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Article HTTP Error 503 And How To Fix It Author: Sofiia Yavorska Categories: Technology HTTP Error 503 And How To Fix It As a user, you must have encountered an Error 503 Service Unavailable. It may be frustrating, especially when you need to access a specific website. On the other hand, owners of sites know that this error can lead to disastrous consequences, such as lost customers. No matter what side you belong to, you will benefit from understanding how to approach a Service Unavailable Error. In this article, you will learn Error 503 causes, how to fix Error 503, what HTTP Status Codes have to do with the issue, and many more. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Response Status Codes Before digging into how to fix Error 503, let’s find out its root. You need to know how HTTP status codes work to grasp what an Error 503 Service Unavailable is. Servers respond to web browsers’ requests using various response codes arranged in different classes. The first number of a status code indicates which class it belongs to. 1xx – informational response – the server is processing your request 2xx – successful – the request succeeded3xx – redirection – further action is needed to complete your request4xx – client error – there is an error from the browser side5xx – server error – there is an error from the server side‘xx’ indicates a more specific status for every class. Most classes (1xx, 2xx, and 3xx) go unnoticed since they signify that everything is working correctly. However, when you encounter the status codes from the range 4xx – 5xx, it means that you confront some error. If you want to discover more about HTTP response codes, you can examine Hypertext Transfer Protocol. We also have an article on how to fix Error 500 that you are welcome to check.What Is HTTP Error 503? Before discovering how to fix Error 503, let’s take a closer look at it.An Error 503 Service Unavailable means that currently, the server is unable to process requests due to temporary overloading or maintenance. There are also other causes of this error, which you will find below.An Error 503 isn’t supposed to last for long, and usually, it is alleviated within several seconds or minutes. Sometimes, the length of the delay is mentioned in a Retry-After header. When you encounter a Service Unavailable Error, the following messages may be displayed: ‘503 Service Unavailable,’ ‘ HTTP Server Error 503,’ ‘The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems,’ etc. All of them suggest the same – the server is temporarily unable to execute the request.HTTP Error 503 Causes When people confront a Service Unavailable Error, they see a vague message that doesn’t help determine the exact cause of the issue. However, there are several Error 503 causes. If you understand them adequately, you will be able to handle an Error 503 Service Unavailable successfully.Scheduled server maintenance. Users most often see a Service Unavailable Error because of server maintenance. Scheduled maintenance sessions are offered by service providers and usually occur during downtime. These sessions are necessary since they ensure that everything is up-to-date, but sometimes they make people face an Error 503.A spike in traffic. When numerous people try to visit a website at the same time, its server might become overwhelmed. It may be incapable of processing a large number of requests and returns a Service Unavailable Error as a result.Technical issues. Bugs in a server-side code, misconfigured firewall, inaccurate DNS configurations, etc. may lead to running into the error. Technical problems are less likely to cause an Error 503 Service Unavailable than maintenance sessions and overwhelming traffic, but they require you to have specific knowledge to deal with them.How To Fix Error 503 As A User? Since an Error 503 Service Unavailable is a server-side issue, you cannot do much. In most cases, you have to wait. Anyway, there are some things you can do. Refresh the page. People who face errors on the internet always click the reload button. It may work since many issues tackled by a server are resolved within seconds. For example, the server may be addressing some issue the moment you enter a website; thus, an Error 503 Service Unavailable pops up. However, in few seconds, after refreshing, you can access the website because the problem has been already cleared up. Restart your device. Another way of how to fix Error 503 is to restart your device. You can turn to this option if you suspect that the cause of the error may be inaccurate DNS configurations. The reason to think so can be the message like this ‘Service Unavailable – DNS Failure’ that appears when you enter a site. All you have to do in this case is restart your desktop or mobile device and router.Check whether the page is down for everyone. Even though this advice won’t help you resolve the problem, it will make you more aware of it. To check whether others can access the same website, go to this site. All you need to do is enter the URL of the website you are trying to reach, press the ‘Check’ button, and find out.How To Fix Error 503 For Your Site? If you want to fix an Error 503 Service Unavailable on your site, you have much more capacity to solve the issue. The below-mentioned ways of fixing Error 503 may require you to possess some expertise, though you can always find answers to all your questions in Google.Restart the server. Before going into more advanced troubleshooting options, reboot your server. Restarting may remove any congestion in the server chain and solve the problem. If your website is hosted on several servers, remember to reboot each of them. It will take only a couple of minutes. Check whether your website is going through maintenance. Since one of the most common Error 503 causes is maintenance, you have to check when automatic maintenance sessions are scheduled. Most automatic maintenance is uninformed, and it results in a Service Unavailable Error. Those who have complete control over their server’s maintenance can disable these sessions. Check your firewall settings. Your WAF (web application firewall) monitors, filters, and blocks data packets that travel to and from your website. It protects your site from malicious visitors or DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks. Sometimes, your firewall can be incorrectly configured, provoking an Error 503. Examine your firewall settings to fix the issue.Check your server logs. Server logs are text files that contain all activities of a specific server, such as who, how, and when accessed your website. You can look through your server logs to find any inconsistencies. In these files, you may find a good lead to begin with.Check your website’s code. One of the uncommon Error 503 causes is bugs in the code. Anyway, it may happen to your website, and you will have to check your code very carefully to locate any bugs and fix them.Conclusion Both users and website owners have to deal with an Error 503 Service Unavailable. They need to know how to fix Error 503 to avoid all the frustration accompanied by it. Fortunately, now you’re equipped with the information about how to approach this error and ready to handle it.Tags: Error 503, HTTP Error, HTTP Error 503 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Response Status Codes What Is HTTP Error 503? HTTP Error 503 Causes How To Fix Error 503 As A User? How To Fix Error 503 For Your Site? Conclusion