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Updating Panel Troubleshooting

Pterodactyl Panel Troubleshooting Guide

Introduction

This document outlines common issues encountered after updating Pterodactyl Panel and provides step-by-step solutions for diagnosing and fixing these problems. The guide is based on a real troubleshooting session where a Pterodactyl panel stopped loading after an update.

Following the instructions in these pages should work most times.
https://pterodactyl.io/panel/1.0/updating.html
https://pterodactyl.io/guides/php_upgrade.html

Blueprint docs if needed:
https://blueprint.zip/docs/?page=getting-started/Installation

Replace favicons in "/var/www/pterodactyl/public/favicons" with the ones found here https://mirror.fullbuff.gg/resources/favicons/

Common Issues After Pterodactyl Updates

1. Panel Fails to Load

The panel may fail to load after an update due to several possible causes:

  • Missing PHP extensions
  • PHP version mismatch
  • Web server configuration issues
  • Database connection problems
  • Permission issues
  • Maintenance mode not disabled
  • Cache issues

2. Web Server Conflicts

One specific issue we encountered was having both Apache and NGINX trying to use port 80 simultaneously.

Diagnostic Steps

1. Check Panel Logs

First, examine the panel logs to identify specific errors:

tail -n 100 /var/www/pterodactyl/storage/logs/laravel-$(date +%F).log

Common error messages you might see:

  • "could not find driver" (MySQL connection issue)
  • "Class 'DOMDocument' not found" (Missing PHP XML extension)
  • Database connection errors

2. Check Web Server Status

Verify that your web server is running:

systemctl status nginx
# or
systemctl status apache2

If you see errors like "bind() to 0.0.0.0:80 failed", it means something else is using port 80.

3. Check What's Using Port 80

To identify services using port 80:

lsof -i :80
# or
netstat -tuln | grep :80

4. Check Redis Status

Redis is needed for caching and queues:

systemctl status redis
# or
systemctl status redis-server

Common Solutions

1. Fix Missing PHP Extensions

Install required PHP extensions. Make sure to use your correct PHP version (in our case, 8.3):

apt update
apt install -y php8.3-mysql php8.3-xml php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-mbstring php8.3-zip php8.3-bcmath php8.3-intl

2. Fix Web Server Conflicts

If both Apache and NGINX are trying to use port 80:

Option 1: Use NGINX (Recommended for Pterodactyl)

systemctl stop apache2
systemctl disable apache2
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

Option 2: Use Apache

systemctl stop nginx
systemctl disable nginx
systemctl start apache2
systemctl enable apache2

3. Fix PHP-FPM Configuration

Make sure your web server is configured to use the correct PHP version:

  1. Check your NGINX configuration:
nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/pterodactyl.conf
  1. Look for the PHP-FPM socket path and update it to match your installed PHP version:
location ~ \.php$ {
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;  # Adjust version number as needed
    # Other configuration...
}
  1. Restart NGINX after making changes:
nginx -t  # Test the configuration
systemctl restart nginx

4. Fix Permissions

Set proper permissions on Pterodactyl files:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/pterodactyl/*
chmod -R 755 /var/www/pterodactyl/storage/* /var/www/pterodactyl/bootstrap/cache/

5. Clear Cache

Clear various caches after updates:

cd /var/www/pterodactyl
php artisan config:clear
php artisan view:clear
php artisan cache:clear

6. Exit Maintenance Mode

If the panel was left in maintenance mode:

cd /var/www/pterodactyl
php artisan up

7. Restart Queue Worker

Always restart the queue worker after updates:

systemctl restart pteroq

Troubleshooting Third-party Extensions

If you have third-party extensions like Blueprint:

  1. After fixing the core panel, reinstall the extension
  2. Reinstall any dependencies required by the extension
  3. Clear cache again after reinstalling extensions

If UI indicators show extensions as not fully installed despite working functionality, this might be a UI glitch that doesn't affect operations.

Preventative Measures for Future Updates

  1. Always back up before updating
  2. Check PHP version compatibility before updating
  3. Make sure all required PHP extensions are installed
  4. Follow the official update guide completely
  5. Take note of any custom configurations or extensions you have installed
  6. Monitor the logs during and after the update process

Conclusion

Most Pterodactyl panel issues after updates can be traced to missing PHP extensions, web server configuration mismatches, or permission problems. By systematically checking logs, verifying services, and applying the appropriate fixes, you can quickly restore functionality to your panel.

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