Web Server Outage incident report

Below is an incident report of a web-server outage that occurred on the 8th of August, 2023.

Issue Summary:

The issue started at around 12:17 pm GMT +1 and was totally resolved at 01:49 pm GMT +1 during this period the web server outage resulted in a 500 Internal Server Error, affecting 100% of users trying to access the WordPress website. The root cause of the outage was caused by a typographic error in the WordPress configuration file.

Timeline (All GMT +1):

12:17 pm: Issue Detected

• The web server outage was detected at 12:17 pm through automated monitoring alerts indicating a spike in 500 Internal Server Error responses.

12:23 pm: Issue Identification

• The incident response team was alerted by monitoring alerts and initiated an investigation.

Initial assumption

• A 500 error was considered potentially caused by recently installed software on the server

12:30 pm: Investigation and Debugging

• The network team conducted a preliminary analysis, checking for network anomalies and load distribution.
• The database team reviewed database performance logs for any abnormal activity.

1:07: Issue Escalation

• As initial efforts did not yield a solution, the incident was escalated to the Web Application team for further investigation.
• The Web Application team started reviewing web server logs and identified the typographic error in the WordPress configuration file.

1:49 pm: Issue Resolution

A Puppet configuration file was created to fix the typographic error.
The corrected configuration was deployed to the server, resolving the 500 Internal Server Error.
Normal service operations were restored, and verified through monitoring and user testing.

Root Cause:

The culprit behind this digital drama? A mischievous typo hiding in the WordPress configuration file, playing hide-and-seek with a vital database connection directive. The poor web server and the database engaged in a classic game of “Who’s On First?” — their miscommunication triggering the notorious 500 Internal Server Error. It’s like a tale of misadventures in the land of ones and zeros! 🕵️‍♂️🕵️‍♀️🤖

Resolution:

The issue was resolved by fixing the typographic error in the WordPress configuration file. This error disrupted the web server’s database communication, causing the 500 Internal Server Error. We created a new Puppet configuration file with the corrected spelling, thoroughly tested it, and deployed it. This restored the proper database connection and resolved the error.

Corrective and Preventative Measures:

Areas for Improvement/Fixing: The incident highlighted several areas where improvements can be made to enhance system reliability and prevent similar issues from occurring in the future:

1. Configuration Management: Strengthen processes for configuration review and validation to catch errors before deployment.
2. Deployment Procedures: Refine deployment procedures to ensure accurate and consistent updates across servers.
3. Testing Practices: Implement comprehensive testing, including edge cases, to identify configuration-related issues.
4. Documentation: Maintain up-to-date documentation of configuration settings and changes.

Specific Tasks to Address the Issue:

1. Review all configuration files for potential errors.
2. Correct any existing typos or discrepancies.
3. Implement version control for configuration files.
4. Conduct a review of deployment procedures for accuracy and consistency.
5. Implement automated deployment scripts with validation steps.
6. Maintain an updated repository of configuration documentation.
7. Document configuration changes, highlighting any deviations from standards.
8. Conduct training sessions to educate team members about configuration best practices.
9. Share lessons learned from this incident to raise awareness.
10. Implement automated error-handling mechanisms to provide users with informative messages during outages.