500 Internal Server Error

Question

What causes a site to experience a 500 internal server error?

Answer

A 500 Internal Server Error happens when the web server receives an unexpected error. If you're actively experiencing this issue, you can use the following process to monitor the Apache log for new errors:

1. Run:

   # tail -n0 -f /var/log/apache2/error_log

2. Refresh the website on which the error is happening on
3. Exit the tail command with CTRL+C and review the output