How To Fix 500 Error: open_basedir Restriction on Your WordPress Site

If your WordPress site is showing a 500 Internal Server Error with an "open_basedir restriction in effect" message, you're in the right place. This guide will help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue quickly.

What is .user.ini?

The (dot)user.ini file is a configuration file used in PHP applications to set specific directives at the user level. It allows you to modify PHP settings for your application without affecting the global PHP configuration. This file is often used to customize settings like file upload limits, memory limits, and, in this case, path restrictions for file access.

Understanding Key Terms

• open_basedir: This directive limits the files that PHP can access to a specific directory and its subdirectories. If a script tries to access a file outside this directory, it will trigger an error.
• Internal Server Error (500): A generic error message indicating that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request.

Symptoms of the Issue

You might see the following error messages when trying to access your WordPress site:

2024-06-05 11:25:34 Warning 203.0.113.2 AH01071: Got error 'PHP message: PHP Warning: Unknown: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/var/www/vhosts/example.org/httpdocs/wordfence-waf.php) is not within the allowed path(s): (/var/www/vhosts/example_domain.com/:/tmp/) in Unknown on line 0; PHP message: PHP Warning: Unknown: Failed to open stream: Operation not permitted in Unknown on line 0; PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Failed opening required '/var/www/vhosts/example.org/httpdocs/wordfence-waf.php' (include_path='.:/opt/plesk/php/8.2/share/pear') in Unknown on line 0' Apache error

Additionally, the error log may show entries similar to the following:

2024-06-05 11:55:28 Error 203.0.113.2 500 GET / HTTP/1.0 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/125.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 745 Apache SSL/TLS access

Logical Troubleshooting Steps

1. Identify the Problematic .user.ini File

Check if the (dot)user.ini file in your website's document root is causing the issue. This file may contain paths that are not accessible due to the open_basedir restriction.

2. Log into Plesk

Start by logging into your Plesk control panel.

3. Access the Files Section

Navigate to:

• Domains
• Click on example_domain.com
• Select Dashboard
• Click on Files

4. Modify the (dot)user.ini File

Now, you have two options:

• • Rename (dot)user.ini to (dot)user.ini-bak to disable it. This allows you to check if the error resolves without the custom settings.
  • Open the (dot)user.ini file and change the line that specifies the auto_prepend_file directive. Update the path to the correct one for your domain:

auto_prepend_file = '/var/www/vhosts/example_domain.com/httpdocs/wordfence-waf.php'

5. Test Your Website

After making changes, try accessing your WordPress site again. The error should be resolved.

Best Practices

• Always back up your configuration files before making changes.
• Test changes in a development or staging environment if possible.
• Regularly review your error logs to catch issues early.

Disclaimer

Make sure to test these steps in a safe test environment first. Always refer to the latest Plesk documentation for updates or changes.