HTTP 500 Error after migrating OJS 3.3.0-21 on OVH hosting

Software Support
1

Hello,

I’m encountering an HTTP 500 error on my OJS 3.3.0-21 website hosted on OVH whenever I try to access the homepage. Here’s the context and what I’ve already done to troubleshoot it:

  • OJS is installed under /home/reguimt/www/, and the root directory in OVH’s Multisite settings correctly points to www.

  • I have tested different PHP versions (8.0, 8.2) through the .ovhconfig file. The issue persists regardless of the version used.

  • Folder permissions are set to 755, and file permissions to 644. The cache, public, and files_dir directories all exist and are writable by the web server.

  • I manually cleared all cache directories — cache/t_cache, cache/t_compile, and cache/t_config.

  • All required PHP extensions appear enabled in phpinfo(). The files_dir path is correctly defined in config.inc.php, and the directory exists.

  • No third-party plugins were recently installed; I even renamed the plugins folder to rule them out.

  • I enabled display_errors, but no specific PHP error is displayed on the page — only the HTTP 500 message.

  • Apache and PHP error logs report several 500 errors but don’t specify missing files or undefined functions. I also found repeated log entries such as:
    client denied by server configuration: /homez.2186/reguimt/.ovhconfig

I’ve reviewed the documentation and tried all usual fixes (permissions, cache clearing, PHP configuration, root path verification).

Has anyone encountered a similar issue using OJS 3.3 with PHP 8.x on OVH? Are there advanced troubleshooting steps you’d recommend (logs, plugins, .htaccess configuration, or specific compatibility settings)?

Thank you in advance for your technical assistance!