Troubleshooting common database errors

Objective

Your database usage may result in anomalies on your website or error messages in the OVHcloud Control Panel, as well as on the phpMyAdmin interface.

Find out how to troubleshoot database errors with OVHcloud Web Hosting plans.

This guide is designed to assist you in common tasks as much as possible. Nevertheless, we recommend that you contact a specialist service provider and/or discuss the issue with our community on if you have difficulties or doubts. You can find more information in the Go further section of this guide.

Requirements

• an OVHcloud Web Hosting plan
• an OVHcloud database service: Start SQL or Web Cloud Databases

OVHcloud Control Panel Access

• Direct link: Hosting plans
• Navigation path: Web Cloud > Hosting plans > Select your web hosting plan

Instructions

"Error establishing a database connection"

Check ongoing incidents

First, check on the Web Cloud Status page whether your datacentre, your web hosting cluster, your Web Cloud Databases server, or your database is not affected by an incident on the OVHcloud infrastructure.

Verify login credentials for your database

Log in to the file storage space of your Web Hosting plan by FTP and find your website’s configuration file (for example, a WordPress website will have a wp-config.php file located in the folder containing your website).

Then check the exact match between the login details for phpMyAdmin and the login details for your website’s configuration file.

If necessary, change your database password.

Example for WordPress

If your website displays an "Error establishing a database connection" message and your hosting cluster is not affected by an incident, log in to the FTP storage space of your hosting and open the directory containing your website (by default, this is the "www" folder).

If this is a WordPress site, open the file "wp-config.php".

define('DB_NAME', 'my_database');
 
/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'my_user');
 
/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'my_password');
 
/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'my_server.mysql.db:port');

In your OVHcloud Control Panel, open the Hosting plans section and click on the Databases tab. Check the correspondence between the elements displayed and those in the file wp-config.php:

• my_database must match what is noted as Database name;
• my_user must match what is noted as User name;
• my_password corresponds to your database password;
• my_server.mysql.db must match the Server address.

You have exceeded the authorised quota

You have received an email notification stating that the amount of data on your database exceeds the authorised limit. Your database has therefore been switched to read-only mode. This will prevent your website from being modified.

There are three ways you can unblock your database in this situation.

Method 1: Upgrade your subscription

If you have a Starter or Personal Web Hosting plan, we recommend that you switch to the high-performance offer. This subscription change will increase the size of your database which will automatically reopen it. This method is the simplest and does not require any particular technical expertise.

To upgrade your subscription, log in to your OVHcloud Control Panel and open Hosting plans in the left-hand menu. Select the relevant service and click on the ... button in the Solution section of the right-hand info box, then select Upgrade.

If you are already subscribing to a Performance offer, refer to method 2.

Method 2: Migrate your data to a larger database

You can also migrate your data to a new database:

• Order a larger database service if necessary, then create the new database;
• Duplicate the content of the old database to the new database or perform an export of your data, then import your data in the new database;
• Integrate the credentials of the new database into the configuration file of your site.

Method 3: Delete unnecessary data

Once you have made a database backup, log in to your phpMyAdmin interface to delete any unnecessary data using the Drop, Delete and Truncate commands.

Then update the data usage from the Databases tab of the relevant service. Click on the ... button next to the database concerned, then select Recalculate the quota.

Method 4: Optimise your database

To optimise your database, follow the instructions in our guide "Configuring your database server". Then update the data usage from the Databases tab of the relevant service. Click on the ... button next to the database concerned, then select Recalculate the quota.

RAM overflows (Web Cloud Databases only)

The following message in the Web Cloud Databases section of your OVHcloud Control Panel indicates that your Web Cloud Databases server has consumed too much resources on the OVHcloud infrastructure:

In this situation, you can increase the amount of RAM available from the Web Cloud Databases section of your OVHcloud Control Panel. In the General information tab, click on the ... in the RAM section.

You can also optimise your database by following the instructions of our guide "Configuring your database server".

Database import errors

User access denied to database

"#1044 - Access denied for user to database"

This error message means that the database you are trying to import contains elements that are not authorised on the OVHcloud shared infrastructure.

First make sure that your database is empty from the Databases tab of the relevant service. Click on the ... button next to the database concerned, then select Recalculate the quota. (If you need to save the existing data first, follow the backup instructions, then delete the data and relaunch the import operation.)

You can also tick the Empty the current database box just before launching the import:

If necessary, contact our user community or OVHcloud partners for more information. We will not be able to assist you in correcting this issue.

The following query is also not allowed:

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `Database-Name` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci; 

Use this line instead:

USE `Database-Name`;

Replace Database-Name with the name of the database as displayed in your OVHcloud Control Panel.

"MySQL server has gone away"

"404 ERROR MySQL server has gone away"

This error message appears when importing a database on a Web Cloud Databases server. I most cases, it is caused by the quantity of data to be imported being too large or by non-optimised SQL queries in the import script.

To resolve this issue, you can use the following methods:

• Increase the amount of RAM: go to the Web Cloud Databases server concerned in the Databases section of your OVHcloud Control Panel. Then click on the ... button in the RAM section and select Change the amount of RAM.

• Split your database in order to import it through multiple operations instead of one. (For any questions on the necessary steps, contact our community or OVHcloud partners. We will not be able to assist you with this.)

• Optimise your database, then repeat the export/import operations.

Unable to access phpMyAdmin

"Access denied for user"

"mysqli::real_connect(): (HY000/1045): Access denied for user"

This error message may appear when connecting to your database by phpMyAdmin. It indicates that the credentials entered are incorrect.

In this situation, check the credentials entered and change your database password if necessary.

"Too many connections"

"mysqli_real_connect(): (HY000/1040): Too many connections"

The maximum number of active connections for databases delivered with a shared hosting (Start SQL) is 30.

This number increases to 200 for the Web Cloud Databases service. (This setting can be modified in the Configuration section of your database service.)

A "Too many connections" error when connecting to phpMyAdmin appears, if this maximum number of connections is exceeded.

In this situation, you will need to optimise your databases in order to reduce the number of active connections.

"Name or service not known"

"mysqli::real_connect(): (HY000/2002): php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: Name or service not known"

This error message appears when connecting to phpMyAdmin if the server name entered is incorrect.

Check the server name for the relevant database service in your OVHcloud Control Panel.

Unable to connect to a Cloud Databases database

Having a Web Cloud Databases server allows you to connect to your databases from your computer or a server outside of the OVHcloud infrastructure.

If this connection is not possible, first check that you have authorized your public IP address connected to the database server.

If this operation has been carried out, contact your ISP or the OVHcloud partners. We will not be able to assist you in this situation.

Go further

Getting started with Web Cloud Databases

Resolving the most common 1-click module errors

For specialised services (SEO, development, etc.), contact OVHcloud partners.

Join our community of users.