Topic: Apache shutdown unexpected quite often on page load

[chrisiwien]

Hello,

I am facing frequently unexpected shutdowns of Apache for Windows - and freezing during the page loading process. I am using Apache loaded via XAMPP using:

Apache/2.4.56 (Win64) PHP/8.1.21 configured -- resuming normal operations
Apache Lounge VS16 Server built: Mar 7 2023 13:21:03

The problem occurs frequently (quite often) if i reload the WordPress-Admin of one of my locally installed development websites.

I don't know what to do to solve this problem.

errog.log saying things like this:

AH00098: pid file C:/Services/xampp/apache/logs/httpd.pid overwritten -- Unclean shutdown of previous

[pid 24512:tid 444] (OS 109)Die Pipe wurde beendet. : AH00404: Child: Unable to read socket data from parent

I tryed to change the values of the mpm_winnt_module like this, but that doesn't help:

<IfModule mpm_winnt_module>
ThreadStackSize 8888888
ThreadsPerChild 1920
MaxConnectionsPerChild 550
</IfModule>

My computer is rather powerful, Intel i9-12900H with 64 GB RAM, so there should be no resource problems.

One thing i have to say: there is a known problem with calling local websites via "localhost", that is taking in Windows extra time, because localhost gets also resolved via DNS first. Could be that related to the problem? Actually i am calling my local development websites like this: http://localhost/website.

Possibly relevant php values:
upload_max_filesize = 500M
max_file_uploads = 20
post_max_size = 500M

[James Blond]

Is there anything in your Windows event log about this?

Since you mention it happens during a PHP page reload, I recommend using PHP over fcgid.

There is a tutorial for this https://www.apachelounge.com/viewtopic.php?t=2394

If you still have a question, please ask again.

[chrisiwien]

Thanks for the answer. Actually I didn't meant a "PHP reload". Reloading the WP-Admin page - which happens also if you simply navigate in WP-Admin - causes heavy PHP operations.

Thanks for the hint and the link regarding PHP over fcgid, i will dig into this.

I will also check the Windows event log, when this problem occurs again (and it will...).

I will return then to the forum and post the progress.

[chrisiwien]

Hm, in the Windows Event Viewer theres nothing at all. No error, no hint regarding this problem.

BUT i have discovered: my access.log file was 600 MB big... deleted it an restarted the Apache Server.

It seems to be better now, but i will observe this further. I guess i have to setup some kind of log rotation...

[chrisiwien]

I cant figure it out to get fcgid running. Since I run Apache via XAMPP, theres an error message after Loading mod_fcgid.so and setting the parameters in httpd-conf:

"Something is wrong with the XAMPP installation " - not at all helpfull.

No relevant entry in the error log. I have disabled the loading of PHP as an Apache mod.

httpd -M doesn't show fcgid as loaded.

I don't know how to solve this problem. Maybe its just Windows related, and processes are handled in Windows.

[chrisiwien]

Update: I have further tried to get fcgid running on Apache/XAMPP, now with success. Now, httpd -M shows, that fcgid is also loaded.

I followed the instructions there:
http://www.smandamlg.com/dashboard/docs/use-php-fcgi.html

I will watch the performance now.

Thanks for your help.

[chrisiwien]

Update: first, it seems to work.

Now, also page freezes happens. In the Windows Task manager there are many php CGI processes open.

If I hit "save" in WordPress, the save process seems to work, but is not actually performed.

fcgid seems more unstable then php as a module.

Deactivated fcgid, and will search for another solution.