Why Is My PHP File Returning a 500 Error While My HTML File Works?

500 Internal Server Error with PHP but Not HTML: Diagnosing the Underlying Issue

You've encountered a common issue where an internal server error (500) is displayed for a PHP file, while an HTML file works without any trouble. Let's delve into the potential causes and provide a solution to resolve this error.

The 500 Internal Server Error indicates that there are fatal errors within your PHP code, but the display of these errors is turned off on your server. To uncover the underlying issue, you can implement the following steps:

Displaying PHP Errors

In your PHP file, add the following code at the beginning:

ini_set('display_errors', 1);

This code enables the display of PHP errors, allowing you to see the actual error messages being thrown.

Editing .htaccess

Open your .htaccess file and add the following line:

php_flag display_errors 1

This setting in the .htaccess file instructs the server to display PHP errors regardless of the global settings.

Interpreting Error Messages

Once you enable error display, you will be able to see the detailed PHP errors in your server logs or on the webpage itself. These errors may provide insight into the issue causing the 500 error.

Resolving the Issue

The displayed errors will guide you in identifying the specific problems within your PHP code. Once you understand the cause, you can make necessary corrections to your code and reload the page to verify that the error has been resolved.

The above is the detailed content of Why Is My PHP File Returning a 500 Error While My HTML File Works?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!