How to View Error Logs in cPanel
Error logs record all errors that occur on your website — including PHP errors, 404 not found errors, and server-side issues. Reviewing error logs is one of the first steps in diagnosing website problems on your SKPHost account.
How to Access Error Logs in cPanel
- Login to cPanel.
- Under the Metrics section, click Errors.
- The last 300 errors from your Apache error log will be displayed on screen.
Understanding Common Error Types
- PHP Fatal Error: A critical PHP error that stops script execution. Usually caused by a missing function, bad syntax, or incompatible plugin.
- 404 Not Found: A visitor or search engine tried to access a file or page that doesn't exist.
- 500 Internal Server Error: A server-side error — often caused by a misconfigured .htaccess file or PHP error.
- 403 Forbidden: Access was denied — could be due to file permissions or IP blocking.
- mod_security: A request was blocked by the Web Application Firewall.
Viewing Logs via File Manager
Error logs are also stored as files on your server. Access them via:
- Go to cPanel → File Manager.
- Navigate to your home directory (one level above
public_html). - Look for a folder named
logs/. - Open files like
error_logoryourdomain.com.error.logto read detailed errors.
Viewing Logs via SSH
# View last 50 lines of error log tail -50 ~/logs/yourdomain.com.error.log # Watch errors in real-time tail -f ~/logs/yourdomain.com.error.log # Search for specific error grep "PHP Fatal" ~/logs/yourdomain.com.error.log
Tip: If your website suddenly goes down or shows a blank page, check the error log first. Most issues can be diagnosed within the first few lines of the log. Contact SKPHost Support at skphost.net/submitticket if you need help interpreting errors.
Enabling PHP Error Logging
If PHP errors are not being logged, make sure the following is set in your php.ini or .htaccess:
php_flag log_errors on php_value error_log /home/username/public_html/php_errors.log
If you continue to face issues, please open a create a request.
