A quick check beats a surprise outage. This minimal checklist helps you confirm the stack is healthy after changes or on a schedule.
What to check
- Apache running
- PHP-FPM running
- Disk usage trending (not full)
- No failed systemd units
Commands
- Apache:
systemctl status apache2 --no-pager - PHP-FPM:
systemctl status php*-fpm --no-pager - Failed units:
systemctl --failed --no-pager - Disk:
df -h
FAQ
How often should I run this?
After any change (upgrade, config edit, deploy) and on a regular schedule (e.g. daily or weekly) if you don’t have automated monitoring. Pair with APT maintenance after updates.
Something’s failed—what next?
Use WordPress 500 triage to see if it’s Apache, PHP-FPM, or WordPress. Check logs (Apache error log, PHP-FPM, and optionally WordPress debug log) for the failure time and path.
Related
- APT maintenance for Ubuntu WordPress servers — update and cleanup routine
- WordPress 500 errors: fast triage — when something’s wrong