MySQL on Ubuntu Droplet Keeps Crashing – Reasons and Solutions

Do you frequently receive the error message “Error establishing a database connection”?

If you do, a MySQL service crash on your DigitalOcean Droplet might be the cause.

Basically, there are a variety of causes for MySQL crashes, ranging from inadequate server capacity to problematic website scripts.

Let’s examine the typical causes of MySQL crashes and some solutions.

Reasons for MySQL crashing in DigitalOcean Droplet

A MySQL server crash is really critical because all your websites will be affected by this. Therefore, it needs a quick solution.

To resolve this issue, it is important to find out the reason for MySQL failure.

Check below the different reasons lead to the crashing of MySQL service on the Droplet.

1. Buggy scripts

Our specialists who oversee DO Droplets report that faulty PHP scripts are frequently observed overwhelming the server. The improper MySQL queries in these scripts have the potential to use up server resources. Furthermore, they just never stop operating on the server.

Similar issues arise with WordPress websites; certain plugins frequently cause MySQL errors. This further leads to the website’s database faults.

2. Lack of server resources

The next reason for MySQL crash could be lack of server resources.

MySQL crashes may occur when Digital Ocean offers minimum setup droplets that are overloaded with websites. The overall memory capacity of these droplets is 512 MB. This little memory makes it impossible to run server functions, administer websites with a lot of traffic, etc. Droplet experiences “Out of Memory” problems as a result.

When RAM runs out of space, PHP scripts employ a buffer memory known as “Swap” to handle the request.

When the Droplet’s initial setup is complete, we must assign this Swapspace once we want to use this buffer space.
MySQL may fail due to a memory shortage if there isn’t another space generated in the Droplet.

3. Malicious attacks

It rarely happens that there high resource usage by MySQL is because of valid website access. Attacks involving xmlrpc.php file of WordPress can also be one of the reasons behind the MySQL crash. In this attack, hacker takes the efforts to break into the admin panel of WordPress by using too many hits to the website.

Due to this, the server fails to handle the large number of requests and can crash.

4. Broken databases

Broken databases can also lead to database errors in the website. The reason behind this to happen is the database files corruption. Mostly, disk full issues, permission problems, etc. can also lead to MySQL crash.

Ideas to Fix MySQL Crashing in DigitalOcean Droplets

The solution to fix the crash varies for different reasons. Let’s see these fixes in detail.

1. Assign Adequate Server Resources

You are given a sufficient number of resources on the droplet in this solution. This primarily depends on how well the server functions. Enough RAM, CPU power, disk space, swap space, and other server resources should be available for the Droplet.

The swap space that is produced for the DigitalOcean droplets is not by default. Our technical support staff will now assess the server’s resources and ensure that there is a sufficient amount of RAM left over for swapping. For instance, depending on the kind of websites, a swap space of 1GB might be ideal if a droplet has 4GB of RAM.

But, it is advised to permanently boost Droplet’s RAM if it is found that the server is always using swap space.

2. Service Optimization

The server may crash even with sufficient resources if the MySQL setup is incorrect. As a result, our specialists allow slow queries in MySQL if a droplet has frequent MySQL crashes. These are recorded in the mysql log file, which is located at /var/log/mysql/log-slow-queries.log. This makes it simple to pinpoint the precise locations that are the source of the issue.

Our team assists in resolving any issues that may arise with the website script. This also holds true for issues that WordPress websites’ plugins cause.

Additionally, our staff optimizes the MySQL service variables, such as max_connections, query_cache_limit, table_cache, etc.

3. Prevent Malicious Attacks

When malicious assaults are detected on a droplet, a suitable firewall is put in place to stop them. For example, in order to prevent an XMLRPC attack, we install plugins, deactivate the XMLRPC method on the server altogether, etc.
Additionally, our professionals advise clients to proactively configure appropriate defense measures in the droplets.

4. Check the Database Periodically

Always do a periodic check of the databases running on the server. With this you can track and repair corrupt tables, if any. Also, we do a scheduled database check using the cron jobs. This comprises of checking the server disk space usage, MySQL log file size, etc. as well. This will help to omit the MySQL crash due to disk full issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be concluded that poor MySQL configuration, a lack of resources, faulty scripts, etc. are the primary causes of MySQL crashes in DigitalOcean droplets. You may always get in touch with our support staff if you continue to have problems fixing the MySQL crash.

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