How to find PHP errors (error logs and display_errors)

Place 1: the domain’s error log

Open System Info & Files › then Site Summary / Statistics / Logs, choose the domain and view the error log. PHP fatal errors, and web server errors such as .htaccess problems, appear here. Viewing website statistics and logs in DirectAdmin

Place 2: an error_log file

Depending on how PHP is configured, errors may also be written to a file named error_log in the folder of the script that failed. In System Info & Files › then File Manager, look for error_log files in public_html and subfolders.

These files can grow large. Delete them once you’ve read them.

Showing errors temporarily

On a staging site, or briefly while you debug, you can display errors on the page. At the very top of the script:

<?php
ini_set('display_errors', '1');
error_reporting(E_ALL);

Logging to your own file

For a custom application, log to a file outside public_html:

<?php
ini_set('display_errors', '0');
ini_set('log_errors', '1');
ini_set('error_log', '/home/USERNAME/logs/php-errors.log');

Create the logs folder first, and replace USERNAME with your DirectAdmin username.

Parse errors

A parse error in the file that sets these options happens before they run, so it goes to the server’s error log instead. Check place 1.