[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #17271: WordPress returns a status code 200 when it can't connect to the database

[WordPress Trac]

#17271: WordPress returns a status code 200 when it can't connect to the database
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 Reporter:  PeteMall      |       Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal        |   Milestone:  3.2
Component:  Database      |     Version:
 Severity:  normal        |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-patch   |
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Changes (by chrisbliss18):

 * cc: gaarai@… (added)


Comment:

 I also confirm a 500 response code when a database connection cannot be
 made.

 I don't see any code in core that specifically handles overload conditions
 nor do I know how to force one. I'd love to know how to do that for
 testing purposes.

 With regards to the status code to use on db overload, the way I read the
 RFC, it sounds like 503 is appropriate but that it isn't required in an
 overload condition. Thus, a generic 500 is perfectly acceptable.

 [http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html#sec10.5.1 RFC
 2616] relevant section:

   10.5.1 500 Internal Server Error

   The server encountered an unexpected condition which prevented it from
 fulfilling the request.

   ...

   10.5.4 503 Service Unavailable

   The server is currently unable to handle the request due to a temporary
 overloading or maintenance of the server. The implication is that this is
 a temporary condition which will be alleviated after some delay. If known,
 the length of the delay MAY be indicated in a Retry-After header. If no
 Retry-After is given, the client SHOULD handle the response as it would
 for a 500 response.

   Note: The existence of the 503 status code does not imply that a server
 must use it when becoming overloaded. Some servers may wish to simply
 refuse the connection.

   10.5.5 504 Gateway Timeout

   The server, while acting as a gateway or proxy, did not receive a timely
 response from the upstream server specified by the URI (e.g. HTTP, FTP,
 LDAP) or some other auxiliary server (e.g. DNS) it needed to access in
 attempting to complete the request.

   Note: Note to implementors: some deployed proxies are known to return
 400 or 500 when DNS lookups time out.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/17271#comment:7>
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