Website is down: first steps

Quick answer: Work outside-in: confirm the site is really down for everyone, check that the domain resolves to the right IP, verify the server is up, then check the web server and its error logs. Most outages are one of those four layers, and each takes about a minute to test.

Overview

A "down" website has many possible causes — DNS, the server, the web server process, the application or just your own connection. Testing in a fixed order stops you from fixing the wrong layer.

Before you start

• Your domain name and the server IP from the Client Area.
• SSH access, or the KVM Console as a fallback.

Step-by-step guide

1. Check from a second network (mobile data) or an online availability checker — if the site loads elsewhere, the problem is local to you.
2. Confirm DNS:

   dig +short yourdomain.com

   The answer must be your server IP. If not, see Domain does not resolve.
3. Confirm the server responds:

   ping -c 3 YOUR_SERVER_IP
   curl -I http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/

   If the server itself is dead, switch to My VPS is not responding.
4. On the server, check the web server and app:

   systemctl status nginx
   systemctl status php8.3-fpm
   sudo tail -n 50 /var/log/nginx/error.log

5. Match the symptom to the fix: HTTP 500 → 500 error, 502 → 502 Bad Gateway, certificate warning → SSL certificate error.

Common issues

• Expired domain: the site "disappears" globally — check the registrar first.
• Full disk: services crash in unusual ways — see Server is out of disk space.
• Recent change: a deploy, plugin update or config edit right before the outage is the prime suspect.

When to contact support

If the server is unreachable and the Client Area shows it as running, or you suspect a network problem on the Cloud2Y side, open a ticket with your findings from steps 1–4 — that shortens diagnosis dramatically.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if the site is down for everyone or just me?

Test from a second network such as mobile data, or use an online availability checker. If the site loads elsewhere, the problem is your local connection, DNS cache or provider, not the server.

The server pings but the site does not load — what does that mean?

The machine is up but the web server or application layer is failing. Check nginx or Apache status and the error logs; an HTTP status code like 500 or 502 narrows the cause immediately.

Related articles

• Website shows 500 error
• Domain does not resolve
• My VPS is not responding
• How to restore a website from backup

Need a hand? Contact Cloud2Y support →