IIS - Weekly unexpected system shut-down/crash - IIS/PHP5/Postgres

Asked By macca

18-Nov-09 09:33 AM

HI,

This is a bit of a conundrum. I have a windows 2003 server running
IIS6, PHP5 as a module and postgreSQL. There isnt much else running on
the system.

For some reason the system shuts down unexpectedly on Sundays!

I have checked the IIS error logs. The httperr2.log seems to have many
5_connections_refused logs.
Postgres log shows nothing.
Windows system log just says "The previous system shutdown at 07:37:34
on 08/11/2009 was unexpected" and nothing for the week after.

Does anybody have any ideas what may cause this setup to crash on
Sundays?


Thanks.

18-Nov-09 05:16 PM

Perhaps you could narrow down the suspects...

What day does the cleaner come in?

Is the machine on a UPS which records power outages?

Are there any scheduled tasks on Sundays?


As in there are no entries in the system log after that, or there are no
more unexpected shutdowns during the week?

--
Andrew

18-Nov-09 08:56 PM

A server crashing on specific time periods tells us that there is a scheduled
process causing problems.  This may be something like AntiVirus scheduled to
update its engine and dats, Backup software running during this period, UPS
software, a Windows scheduled task or custom applications/services running
during the time.  Although the BIOS and device drivers can cause a crash, the
fact that it is crashing on a specif time period points us to those other
candidates.

Event 6008 is logged when "the previous shutdown was unexpected" and can
help you pin down the exact time.  I tell you this because as administrators
we often have many things going on during the Sunday maintenance window.

The times I have had to troubleshoot a "scheduled" crash, it has always been
3rd party software like AV or a custom application.

All the best,
Jeffrey Ingalls

19-Nov-09 07:48 AM

Not the problem. I wish it was that simple!


There is no power outage. The host machine stays running. The windows
server is a vm.


Nope.


There are no more unexpected shutdowns.