New Update just crashed my site!

I received a notice on my Plugins page a few minutes ago and auto-installed the latest update for S2Member. It went through the complete installation process successfully. Then I clicked on “Return to Plugins Page,” and I got a “500 Internal Server Error.”
“Apache/1.3.42 Server at rockitscience.com Port 80”
Using WordPress 3.3.1
S2 Member Pro v111220 (prior to update)
What do I do now?
P.S. The last thing I did prior to installing the update was to set up a PayPal Pro sandbox account. I had just entered the sandbox API info in my settings and saved the changes. Then I noticed the S2Member update and installed it.

Okay, I just saw your response to Leslie Lewis’ post about the same problem. I pasted the substitute code into my .htaccess file and was able to get back into my admin pages.
Now there’s a message saying I need to update my s2Member Pro Module. Is it safe for me to do this, or will I need to change some additional code?

Hi John,

You should be safe to update the Pro module. There are no known issues with the Pro update. If you’re worried about anything, please make a backup before upgrading.

This issue was corrected in the release of s2Member v120219.
See: http://www.s2member.com/changelog/#s2-changes-v120219

There is also a video tutorial that covers this issue here:
Video » s2Member® File Downloads (GZIP Conflicts?)

Hi Jason,

My client is running on Dreamhost where they still use Apache 1.3 (as far as we can tell – we’re awaiting their response to a query about this).

They installed 120213 this morning and the site crashed due to the GZIP exclusion lines in the .htaccess file.

I commented those lines out and the site came back up.

Then, a few minutes ago, they upgraded to s2Member Framework 120219 and it put those lines back, and the site crashed again. They called me and I commented them out (again), and the site came back up (again).

So, it appears that whatever you did with version 120219 to make it compatible with Apache 1.3, does not work.

Please advise. Thank you very much – Best Regards, Marty Hirsch

Hi Martin,

Could you share any more details about the server configuration (perhaps the exact version of Apache 1.3). I personally tested the latest version of s2Member (v120219) on my server, running Apache 1.3.42, and I have no problems.

Hi – we’re still awaiting a word from Dreamhost about the Apache version.

However, to me the salient point seems to be the text in the .htaccess file.

I had commented out the GZIP exclusion lines, and the site was working.

When we installed s2Member Framework v. 120219, it PUT THOSE LINES BACK IN – and this is what made the site crash.

# BEGIN s2Member GZIP exclusions

	RewriteEngine On
	RewriteBase \
	RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (?:^|\?|&)s2member_file_download\=.+
	RewriteRule .* - [E=no-gzip:1]

# END s2Member GZIP exclusions

Was it the author’s intention to have the s2Member Framework v. 120219 installation cause that text to be ADDED TO THE .htaccess FILE – even though it has no significance with Apache 1.3, and is known to make it crash?

Or was it NOT intended? Could it be that the installation attempts to detect the Apache version, and this detection FAILED in the configuration used by Dreamhost?

Thanks for looking into these issues. It appears that Apache 1.3 cannot be ignored in future installations.

Hi Martin,

The update corrects the code added to the .htaccess file, but it does still insert the code, so what you saw was correct behavior.

However, the code that the update inserts was slightly modified to be compatible with Apache 1.3x.

I compared the code in my .htaccess file (added by the lastest version of s2Member) and it differs from the code you shared above. Here’s my .htaccess file:

# BEGIN s2Member GZIP exclusions
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteBase /
        RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|\?|&)s2member_file_download\=.+
        RewriteRule .* - [E=no-gzip:1]
</IfModule>
# END s2Member GZIP exclusions

The above code does not cause problems for me on Apache 1.3.

But notice how the line that starts with RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|\?|&) differs from the code you shared. The code you shared is incompatible with Apache 1.3.

Could you please double-check the .htaccess file to make sure the code does in fact match the incompatible snippet you shared?

According to Dreamhost, we are on Apache v2.2.17. The complete version line is:

Apache/2.2.17 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.17 OpenSSL/0.9.8g mod_fastcgi/2.4.6 mod_fcgid/2.3.4

Both of the latest updates of s2Member Framework (120218 and 120219) inserted the above lines in our .htaccess file and in both cases, this caused the site to crash completely (no page would load) until I commented them out.

This would appear to be a problem.

Thank you for the information, Martin.

I’m escalating this back to Jason so he can take a look.

Thanks for the heads up on this thread.

Our approach on this, in the release of s2Member v120219 was to update the .htaccess rule for compatibility with Apache v1.x as well. Removing this section of the .htaccess file seems to resolve the issue. Making s2Member compatible with both Apache 1.x and Apache 2.x.

Instead of: RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (?:^|\?|&)s2member_file_download\=.+
Go with: RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|\?|&)s2member_file_download\=.+

See also: s2Member® Unified Changelog » v120219

Installing s2Member v120219 should resolve this for you automatically. If the problem remains, please update your .htaccess file manually. Please make sure you have this section in your .htaccess file.

# BEGIN s2Member GZIP exclusions
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
	RewriteEngine On
	RewriteBase /
	RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|\?|&)s2member_file_download\=.+
	RewriteRule .* - [E=no-gzip:1]
</IfModule>
# END s2Member GZIP exclusions

Hi Jason,

After installing both s@Member Framework version 18, and later version 19, the site crashed, and I had to comment out whatever had been inserted into the .htaccess file to bring it back each time.

However, I now manually entered the exact code posted above, and the site is still alive.

I hope future updates do not cause the same issue.

They are running Apache 2.2.17 on a Dreamhost shared server.

Thanks and Best Regards, Marty

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by  Martin.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by  Martin.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by  Martin.

Hi Martin. Thanks for keeping us updated.

Each time s2Member is upgraded, it will make an attempt to update it’s snippet inside your .htaccess file. In order for s2Member to accomplish this automatically for you, two things need to be possible.

1. Your .htaccess file needs to be writable by the server itself, so that s2Member can update this file for you automatically. In other words, set permissions to 666 or higher on the .htaccess file please.

2. The snippet inside your .htaccess file, needs to be wrapped inside these hash tags.

# BEGIN s2Member GZIP exclusions
# END s2Member GZIP exclusions