We have received occasional results of an internal server error occurring only when attempting to create a backup with the Backup Manager. In nearly all cases, we have traced this to a memory or CPU processing limit on the server. As the Backup Manager is typically attempting to create a backup that is many megabytes in size, some servers cut off the process before it can complete, resulting in an Internal Server Error.

Hint #1: Large log of administration actions

The error may also occur if you have one or more particularly large files that cannot be stored in the available memory of the server. Commonly, the file "admin-actionlog.txt" in the "msg_index" directory is one such large file. Quoting from the version 3.1 administration instructions from Options Manager with emphasis added:

If enabled, Discus will log all actions of board moderators who have logged in to the administration program. The log is created as the file "admin-actionlog.txt" in the msg_index directory. The file is tab-delimited and lists the username, remote address, time, script name, and form parameters that are sent. This log is updated every time a moderator performs an administrative action through a web browser. Passwords are not recorded in this log file. You are cautioned that currently this file is not automatically rotated and it can grow to be very large if you or other moderators regularly access administration. The log analysis tools in future versions of Discus may be able to analyze this log and allow you to search by moderator, action, or time.

If you do not intend to analyze this file yourself, and you have the "Administration: Log actions of board moderators" option checked in Options Manager, we recommend that you delete the "admin-actionlog.txt" file and you un-check that Options Manager option. Thus far, almost 100% of all such backup manager problem reports have been solved by doing this.

Note that the Backup Manager does not attempt to re-backup the backup files it has already created. Thus, you do not need to be concerned about large files in your "backups" directory causing this problem.

Hint #2: Check server error log

DiscusWare can provide further assistance for this problem only if the problem is with the Discus code. To see whether or not this is the case, access your server's error log and see what error message is associated with your attempt to create a backup.

If you see "Out of Memory!" recorded in the server's error log, please consult our documentation on Out of Memory error. You can find a useful test script there to determine how much memory your server makes available to CGI processes.

If you see any other error, especially an error that would indicate a problem with the Perl code, please send the relevant entries from the server's error log to DiscusWare's support division for analysis.