Brand new CentOS 6.5 server running Plesk 12.0.18 crashing ramdomly

[Matt Grant]

I have a brand new A8i server from 1&1 that has crashed twice today and could only be rebooted through the 1&1 control panel (not Plesk). Out of the blue the server is not accessible from the Plesk CP and is not responding to pings. I have looked through the logs and do not see anything that stands out (I am not very Linux savvy). Is there somewhere specific that I can look that would tell me why it is locking up/crashing? I have only had the server about 2 weeks and am only running email on it (no websites besides webmail and Plesk CP). It is possible that there is a hardware issue, but I cannot have 1&1 check it until after hours tonight.

Server is an 8 core Intel Atom 2.6GHz with 8GB RAM.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jamin]

If it is not responding to pings most likely hardware related. So I have it right from info you provided. It is a server not a VPS or Container? Also when you say server is not accessible from Plesk does this mean you can't get to Plesk at that time or does it mean you can get to Plesk? (Sorry just not 100% clear). If it is a server do you have some sort of out of band management?

 

[Matt Grant]

This is a dedicated server and it does has OOB access. The server is unreachable by SSH and using the web based Plesk control panel. The only way I have been able to reboot it is to use 1&1's customer control panel. Is there some sort of log that will give show me any type of hardware errors?

If it is not responding to pings most likely hardware related. So I have it right from info you provided. It is a server not a VPS or Container? Also when you say server is not accessible from Plesk does this mean you can't get to Plesk at that time or does it mean you can get to Plesk? (Sorry just not 100% clear). If it is a server do you have some sort of out of band management?

 

[jamin]

There are lots of log entries that can be found, here is a link to log info, may vary a bit depending on Linux version i.e CentOS/Debian but all are very similar. http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/08/linux-var-log-files/

Hope this helps.

 

[UFHH01]

Plesk provides a static site for Linux - log/configuration - files at : Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux services logs and configuration files ( KB article 111283 ) ( last modified: Aug 12, 2014 )

 

[Matt Grant]

Me again...

This crash seems to be happening every 7-8 days and is driving me nuts! Can anyone tell me where to look to find out what is causing this? There has to be some place on the server that will give me some sort of information as to why the server becomes un-responsive. One common thing I notice is that once I reboot the server via the 1&1 CP, the date on the clock switches back to EST instead of PST. The server is physically in EST, but my clients are in PST, so I set the server date/time to PST.

I have literally looked at every log I was told to and I cannot find any errors, or maybe I don't know what an error looks like? All the logs I see only have information since the last boot and I do not see anything that would give me a clue as to why it is crashing, locking up. If this was Windows all I would need to do is look at the event viewer. I have tailed every single log that is referenced on this page http://kb.odin.com/111283 and I see no errors!

This is a 3 week old server and I am at my wit's end!!!! Please Help!!!!

 

[isp4p]

Hi,

first of all, this does not sound like a Plesk problem.

So you should better post this at a forum for general administration help.

In general you can install systools like munin to watch over your server so may be you can see a system when/where/why its crashing down.

Also in /var/log/ you will find all kind of logs, which will not help you, if you dont have enough experience with linux. In general in /var/log/messages you will see a lot.
Also you can run "dmesg" to check some kernel stuff.

But your very first step, if this is happening again and again, and its a brand new install, you should check if the hardware is ok.

So check smart and check memtest to verify the hdd/cpu/ram.

If this all is not helping / showing anything, you should contact 1&1 with that problem. They are your provider, and its their problem to satisfy you.

Again, the Pleskforum is not the right place for your issue since this problem is most probably not plesk related.

Good luck !

Greetings
Oliver

 

[Joel_Jn-Francois]

Matt, did you get this problem resolved? I have the exact issue with 3 1&1 dedicated servers. They would just come unresponsive for no reason. No SSH, No Ping, No access. Only way to reboot is from 1&1 control panel. The issue started happening over a year ago. 1&1 support tried everything. Tested hardware: memory, disk drive and came back with no issues. Besides, all 3 servers could not all be encountering the same hardware failure all at once. The problem is intermittent, no set pattern. Can happen 3 or 4 times a day or once a week and can go almost a month without any issues. The only common software running on all 3 machines is Plesk 12.0.18 and openSuse 13.1. 1&1 has given up on the issue, they said, once its NOT hardware its no longer their problem. The logs have nothing useful regarding the issue. I have just resorted to having to reboot the machine whenever it happens. I am running openSuse 13.1 and thought that could have been the issue, but you said you are using CentOS so we can rule OS out. Unless it has to do with the Linux kernel. I also have a 4th dedicated server running Plesk 11.0.9 and opensuse 12.1 which does not seem to have this problem. I know this might not be a Plesk problem, but it can be at the same time. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Matt Grant]

I could not figure it out and just migrated to a new server and have not had the issue since. I wish I had some better information for you to fix your issue.

Matt, did you get this problem resolved? I have the exact issue with 3 1&1 dedicated servers. They would just come unresponsive for no reason. No SSH, No Ping, No access. Only way to reboot is from 1&1 control panel. The issue started happening over a year ago. 1&1 support tried everything. Tested hardware: memory, disk drive and came back with no issues. Besides, all 3 servers could not all be encountering the same hardware failure all at once. The problem is intermittent, no set pattern. Can happen 3 or 4 times a day or once a week and can go almost a month without any issues. The only common software running on all 3 machines is Plesk 12.0.18 and openSuse 13.1. 1&1 has given up on the issue, they said, once its NOT hardware its no longer their problem. The logs have nothing useful regarding the issue. I have just resorted to having to reboot the machine whenever it happens. I am running openSuse 13.1 and thought that could have been the issue, but you said you are using CentOS so we can rule OS out. Unless it has to do with the Linux kernel. I also have a 4th dedicated server running Plesk 11.0.9 and opensuse 12.1 which does not seem to have this problem. I know this might not be a Plesk problem, but it can be at the same time. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!