustion: the process was killed, refused, or timed out before producing a page.
- Database or upstream error: the application cannot connect, authenticate, query, or receive a timely response.
If the log has no entry for the request, the request may be reaching another server, a proxy may be generating the response, or logging may be disabled at the relevant layer. Fix observability first rather than guessing at application code.
Remove redirect and rewrite loops
Migration rules commonly combine old and new domains, HTTP-to-HTTPS enforcement, www or non-www canonicalization, and path changes. A loop can occur when two rules continually redirect between variants, or when the new host applies an old rule to a URL that is already canonical. MDN notes that redirects can be configured in server configuration or in .htaccess, and that a loop introduced by a server-configuration change can result in a 500.
Test the redirect chain
- Choose one old URL with a known destination.
- Run
curl -I -Land record everyLocationheader. - Check that the chain ends at the intended new canonical URL rather than returning to the old URL, switching schemes repeatedly, or alternating host names.
- Test the canonical URL directly. It should return the page status, normally 200, without redirecting back.
Temporarily reduce migration rules to one known-good redirect and test again. Then add rules incrementally, testing one old URL per pattern. If the site fails immediately after a configuration edit, restore the last known-good configuration and validate it before reintroducing individual rules.
Apache-specific checks
For Apache, confirm that mod_rewrite is loaded and that the active virtual host permits the directives used by the site. A minimal ruleset normally begins with RewriteEngine On. Some hosts require an appropriate RewriteBase, while symlink handling and directory overrides vary by host policy. Do not copy a permission or module recipe from another server without checking the new platform’s deployment documentation.
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Validate configuration before reloading the service, using the validation command supplied by your operating system and Apache package. A syntax error that prevents reload can take the entire site offline, so keep a console or out-of-band access path available and retain the previous configuration for rollback.
Compare files, ownership, and permissions
A migration can omit hidden files, generated directories, uploads, symbolic links, or configuration files. Compare the source and destination file trees, including files excluded by deployment tools. Confirm that the web-server user can read application files and traverse every parent directory needed to reach them.
- Check that the document root points to the directory containing the migrated release.
- Confirm that the front controller or entry file exists at the expected path.
- Verify that uploaded files and generated cache directories were copied when the application requires them.
- Inspect ownership and access-control rules for the web-server account.
- Check that symbolic links resolve on the new host and are permitted by its security policy.
There is no universal safe permission number. The correct ownership and mode depend on the operating system, web server, application, and host policy. Use the exact permission-denied message in the error log and apply the least access needed. Making the entire document root writable or granting broad access may hide the immediate error while creating a security problem.
Verify the runtime and environment
The new host must provide the runtime, extensions, libraries, and process manager expected by the application. A different runtime release or missing extension can turn a previously valid request into an unhandled exception.
- Compare the runtime version and enabled extensions with the application’s deployment requirements.
- Check that the web process and command-line process use the same configuration where the application depends on shared settings.
- Restore required environment variables, secret keys, API credentials, encryption keys, and storage paths.
- Confirm that production configuration is loaded by the web process rather than only by an interactive shell.
- Rebuild dependencies using the project’s documented, locked dependency process instead of copying an incompatible cache.
Look for the first runtime exception in the log, not only the final 500 line. A missing class, extension, secret, or writable temporary directory often appears immediately before the generic response. Do not guess a “correct” runtime version without the application’s supported-version documentation and the host’s available packages.
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Test the application-to-database connection
A page that worked on the old host may fail when the database hostname, credentials, network allowlist, TLS requirement, port, or schema changes. Google lists a broken database connection as a valid cause of failed pages, so database connectivity is a separate troubleshooting branch rather than an assumption that the migration copied everything correctly.
- Read the application log for connection-refused, authentication-failed, DNS, TLS, timeout, or missing-table messages.
- Verify the database host name and port configured on the new server.
- Confirm that the database account exists, has access from the new server’s address, and has the required privileges.
- Test network reachability using the database client’s documented health or connection command, without printing credentials into shell history or logs.
- Compare the destination schema with the source and run any pending migrations using the application’s supported procedure.
- Check connection-pool limits and database-side connection limits if only busy or dynamic pages fail.
Do not “fix” a database error by exposing the database publicly. Restrict access to the application hosts, rotate credentials that may have been copied insecurely, and preserve a backup before schema changes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Check memory, workers, timeouts, and upstream capacity
Insufficient capacity can appear immediately after launch. Google says it crawls a newly migrated site more heavily than usual because requests redirected from the old site add to normal crawling. Visitors, crawlers, background jobs, and cache warm-up can therefore exhaust resources that seemed adequate before the move.
