Issues with website speed on AlmaLinux 8

KWH

• October 21, 2025 10:19
• Edited

I have a client that is in the process of migrating from Centos 7 to AlmaLinux 8. We have a staging site set up on the AlmaLinux server, but it's page load speed is about 10 seconds slower than the same website on Centos 7. 

Key differences are:

Old server: Centos 7, 32GB RAM and 8 core, MySQL database

New server: AlmaLinux 8, 64GB RAM, 16 core, MariaDB database

I'm no expert in servers, can anyone suggest where to look for the cause of the slow-down, please? 

• 

  William Del Piero cPanel Staff

  • October 21, 2025 13:12

  Hi,

   

  If your staging site is using PHP-FPM as the PHP handler, it's worth checking whether the max_children limit is being reached, as this can lead to performance issues. You can review the PHP-FPM error logs at the following location:

   

  /opt/cpanel/ea-phpXX/root/usr/var/log/php-fpm/error.log

  Note: replace ea-phpXX with the PHP version in-use such as ea-php82

   

  In addition, I recommend reviewing the Apache error log at:

   /etc/apache2/logs/error_log 

   

  Resource limits within Apache can also contribute to performance degradation. Lastly, it's a good idea to verify that the server isn't under high load, as that can significantly impact performance. If needed, we have a helpful article that explains how to determine whether your server is experiencing high load:

  What load average is considered high?

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• 

  KWH

  • October 21, 2025 15:27

  Thanks for this, I think you might have hit the nail on the head. I will check the error logs, as you suggest, bit in this first instance I have disabled PHP-FPM and the staging site on AlmaLinux is now loading at the same sort of speeds as the live site on Centos 7. The live site is using PHP-FPM, so perhaps limits and settings need adjusting on the AlmaLinux server.

  Someone also suggested checking the InnoDB buffer pool, which I remember was increased on the live site/Centos 7 some years ago. 

  Thanks for your advice! 

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• 

  KWH

  • October 23, 2025 10:29

  So, today I have found that the website is back crawling. I've realised that if I switched from PHP83 to PHP84 the site is super fast for about 5-10 minutes then is back to crawling again. If I switch PHP-FPM on it does the same. If I switch it off it does the same. If I switch back to PHP83 it does the same. The performance is hugely improved with ANY change, then goes back to taking between 9 and 60 seconds to load a page. So I am back to square one, sadly!

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• 

  William Del Piero cPanel Staff

  • October 23, 2025 13:35

  Hi,

   

  Since the site is functioning properly on the original server, have you tried fully mirroring the setup—such as matching the PHP version and PHP handler—to see if that improves performance on the new server? 

   

  If you've already attempted this and the issue persists, I recommend opening a ticket so the issue can be looked at closer with access to the server.

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