502 Common Causes of Bad Gateway
502 Bad GatewayThe error is essentially a communication problem between two servers while transferring data from the website. It is a problem with the server in delivering the content of the website. It can be likened to a mistake in the delivery of information that prevents the end user from loading the website correctly. Here are some of the common causes of 502 Bad Gateway error:
1. Server overload and timeout
The upstream server (e.g., the server of the target website) may not be able to respond to the request due to excessive traffic or malfunctioning, causing the proxy server to return the502 ErrorThe
2. PHP Error
When using PHP, if the script takes too long to execute or thePHP ConfigurationImproperly, this may result in the request not being responded to in a timely manner, which in turn results in a 502 error.
3. Database corruption issues
The WordPress database is like a warehouse for all the material on your website. If this repository becomes disorganized or partially corrupted (database corruption), your website may not load properly.
4. Network-related issues
502 errors can also sometimes stem from problems with DNS, website firewall settings, or content delivery network (CDN) configurations. These issues may prevent smooth communication between servers, which in turn leads to 502 errors.
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Different manifestations of 502 errors
502 Bad Gateway errors sometimes present themselves in different ways. Different server and website configurations may generate slightly different error messages. A few common manifestations are listed below:
- 502 Bad Gateway Nginx/Apache: Indicates that specific web server software (such as Nginx or Apache) is used on the backend.
- 502 Service Temporarily Overloaded: Usually indicates server overload as the likely cause.
- Error 502: a more basic form of error manifestation.
- HTTP 502: Emphasize that this is an HTTP error code.
- 502 Proxy Error or 502 Server Error: Indicates that the server encountered a temporary error and was unable to complete the request, usually a problem with the proxy server.
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Detailed solution steps
1. Server overload and timeout
- Optimize server configuration: Adjust the number of worker processes and connections of the web server to improve concurrent processing.
- Increased hardware resources: Upgrade the server's CPU, memory and bandwidth to increase processing power.
- Using Load Balancing: Distribute traffic to multiple servers through load balancing to avoid overloading a single server.
- Optimizing PHP Configuration:: Improvement
max_execution_time
respond in singingmemory_limit
settings to avoid long PHP script execution times. - Optimization of databases: Improve database responsiveness and reduce timeouts by indexing, optimizing queries, and using database connection pools.
2. PHP errors
1. Checking PHP error logs
ferret outPHPError logs for specific error messages.The PHP error logs are located in the /var/log/php-fpm.log
maybe /var/log/apache2/error.log
The
- View PHP error logs:
tail -f /var/log/php-fpm/error.log
2. Adjusting PHP configuration
Adjustment based on error messages in PHP logsphp.ini
in the configuration item to prevent script timeouts or memory overflows.
- rise
max_execution_time
(default 30 seconds):max_execution_time = 60 ; increase execution time to avoid timeouts
- rise
memory_limit
(default 128MB):memory_limit = 256M ; increase memory limit
- rise
max_input_time
::max_input_time = 60 ; increase input processing time limit
Restart the PHP-FPM service:
systemctl restart php-fpmsystemctl restart php-fpmsystemctl restart php-fpm
3. Checking PHP-FPM and Web Server Settings
- Ensure that the PHP-FPM configuration file is correct and that the web server (e.g., Nginx or Apache) is able to communicate with PHP-FPM correctly.
- Add the PHP-FPM
pm.max_children
settings to avoid an insufficient number of processes to make the service unavailable. For example, thewww.conf
mid-range adjustmentpm.max_children
::pm.max_children = 50 ; increase the maximum number of PHP-FPM processes
- Restart the PHP-FPM service:
systemctl restart php-fpm
3. DNS issues
DNS (Domain Name System) is the mechanism that translates a website's domain name into an IP address. If there is a problem with the DNS configuration, it may result in a 502 error.
- Clearing the DNS Cache::
- Windows (computer)::
- Open the Command Prompt (as administrator).
- importation
ipconfig /flushdns
and press enter. - Confirm that "DNS resolution cache is flushed" is displayed.
- Windows (computer)::
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4. Check the .htaccess file
.htaccess
file is part of the server configuration, and if there is a misconfiguration in that file, it may also result in a 502 error. You can try temporarily renaming the.htaccess
file to see if the problem is resolved.
- Access your WordPress root directory using an FTP client such as FileZilla or through the hosting panel.
- find out
.htaccess
file and delete or rename the file

- regenerate
.htaccess
File: Log in to the WordPress backend and go to the set up > Permanent linkTo do this, click on "Save Changes" without changing anything. This will automatically create a new.htaccess
Documentation.
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5. CDN issues
- Clearing the CDN Cache
Try clearing the CDN cache to make sureCDNGet the latest data from the source server. Most CDN providers offer the ability to clear the cache, and after clearing the cache, the CDN will reload the resources from the source server. - Check CDN and source server configuration
Make sure that the DNS settings for the CDN are correct and that there are no errors in the reverse proxy configuration. If you are using theSSLcertificate to ensure that the SSL settings of the source server and the CDN match to avoid communication failures due to mismatched certificates. - Test the availability of the source server
Check that the source server is up and running to ensure that it can handle requests from the CDN. If the source server is unable to respond due to an outage, contact the hosting provider or development team to resolve the issue.
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6. Other methods
- Firewalls or security plug-ins cause
- Check the server or Web Firewalllogs to see if there are any false positives.
- If you are using a service such as Cloudflare, try turning off WAF rules temporarily.
- Disable all plugins in the background and check the analytics.
- Quick Refresh
- Sometimes the 502 Bad Gateway error may only be temporary, press the
Ctrl + F5
Force refresh the page, or clear your browser cache and try again.
- Sometimes the 502 Bad Gateway error may only be temporary, press the
summarize
502 Bad Gateway errors are usually caused by server communication problems, and common causes include
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