AWS Lightsail and EC2 Instances Going Down Daily — WP Rocket Conflict

0

We are encountering a critical issue where our AWS Lightsail and EC2 instances go down daily. In most cases, we need to reboot the instances to make them live again. However, sometimes even a reboot does not resolve the issue, and we are forced to create a new instance from a snapshot because the original instance will not come back online.

Environment Details

  • Lightsail Instance: Instance Type: Bitnami WordPress Specs: 16 GB RAM, 4 vCPUs, 320 GB SSD Plugins: WP Rocket, WooCommerce (e-commerce site)

  • EC2 Instance: Instance Type: c5.2xlarge Control Panel: cPanel Specs: High-performance WordPress site with WP Rocket and WooCommerce

Observations: This issue started happening recently without any major changes to the environment. We created a new Lightsail instance with WP Rocket deactivated, and the issue has not recurred on this instance so far. Resource usage during the downtime did not show any unusual spikes. The server specs seem adequate for our current traffic and workload.

Issue Summary: Instances go down daily. Sometimes, a reboot temporarily resolves the issue. In some cases, the instance fails to recover, and we must create a new instance from a snapshot.

Disabling WP Rocket seems to stabilize the Lightsail instance, leading us to suspect a potential conflict or resource usage issue.

Questions:

What steps can we take to debug and identify the root cause of this downtime? Could WP Rocket be causing this issue? If so, how can we investigate or mitigate it? Are there any known compatibility issues with WP Rocket and the following setups? Lightsail (Bitnami WordPress) EC2 (cPanel WordPress) Could this issue be related to resource exhaustion, configuration conflicts, or something else entirely?

asked a month ago35 views
1 Answer
0

Based on the information provided, it appears that your AWS Lightsail and EC2 instances are experiencing frequent downtime, potentially related to the WP Rocket plugin. To address this issue, here are some steps you can take to debug and identify the root cause:

  1. Monitor CPU utilization: Both Lightsail and EC2 instances have CPU utilization metrics. Check if your instances are frequently operating in the burstable zone, which could indicate resource exhaustion. Set up metric alarms to be notified when CPU utilization crosses from the sustainable zone to the bursting zone.

  2. Analyze server logs: Review your server logs, particularly error logs and access logs, to identify any patterns or errors that occur before the instances go down.

  3. Investigate WP Rocket configuration: Since disabling WP Rocket seems to stabilize the Lightsail instance, it's possible that certain WP Rocket settings are causing conflicts. Review your WP Rocket configuration, particularly caching and optimization settings, to ensure they are compatible with your server setup.

  4. Check for plugin conflicts: Disable all plugins except WP Rocket and WooCommerce, then re-enable them one by one to identify if any other plugins are conflicting with WP Rocket.

  5. Monitor resource usage: Use tools like 'top' for Linux/Unix instances or Task Manager for Windows Server instances to determine which services or processes are consuming the most resources.

  6. Test with different WP Rocket versions: Try downgrading or upgrading WP Rocket to see if the issue persists with different versions.

  7. Consult WP Rocket support: Reach out to WP Rocket's support team with your findings to see if they have any known issues or recommendations for your specific setup.

While there are no widely reported compatibility issues between WP Rocket and Lightsail (Bitnami WordPress) or EC2 (cPanel WordPress), individual configurations can sometimes cause conflicts. The issue could be related to resource exhaustion, particularly if WP Rocket's caching mechanisms are not optimized for your specific server setup.

If you continue to experience issues after investigating these areas, consider creating a snapshot of your instance and then upgrading to a larger instance plan. This will provide more processing power and could mitigate any potential resource constraints.

Remember to always backup your data before making significant changes to your instances or configurations.
Sources
Instances - Amazon Lightsail
Troubleshoot high CPU utilization for your Lightsail instance - Amazon Lightsail
Identify when your Lightsail instance bursts - Amazon Lightsail

profile picture
answered a month ago
profile picture
EXPERT
reviewed a month ago

You are not logged in. Log in to post an answer.

A good answer clearly answers the question and provides constructive feedback and encourages professional growth in the question asker.

Guidelines for Answering Questions