Common Issues

This guide covers the most frequently encountered problems when managing BMLT and YAP installations, with step-by-step solutions.

Website Not Loading

Symptoms

Browser shows "This site can't be reached"
Connection timeout errors
Server not responding

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check Apache Status:

sudo systemctl status apache2

2. Test Web Server Response:

# Test locally
curl -I http://localhost

# Test with your domain/IP
curl -I http://your-domain.com

3. Check Apache Error Log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Common Solutions

Apache Not Running:

# Start Apache
sudo systemctl start apache2

# Enable auto-start
sudo systemctl enable apache2

# Check why it failed
sudo systemctl status apache2 -l
sudo journalctl -u apache2 -f

Apache Configuration Error:

# Test configuration
sudo apache2ctl configtest

# Common fix for syntax errors
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/your-domain.com.conf

# Reload after fixing
sudo systemctl reload apache2

Port 80/443 Blocked:

# Check if ports are listening
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep -E ':80|:443'

# Check firewall
sudo ufw status

# Allow HTTP/HTTPS if blocked
sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full'

Database Connection Errors

Symptoms

BMLT shows "Database connection failed"
White screen with PHP database errors
YAP unable to connect to database

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check MySQL Status:

sudo systemctl status mysql

2. Test Database Connection:

# Test as root
sudo mysql

# Test as BMLT user
mysql -u bmlt -p

# Test specific database
mysql -u bmlt -p bmlt

3. Check Error Logs:

sudo tail -f /var/log/mysql/error.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Common Solutions

MySQL Not Running:

# Start MySQL
sudo systemctl start mysql

# Enable auto-start
sudo systemctl enable mysql

# Check for startup errors
sudo journalctl -u mysql -f

Wrong Database Credentials:

# Check BMLT configuration
sudo grep -E "(username|password)" /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

# Check YAP configuration  
sudo grep -E "mysql_" /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/config.php

# Reset database user password
sudo mysql
ALTER USER 'bmlt'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Database Doesn't Exist:

# Check existing databases
sudo mysql -e "SHOW DATABASES;"

# Recreate database if missing
sudo mysql -e "CREATE DATABASE bmlt;"
sudo mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON bmlt.* TO 'bmlt'@'localhost';"

SSL Certificate Issues

Symptoms

SSL certificate warnings in browser
"Connection not secure" messages
SSL certificate expired errors

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check Certificate Status:

# View certificate details
sudo certbot certificates

# Check expiration
openssl x509 -in /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/fullchain.pem -noout -dates

# Test SSL connection
curl -I https://your-domain.com

2. Check Apache SSL Configuration:

# View SSL virtual host
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/your-domain.com-le-ssl.conf

# Check if SSL module is enabled
sudo a2enmod ssl

Common Solutions

Certificate Expired:

# Renew certificate
sudo certbot renew

# Force renewal
sudo certbot renew --force-renewal

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Certificate Not Found:

# Request new certificate
sudo certbot --apache -d your-domain.com

# Check certificate files exist
ls -la /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/

Mixed Content Warnings:

# Find HTTP links in HTTPS pages
grep -r "http://" /var/www/your-domain.com/

# Update configuration files to use HTTPS
sudo sed -i 's/http:\/\/your-domain.com/https:\/\/your-domain.com/g' /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

BMLT Admin Access Issues

Symptoms

Cannot log into BMLT admin
"Invalid credentials" errors
Admin interface not loading

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check BMLT Logs:

sudo tail -f /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server/storage/logs/laravel.log

2. Test Admin URL:

curl -I https://your-domain.com/main_server/admin

3. Check File Permissions:

ls -la /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server/
ls -la /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

Common Solutions

Forgot Admin Password:

# Connect to BMLT database
sudo mysql bmlt

# Find admin user
SELECT * FROM bmlt_comdef_users WHERE user_level_tinyint = 1;

# Reset password (replace with actual user ID and new password hash)
UPDATE bmlt_comdef_users SET password_string = MD5('new_password') WHERE id_bigint = 1;

Permission Errors:

# Fix file ownership
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server

# Fix directory permissions
sudo find /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

# Fix file permissions
sudo find /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Secure config file
sudo chmod 600 /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

Configuration File Issues:

