Title: [Plugin: W3 Total Cache] 500 Internal Server Error Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # [Plugin: W3 Total Cache] 500 Internal Server Error * [wavesoftech](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wavesoftech/) * (@wavesoftech) * [15 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/) * Frederick first I love your work and thanks for what you do for the community. I have been attempting to install the latest release of W3TC with wordpress 3. In doing so after activation I receive the: * You’ve selected disk caching with enhanced mode however the .htaccess file is not properly configured. Please run chmod 777 /home/waves8/public_html/.htaccess, then . To manually modify your server configuration for enhanced mode append the following code: * I have changed the .htaccess and attempted the retry. You code gets inserted into the .htaccess then I get: * The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server administrator, [webmaster@wavesoftech.com](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/webmaster@wavesoftech.com?output_format=md) and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error. More information about this error may be available in the server error log. Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. * Apache/2.2.14 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.14 OpenSSL/0.9.8e-fips-rhel5 DAV/2 mod_auth_passthrough/ 2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at [http://www.wavesoftech.com](http://www.wavesoftech.com) Port 80 * The site is then totally down and I have to remove the W3TC code from the .htaccess file. Any assistance would be appreciated. * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/) Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 39 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/2/?output_format=md) [3](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/3/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/2/?output_format=md) * [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1539905) * You can switch to disk basic for page caching, which requires no .htaccess directives meanwhile and submit a bug submission report from the support tab of the plugin. * [Terence Milbourn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pubdirltd/) * (@pubdirltd) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540173) * Frederick, I have exactly the same problem. With disk basic caching it works, but with enhanced it crashes the site with a 500 internal server error. I will send you a support config and bug report asap. * Got a question. Where can I find “Cache Control policy” explained and how to choose/select the appropriate option? * By the way, I much prefer the new interface in this version. Much more logical, and I like the “Performance” touch… 8^) * [fitnessguide67](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fitnessguide67/) * (@fitnessguide67) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540174) * exactly the same issue with all my servers.. 🙁 * [yabate](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yabate/) * (@yabate) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540175) * Hello Frederic, me again. After removing the previous version, and now installing the latest, with basic page caching works everything OK, but with enhanced, i got again internal 500. * [anteck](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anteck/) * (@anteck) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540176) * Yup, i totally deleted the plugin, renabled, and 500 Error. * It’s broken! * [Scott Winterroth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/countrymusicchicago/) * (@countrymusicchicago) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540177) * Yep, same problem here. * [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540178) * All, you all still have old .htaccess rules for disk enhanced and they could not be removed for you automatically upon deactivation. If you edit out those rules and then deactivate / reactivate the plugin. * [robertstaddon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/robertstaddon/) * (@robertstaddon) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540179) * I had 500 Internal Server Errors when I upgraded to the latest version and copied the new suggested rules into my .htaccess file. I figured out that the RewriteCond%{ HTTP_USER_AGENT} line was not properly escaped. * In my case, this happened because the automatic upgrade/install had not automatically replaced the old db.php, advanced-cache.php, and object-cache.php files in the wp-content directory. * After replacing these files with the new versions, the suggested code to paste into my .htaccess file suddenly had the proper escape characters. I copied this code into my .htaccess file and it solved my 500 Internal Server Errors. * [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540180) * [@robertstaddon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/robertstaddon/) thanks for explaining. I may try to push an update that tries to handle more cases. * [KimJCastleberry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kimjcastleberry/) * (@kimjcastleberry) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540181) * Same basic situation here – but was upgrading from the dev release – that confirms what [@robertstaddon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/robertstaddon/) saw. Its not really the new plugin thats broke, its something in the upgrade path. I was unable to get it working until I removed the old copies of the 3 files directly in wp-content. Server error log during the 500 read: [Thu Jul 22 19: 39:09 2010] [alert] [client 67.43.117.214] /home/username/public_html/.htaccess: RewriteCond: bad flag delimiters Sounds like you’ve got it under control though. * Thanks Frederick! Kimberly * [ezzal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ezzal/) * (@ezzal) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540182) * I also had the problem , but solved. Read here : [http://wordpress.org/support/topic/427676](http://wordpress.org/support/topic/427676) * [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540183) * There’s another update coming today that better handles update issues. It’s really best to do the following rather than changing the new user groups, which were painstakingly created for your benefit: 1. Remove W3 Total Cache rules from your .htaccess file in document root 2. Delete from wp-content/ db.php object-cache.php advanced-cache.php w3-total- cache-config.php (if you want) 3. Then rename or delete wp-content/plugins/w3-total-cache/ if you still have any issues accessing WP Admin and reinstall once you can login again (and rename it back if you have) * [KimJCastleberry](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kimjcastleberry/) * (@kimjcastleberry) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540184) * I did an upgrade that went to 500, and then I logged into the host. I did steps 2 & 3, but didn’t think to do 1, Once two and three were done, it didnt seem to have any issues with the htaccess rules. No clue why. Just tossing that out there. * [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540185) * Different servers and W3TC version combinations will behave differently. This software is quite complex, unlike the majority of plugins. * [ezzal](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ezzal/) * (@ezzal) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/#post-1540186) * I agree on that. Its a great plugin anyways ! Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 39 total) 1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/2/?output_format=md) [3](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/3/?output_format=md) [→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/2/?output_format=md) The topic ‘[Plugin: W3 Total Cache] 500 Internal Server Error’ is closed to new replies. * 39 replies * 19 participants * Last reply from: [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * Last activity: [15 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-500-internal-server-error/page/3/#post-1540248) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics