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Troubleshooting and Maintenance

Operations work is not just about fixing outages. Good maintenance reduces the chance of outages in the first place.

Server Restart / Reload​

Prefer graceful reloads when applying configuration changes so active connections are not interrupted unnecessarily. Full restarts are better reserved for situations where a reload is insufficient.

Configuration Testing​

Before a reload, verify changed paths, file ownership, syntax, and referenced external apps. Most production incidents come from small mismatches, not major design failures.

Common Errors​

403 Forbidden​

Usually caused by permission issues, missing index files, blocked contexts, or restrictive access rules.

500 Internal Server Error​

Often caused by bad rewrite rules, broken PHP handlers, socket issues, or application-level failures.

Permission Issues​

Check ownership and mode for:

  • document roots
  • cache directories
  • logs
  • sockets
  • certificate files

SSL Errors​

Cloudflare 525 Error​

Indicates Cloudflare could not complete a TLS handshake with the origin.

Cloudflare 526 Error​

Indicates the origin certificate is invalid for Full (Strict) validation.

Certificate Mismatch​

Happens when the wrong certificate is attached to a listener or the hostname does not match the served certificate.

Performance Debugging​

When a site is slow, work from outside in:

  1. Confirm DNS and edge behavior.
  2. Measure cache hit ratio.
  3. Check OpenLiteSpeed worker and connection usage.
  4. Inspect PHP worker pressure and socket health.
  5. Review database and application latency.

Updates & Upgrades​

Updating OpenLiteSpeed​

Use package management where possible and review release notes before production upgrades.

Updating lsphp​

Keep supported PHP versions current, especially for security fixes and compatibility with modern applications.

Backup Configuration​

Always back up config files, certificates, and application deployment metadata before upgrades.

Maintenance Rhythm​

  • Review logs after every significant change
  • Test certificate renewal before expiry windows become urgent
  • Trim unused logs and cache growth
  • Revisit connection and PHP limits after traffic changes
  • Keep a rollback plan for server and PHP package updates