# Check if config file exists
ls -la /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

# Verify PHP syntax
php -l /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

# Check configuration values
sudo grep -v password /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

YAP Phone System Issues

Symptoms

YAP not answering calls
Calls dropping immediately
SMS not working

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check YAP Logs:

sudo tail -f /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/storage/logs/laravel.log

2. Test Twilio Webhook:

curl -X POST https://your-domain.com/yap/index.php

3. Check YAP Configuration:

sudo grep -E "(twilio|bmlt)" /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/config.php

Common Solutions

Twilio Webhook Issues:

# Verify YAP is accessible
curl -I https://your-domain.com/yap/

# Check Twilio webhook URLs in console
# Voice: https://your-domain.com/yap/index.php
# SMS: https://your-domain.com/yap/sms-gateway.php

# Test webhook response
curl -X POST -d "CallSid=test" https://your-domain.com/yap/index.php

YAP Configuration Problems:

# Verify YAP config syntax
php -l /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/config.php

# Test BMLT connection from YAP
curl https://your-domain.com/main_server/client_interface/json/?switcher=GetServerInfo

# Check Twilio credentials
# (Don't expose actual credentials in logs)

Database Connection Issues:

# Test YAP database connection
mysql -u yap -p -e "SELECT 1;"

# Check YAP database tables
mysql -u yap -p yap -e "SHOW TABLES;"

Performance Issues

Symptoms

Slow page loading times
Server timeouts
High memory/CPU usage

Diagnosis Steps

1. Monitor System Resources:

# Check current resource usage
htop

# Memory usage
free -h

# Disk usage
df -h

# Check system load
uptime

2. Check Process Usage:

# Top memory consumers
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head

# Top CPU consumers  
ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head

# Apache process count
ps aux | grep apache2 | wc -l

3. Check Logs for Errors:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/mysql/error.log
sudo dmesg | tail

Common Solutions

High Memory Usage:

# Restart Apache to free memory
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Optimize MySQL configuration
sudo nano /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

# Add memory optimizations
[mysqld]
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M
query_cache_size = 64M
query_cache_limit = 2M

# Restart MySQL
sudo systemctl restart mysql

Slow Database Queries:

# Enable slow query log
sudo nano /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

# Add slow query logging
[mysqld]
slow_query_log = 1
slow_query_log_file = /var/log/mysql/slow.log
long_query_time = 2

# Check slow queries
sudo tail -f /var/log/mysql/slow.log

Apache Performance:

# Optimize Apache for lower memory usage
sudo nano /etc/apache2/mods-available/mpm_prefork.conf

<IfModule mpm_prefork_module>
    StartServers          2
    MinSpareServers       2
    MaxSpareServers       5
    MaxRequestWorkers     20
    MaxConnectionsPerChild   1000
</IfModule>

# Enable compression
sudo a2enmod deflate
sudo systemctl restart apache2

File Permission Issues

Symptoms

"Permission denied" errors
Cannot write to files
403 Forbidden errors

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check File Ownership:

ls -la /var/www/your-domain.com/
ls -la /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server/

2. Check Apache Error Log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Common Solutions

Fix Web Directory Permissions:

# Set correct ownership
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your-domain.com

# Set directory permissions
sudo find /var/www/your-domain.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

# Set file permissions
sudo find /var/www/your-domain.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# Make sure Apache can read configuration
sudo chmod 600 /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php
sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

Fix Log Directory Permissions:

# BMLT logs
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server/storage/logs/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/your-domain.com/main_server/storage/logs/

# YAP logs
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/storage/logs/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/storage/logs/

PHP Errors

Symptoms

White screen (WSOD)
PHP error messages
500 Internal Server Error

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check PHP Error Log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

2. Test PHP Configuration:

# Check PHP version
php --version

# Test PHP configuration
php -l /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php

# Check PHP modules
php -m | grep -E "(mysql|curl|gd)"

Common Solutions

Missing PHP Extensions:

# Install missing extensions
sudo apt install php-mysql php-curl php-gd php-zip php-mbstring php-xml

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

PHP Configuration Issues:

