504 Gateway Timeout Error

Introduction

There is nothing more frustrating than starting a job, either opening a webpage or installing the software, you encounter a white screen or we can say an error. Where you don't know how to troubleshoot the error or to fix the error. All you know is the Error code without any specific cause of error.

These errors are responsible for the loss of revenue, loss of visitors and a bad reputation.

What is 504 Gateway timeout Error?

Before diving into the more details of what are the Causes of occurrence of 504 error. Let's first understand what is exactly 504 errors. A requirement for resources on a website results in the request being forwarded to the server on which site is hosted, this server processes the request and send back the response. In case of 504 Gateway timeout error, the server acting as a gateway timed out while waiting for resources from another server.

504 Gateway Timeout Error Variations

Due to a variety of browsers, operating systems, servers available, there can be many variations of 504 Gateway Timeout Error. They all have the same meaning only the syntax is different.

Here is the snapshot of how 504 error looks on Quora.

Below are just a few variations of 504 error code.

• 504 Gateway Timeout
• HTTP Error 504
• HTTP Error 504 Gateway Timeout
• Nginx 504 Gateway Timeout
• HTTP 504
• 504 Error
• Gateway Timeout(504)
• A blank white screen

What are the Causes and Fixes for 504 Gateway timeout Error?

From where you should start troubleshooting the error? Without prior understanding of the error, you will be caught in a vicious circle troubleshooting, looking here and there to find the cause of the error. Checkout the common Causes and Fixes for 504 Gateway Error.

Here, are few things that you can try:

1. Retry your webpage.
2. Restart all your network devices.
3. Check proxy server settings in your browser or application.
4. Change your DNS servers.
5. Contact your website directly.
6. If the above fixes don't help, below is the list of platform specific Causes and Fixes.

Fixes of 504 error for different platforms

We have constructed a list of Causes and Fixes for various platforms like-

1. Wordpress
2. Websites
3. Prestashop
4. Magento
5. Nginx

Wordpress

There is nothing more irritating in the world when your site displays a blank screen. 504 Bad Gateway Error is one such error. Today, we are going to discuss top 9 Causes and Fixes for 504 error.

S no.	Causes	Fixes
1	Client-side issues- a. The browser settings are not configured properly b. Network device issues. c. Incorrect proxy server settings in browser. d. Issues with VPN service e. ISP or local firewall issues	a. Try clearing the browser cache and reloading the Wordpress website b. Try to load from another browser or in incognito mode c. Restart the network devices d. Disable Local VPN service for browsing e. Try to use wordpress application from different location or network f. Clear the outdated DNS Cache g. Confirm that the browser's proxy server settings are correct
2	DNS Issues	Verify the domain's DNS settings and fix any resolution error.
3	Issues with CDN	Review the CDN Settings like DNS, Firewall, etc. and sort out the issues identified.
4	Corrupted Wordpress database	Use mysqlcheck to repair the corrupted database
5	Corrupted plugins or themes	a. deactivate all plugins associated with the Wordpress site. Reactivate each plugin one by one and isolate the faulty one. b. Try switching to default wordpress theme.
6	High load on origin server	identify the resource being abused, service which is abusing the resource, user who owns the software for abusing the service.
7	Insufficient proxy timeout values	Check the proxy and web servers timeout values and fine tune it to avoid timeout errors.
8	Firewall restrictions	Audit firewall blocks and remove unnecessary rules that hinder the connection to the server.
9	Slow web server/ Network connectivity issues	Optimize Web server and tweak server configuration parameters to improve the performance

Refer How to Fix 504 error in Wordpress for step by step guide on ways to fix 504 error.

Websites

One web server error that occurs in high traffic servers is 504 Gateway Timeout error. In web server setup like Nginx in the frontend and Apache in the backend, 504 error can occur when there is a delay in response from one server to another server. Checkout the various Causes and Fixes for 504 error.

S no.	Causes	Fixes
1	Browser errors	Bring web server to stable state.
2	DNS issues	Check DNS Settings and Fix resolution errors
3	Network connectivity	Detect network connectivity errors using tools like traceroute and try to resolve them.
4	Slow web server	Perform web server optimization and parameter tweaking to improve its speed
5	Firewall blocks	Ensure unwanted firewall blocks are not inhibiting the connections
6	Proxy server timeout	Increase timeout to adequate value to avoid timeout issues.

Refer How to Fix 504 error in Websites for step by step guide on ways to fix 504 error.

Prestashop

Website owners face this error while downloading and installing a new version of Prestashop. Today, we will discuss top 6 Causes and their Fixes for 504 error.

S no.	Causes	Fixes
1	Client-side issues- a. Improper browser settings or browser cache b. Temporary problems with the network devices such as modems, routers etc. c. Incorrect proxy settings in the browser or application d. Network issues at the ISP end.	a. Double check the browser settings and access application after clearing browser cache b. Try to load from another browser in incognito mode c. Restart network devices such as router, modem etc. and confirm they are configured correctly d. Review proxy settings used in the browser or user's application e. Check if there is any problem with their ISP.
2	Proxy timeout values	Tweak certain values in proxy or web server configuration file.
3	DNS Issue	Fix, if there is any DNS resolution error.If issue is on client-side, help client to clean local DNS Cache.
4	Server Issues	a. Remove or disable the abusive script. b. Upgrade resources on the server. c. Optimize web server in case of slow server, tweak it's configuration parameters to solve the problem
5	Issues with CDN	Review CDN Settings and correct the misconfiguration
6	Website Configuration issues	Repair corrupted database using mysqlcheck command

Refer How to Fix 504 error in Prestashop for step by step guide on ways to fix 504 error.

Magento

Mostly, 504 Gateway Timeout error in Magento occurs due to the following 2 reasons-

1. The firewall drop
2. The origin server is down

Let's discuss some scenarios in which this error occurs.

S no.	Causes	Fixes
1	Browser Cache	Clear browser cache and Magento cache
2	Exceeding PHP Limits	Increase PHP memory limits in the php.ini file.
3	Faulty firewall configurations	Disable firewall temporarily and then fix the firewall configuration.
4	DNS Issue	Check for any DNS Changes
5	High load on the server	Optimize the server to handle these visitors. This includes server configuration tweaking, adding server resources etc.
6	Locked session	Verify issue by opening the site in incognito mode.

Refer How to Fix 504 error in Magento for step by step guide on ways to fix 504 error.

Nginx

Nginx is an open-source, high performance HTTP web server. It is used for serving web pages, as a reverse proxy, caching, load balancing and more. Checkout Causes and Fixes for 504 error in Nginx.

S no.	Causes	Fixes
1	Error due to Timeout parameter	Increase timeout values in the timeout.conf file and restart the service
2	Nginx settings issue	Modify other Nginx settings like adding codes to nginx.conf file or if codes already present, simply increase the values.
3	Issues in PHP Settings	Modify the php settings in php.ini file
4	Nginx virtual host configuration settings	Modify Nginx virtual host configuration settings like adding FastCGI read timeout variable.

Refer How to Fix 504 error in Nginx for step by step guide on ways to fix 504 error.