- Review host memory and swap pressure, CPU saturation, disk space, and I/O wait.
- Check process limits and the PHP-FPM or equivalent worker pool, including active, idle, and queued workers.
- Inspect database connection counts, slow queries, locks, and max-connection errors.
- Compare web-server, application, and upstream timeout settings. A short upstream timeout can surface as a generic 500 even when the application eventually completes.
- Look for operating-system kill messages indicating that the out-of-memory manager terminated a process.
- Temporarily reduce expensive background jobs or disable nonessential migration tasks while preserving user-facing functionality.
Increase capacity only after identifying the constrained resource. Adding memory will not repair a redirect loop, and increasing worker counts can worsen a database connection storm. Make one measured change, observe resource graphs and error rates, and retain a rollback path.
Use the failure pattern to choose the next branch
| Observed pattern | Most likely layer | Evidence to collect | Safe first action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every URL returns 500 and no request appears in the new log | DNS, proxy, load balancer, or wrong host | DNS answers, response headers, old and new access logs | Confirm the answering server and restore logging |
| Every URL returns 500 and the web server reports a configuration error | Virtual host, include, module, or syntax | Service validation output and error-log timestamp | Roll back the last configuration change, validate, then reload |
| Only old URLs fail or redirect repeatedly | Rewrite and migration rules | Complete Location chain and rule matches |
Reduce to one known-good redirect and add patterns gradually |
| Static assets work but dynamic pages fail | Runtime, application, database, or environment | Application exception and database connection log | Verify runtime extensions, secrets, and database access |
| Failures increase under traffic | Memory, workers, database connections, or timeouts | Resource graphs, queue depth, process and database limits | Identify the saturated resource before resizing |
| One directory or file fails | Path, ownership, permissions, or missing artifact | Resolved document root and permission-denied message | Compare the migrated tree and correct least-privilege access |
Verify recovery instead of checking only the homepage
A homepage that loads does not prove a migration is healthy. Test representative requests through the same host name visitors use.
- Request several old URLs and confirm each returns the intended permanent redirect, normally 301 or 308.
- Request the final canonical URLs and confirm they return 200 without an extra redirect.
- Test a deliberate missing URL and confirm it returns an intentional 404 or 410 rather than a 500.
- Open forms, login or other authenticated flows, search, checkout or account pages where applicable, and database-backed content.
- Load images, JavaScript, CSS, fonts, and downloads from their migrated paths.
- Repeat tests from more than one network and with both HTTP and HTTPS entry points if both are publicly reachable.
- Watch access and error logs during the tests; a low visible error rate can still hide repeated background failures.
Google recommends updating the URL map, checking redirects, watching logs, and ensuring enough capacity during a migration. Submit or refresh the sitemap after the new URLs are stable. Use Search Console URL Inspection and Crawl Stats to look for renewed availability or indexing errors. Remove temporary migration blocks from robots.txt and any noindex directives when the new site is ready; otherwise a technically repaired site may remain invisible to crawlers.
Prevent the next migration outage
- Lower DNS TTL in advance when your change plan permits, while recognizing that cached answers remain until their existing TTL expires.
- Take a tested backup of files, databases, uploads, certificates, and configuration before the cutover.
- Record the old server’s working web-server, runtime, environment, and database settings so differences are deliberate.
- Stage the new host and test the homepage, static assets, representative content, forms, authentication, redirects, and database writes before changing DNS.
- Keep a versioned redirect map from every important old URL to its intended destination.
- Use a temporary maintenance or access restriction that cannot be mistaken for a permanent
robots.txtornoindexblock, and schedule its removal as an explicit cutover task. - Prepare log access, resource dashboards, uptime checks, and rollback instructions before launch.
- Keep the old server available long enough to inspect straggling traffic and redirect behavior.
- Increase capacity or crawler safeguards based on measured load, not on a guess about how much traffic the site normally receives.
When to escalate
Escalate to the hosting or infrastructure team when you lack access to the error log, cannot identify which server answered, the service cannot reload after a validated rollback, or the failure involves a managed database, firewall, load balancer, or operating-system limit outside your control. Provide the exact UTC timestamp, host, path, method, response headers, redirect chain, affected scope, and relevant log excerpt. That evidence lets the next operator reproduce the failure without repeating speculative changes.
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The Bottom Line
Fix a post-migration 500 by tracing one failing request to the server that handled it, reading the matching error-log entry, and correcting that layer—DNS, redirects, configuration, permissions, runtime, database, or capacity—before moving on. Validate old and new URLs, crawlability, redirects, and resource health after the page begins returning normally.
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