When encountering "500 Internal Server Error", you should first check the Apache error log, check the .htaccess file, check the file permissions and ownership, check the PHP scripts or other backend programs. First, check the Apache error log, usually located in /var/log/apache2/error.log or /var/log/httpd/error_log, find the entries that match the error time, confirm specific problems such as PHP fatal errors, permission problems, .htaccess syntax errors, etc.; then temporarily rename the .htaccess file to determine whether it is a syntax error, and use online tools to verify the rules and ensure that the necessary modules are enabled; then check the file permissions, it is recommended to set folders 755 and file 644, and ensure that the owner is the user running Apache; finally troubleshoot the PHP script, try to close the plug-in test one by one, and enable error display in the development environment to get detailed prompts. Follow this step to effectively locate and resolve 500 errors.
When you encounter "500 Internal Server Error", don't rush to restart the server. This error indicates that Apache encountered a problem when processing the request, but there may be many specific reasons. The most effective method is to check it step by step.
Check Apache Error Log
The first step is always to read the log. Apache's error logs are usually located in /var/log/apache2/error.log
or /var/log/httpd/error_log
, and the location depends on your system and configuration.
After opening the log, look for the most recent error information, especially the entries that match the 500 error time point. Common outputs may be:
- Fatal error
- Permission denied
- .htaccess file syntax error
- Module loading failed, etc.
For example, you may see something like this:
[Thu Apr 04 10:20:30.123456 2025] [php7:error] [pid 1234] [client 192.168.1.1:1234] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function my_function() in /var/www/example.com/index.php:45
This means that an undefined function is called in the PHP code, so you can check the 45th line of the corresponding file.
Check the .htaccess file
If your website uses the .htaccess
file for URL rewriting or access control, syntax errors in it can easily lead to 500 errors.
You can temporarily rename the .htaccess
file to .htaccess.bak
and refresh the page. If the problem disappears, it means the problem lies in this file.
Common errors include:
- Wrong Rewrite rules
- Used instructions that are not supported by the server
- Missing necessary modules (such as
mod_rewrite
)
Suggested practices:
- Verify
.htaccess
rules using online tools - Make sure that the corresponding module is enabled (such as running
a2enmod rewrite
and restarting Apache) - Avoid overly complex rules, especially nested conditions
Check file permissions and ownership
Apache processes usually run as www-data
(Debian/Ubuntu) or apache
(CentOS). If your web page file permissions are not set properly, the resource may not be read.
The general recommendations are as follows:
- Folder permissions: 755
- File permissions: 644
- The owner should be a user or group running Apache
For example, if you set a PHP file to 600 permissions, which is only read by the owner, and Apache is not the owner, then a 500 error will be triggered during access.
The fix is very simple:
- Use
chown
to modify file attributes - Use
chmod
to adjust permissions
Check for PHP scripts or other backend programs
If it is a PHP project, you can try to close all plug-ins or modules and then turn on the test one by one. Plugin compatibility issues in many CMSs (such as WordPress) can also cause 500 errors.
Additionally, error display can be enabled in PHP configuration (development environment only) to see if there are more detailed tips:
ini_set('display_errors', 1); ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1); error_reporting(E_ALL);
This way, the error type will be displayed directly on the page, instead of just returning 500 status codes.
Basically, these are the investigation directions. Although the 500 error is general, it can be located to the root cause in most cases in combination with log and configuration checks. The key is not to panic, take it step by step.
The above is the detailed content of How to fix a '500 Internal Server Error' in Apache?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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