# Check PHP configuration file
sudo nano /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini

# Common fixes
memory_limit = 256M
max_execution_time = 300
post_max_size = 64M
upload_max_filesize = 64M

# Restart Apache after changes
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Syntax Errors:

# Check file syntax
php -l /var/www/your-domain.com/auto-config.inc.php
php -l /var/www/your-domain.com/yap/config.php

# Fix common issues (missing semicolons, quotes, etc.)

Disk Space Issues

Symptoms

"No space left on device" errors
Cannot create files
System running slowly

Diagnosis Steps

1. Check Disk Usage:

# Overall disk usage
df -h

# Directory usage
du -sh /var/*

# Find large files
find /var -size +100M -type f 2>/dev/null

2. Check Log File Sizes:

ls -lah /var/log/apache2/
ls -lah /var/log/mysql/

Common Solutions

Clean Up Log Files:

# Truncate large log files (be careful!)
sudo truncate -s 0 /var/log/apache2/access.log
sudo truncate -s 0 /var/log/apache2/error.log

# Clean system logs
sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=100M

# Set up log rotation
sudo nano /etc/logrotate.d/bmlt-logs

Clean Package Cache:

sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt autoclean
sudo apt clean

Remove Old Backups:

# Clean old database backups
find /var/backups -name "*.gz" -mtime +30 -delete

# Clean temporary files
sudo rm -rf /tmp/*

Network Connectivity Issues

Symptoms

External API calls failing
Cannot download updates
SSL certificate renewal failing

Diagnosis Steps

1. Test Internet Connectivity:

# Test DNS resolution
nslookup google.com

# Test external connectivity
ping -c 4 8.8.8.8

# Test HTTPS connectivity
curl -I https://github.com

2. Check Firewall Rules:

# Check UFW status
sudo ufw status

# Check iptables rules
sudo iptables -L

Common Solutions

DNS Resolution Issues:

# Check DNS configuration
cat /etc/resolv.conf

# Test with different DNS
echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf

# Restart networking
sudo systemctl restart systemd-resolved

Firewall Blocking Outbound:

# Allow outbound HTTPS
sudo ufw allow out 443

# Allow outbound HTTP
sudo ufw allow out 80

# Allow DNS
sudo ufw allow out 53

Emergency Recovery Procedures

System Won't Boot

1. Boot from recovery mode 2. Check disk space:

df -h

3. Check system logs:

journalctl -b -1

4. Repair file system:

fsck /dev/sda1

Database Corruption

1. Stop services:

sudo systemctl stop apache2 mysql

2. Repair MySQL:

sudo mysqld --repair

3. Restore from backup:

sudo mysql bmlt < /var/backups/bmlt/latest-backup.sql

Complete System Recovery

1. Restore from server snapshot (if available) 2. Reinstall from scratch using backup data 3. Follow installation procedures with restored configuration

Prevention Best Practices

Regular Maintenance

# Weekly system updates
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Monthly log cleanup
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=30d

# Regular backup verification
/usr/local/bin/verify-backups.sh

Monitoring Setup

# Set up disk space monitoring
echo "df -h | awk 'NR>1 && \$5 > \"90%\" {print \$0}'" > /usr/local/bin/disk-check.sh
echo "0 */6 * * * /usr/local/bin/disk-check.sh" | sudo crontab -

Documentation

Keep installation notes updated
Document any custom configurations
Maintain contact information for support
Record all passwords in secure location

Prevention is Key

Most issues can be prevented with regular maintenance, monitoring, and keeping systems updated. Establish a routine maintenance schedule.

Emergency Contacts

Always have a plan for emergency support, including contact information for your hosting provider and any technical consultants.

Website Not Loading​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

Database Connection Errors​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

SSL Certificate Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

BMLT Admin Access Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

YAP Phone System Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

Performance Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

File Permission Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

PHP Errors​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

Disk Space Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

Network Connectivity Issues​

Symptoms​

Diagnosis Steps​

Common Solutions​

Emergency Recovery Procedures​

System Won't Boot​

Database Corruption​

Complete System Recovery​

Prevention Best Practices​

Regular Maintenance​

Monitoring Setup​

Documentation​

Website Not Loading

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

Database Connection Errors

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

SSL Certificate Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

BMLT Admin Access Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

YAP Phone System Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

Performance Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

File Permission Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

PHP Errors

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

Disk Space Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

Network Connectivity Issues

Symptoms

Diagnosis Steps

Common Solutions

Emergency Recovery Procedures

System Won't Boot

Database Corruption

Complete System Recovery

Prevention Best Practices

Regular Maintenance

Monitoring Setup

Documentation