Troubleshooting guide

WordPress database connection error

Preserve evidence before changing credentials: database availability, hostname, user permissions, corruption and resource exhaustion produce similar symptoms.

4 diagnostic facts3 controlled stages4 acceptance checks1 primary references

Diagnose before changing

  1. 01Capture exact error and time
  2. 02Check provider incident/status
  3. 03Test database connection
  4. 04Inspect recent deploy and resource logs
  1. 01

    Verify configuration

    Compare DB name, user, password, host and prefix with the hosting database record.

  2. 02

    Check service and limits

    Confirm the database server is running and storage/connections are not exhausted.

  3. 03

    Restore safely

    Repair or restore only after a current copy and a clear recovery point exist.

Acceptance gate

Prove the result

Record timestamp, tester and evidence for every check before closing the incident or change.

Frontend/admin

Expected result documented and verified from the affected user path.

Pass / fail / blocked
New write succeeds

Expected result documented and verified from the affected user path.

Pass / fail / blocked
Scheduled jobs

Expected result documented and verified from the affected user path.

Pass / fail / blocked
No data lost

Expected result documented and verified from the affected user path.

Pass / fail / blocked

Primary references

WordPress debugging

Official standard or product documentation used for this guide.

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