httpd failed - server restarting

I have my own VPS and I keep getting this error: httpd failed @ Sun Jan 13 21:41:08 2008. A restart was attempted automagically.

I don't know what's causing it, or why. It's happening more and more frequently and I'm getting downtime as a result.

Could someone help? Thanks.

 

Possibly the server is being overloaded by something ? What is the load on this VPS ?

You could log in via SSH and run either "top" or "ps" and watch for clues.

# top
# ps -aux

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Also check the system and Apache logs to see what causes this. The Apache error log can be found under /var/log/httpd or /usr/local/httpd/logs, depending on how the VPS is setup.

You can check the system messages with the dmesg command:

dmesg | less

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Thanks for the suggestions guys. However, while I was able to get some stats as a result of those commands, i'm unsure how to interpret them. The only thing I've ever used SSH for is making backups.

 

you may have done it already, if not make sure your apache config is free of errors
depending on your dist - on suse/novel linux and some other dists,

rcapache2 configtest
rcapache2 extreme-configtest

may do the tests of your apache2 configuration files

if you have a redhat related linux dist, then more likely you need the

apachectl configtest

 

Thanks... but as a said, I'm a bit new to this bit. I have no idea what that means.

 

these are copy and paste shell commands to test the server apache config when logged in remote server via SSH.
however you have to know at least what version of linux you have. since you own 3 sites and a server I guess that's easy to find out for you and accordingly you use one of the 2 shell command sets to test your apache config.

since you have
"Apache/1.3.39 Server at becomeanonymous.org"

you may have to search Google to see if your old version apache uses same or different syntax to test its configuration files.

my farewell recommendation to you:
you having 3 or more sites - may be its time to learn the very basics before you get any real traffic on any of your sites. later on when traffic starts you may have plenty of OTHER problems and hacker stuff / security breaches going on an no longer time to learn basics.

 

Thanks hans - I should have sticked with a managed server

 

the FIRST step before getting your own server would be to have linux installed in your own machine - including PHP, mysql and apache and all other stuff you want to have in your online site.
after a few years of doing so you may feel secure to switch to a dedicated server. It took me some 9 years of linux practice to make that final step in fall 2006. I am happy about my timing.

for you that means a serious option to reconsider is to move all sites BACK to a managed server ASAP. most hosts offering dedicated servers also offer managed.

BTW

depending on how MUCH traffic you really have and how sophisticated your site NOW is - you may even switch to a normal VPS - to switch to a dedicated ( managed or root ) server only makes sense if you want to be really sophisticated, or if you love to have full control ( control requires knowledge and experience first ) or if your traffic is HIGH - high means something more than 5000 uv/day all sites together OR if you NEED a machine all for yourself as a result of resources used ( CPU or RAM ) or special services offered denied in regular VPS.

on a dedicated server YOU have ONE hacker a day at least !!! are you in control of YOUR daily hack attempts ?? there is NO one but you in charge of that!

Good luck

 

Thanks again.

My situation is basically this; I was on shared hosting, but the host made me move to a VPS because I was eating up too many resources and whatnot. So I did. Everything basic like php/cpanle/apache is installed already, but it's unmanaged. This isn't literally a server that I own, but I'm paying hosting fees for.

 

so Ou are in a similar situation I have been with 1and1.com when they told me late 2006 that i use too much CPU resources despite the fact I only used some 2% of my package allowance in traffic. I had only some 6k-7k uv / day and some 45 GB traffic / month at that time.

may be another host may serve your needs for the coming 1-2 years allowing you to learn peacefully and prepare yourself for your own server ?

the one SW that caused the sudden increase in CPU usage was my newly installed but highly successful photo gallery2 ...

 

Check the apache error logs and search for the SIGTERM value, also check if there is any processeds running in the server that hog the server resources that can bring the services down.

(I would suggest you to have a server administrator to take a look into this problem, since you doesn't have much knowledge about server administration.)