I'm getting an 'Internal server error' with my cgi script. What gives? Print

If you're getting an “Internal Server Error†(500) while running a CGI script on 4GoodHosting, here’s how to troubleshoot and fix it specifically for their hosting environment:

 

ðŸ› ï¸ Likely Causes & Solutions (Tailored for 4GoodHosting)

1. ✅ File Permissions

Your CGI script must be executable.

Fix:

• Log into cPanel or use FTP.

• Navigate to your cgi-bin directory.

• Right-click the script → Set permissions to 755
  (Read & execute for everyone, write for owner)

 

2. ✅ Correct Shebang Line (First Line of Script)

Your script must start with the correct interpreter path.

For Python:

For Perl:

Check with 4GoodHosting support or SSH (which python3) to confirm the path. It must be absolute — #!/usr/bin/env python3 might not work.

 

3. ✅ Content-Type Header is Required

CGI scripts must return proper HTTP headers before output.

Example (Python):

Missing this? You’ll get a 500 error immediately.

 

4. ✅ Location of Script

CGI scripts must be placed in the cgi-bin/ directory (or an allowed folder).

Check:

• Script is in /public_html/cgi-bin/ or a folder allowed via .htaccess.

 

5. ✅ Fix Windows Line Endings

If you wrote the script on Windows, it may have incorrect line endings (\r\n).

Fix:

• Convert using a tool like dos2unix, or re-save the file using Unix (LF) line endings in your code editor.

 

6. ✅ Check for Syntax Errors

Errors in your code will break execution.

Debug:

• Add simple print() lines and narrow down the cause.

• Use try/except in Python to log any crash:

  python

   

  try: # your code except Exception as e: print("Content-Type: text/plain\n") print("Error:", str(e))

7. ✅ Check Server Error Logs (4GoodHosting)

In cPanel:

• Go to Metrics > Errors OR File Manager > error_log

• Look for the most recent error related to your script (often points to permission, shebang, or syntax problems)

 

8. ✅ .htaccess Configuration (if outside cgi-bin/)

If you're running CGI outside cgi-bin/, you must enable CGI with .htaccess:

Place this .htaccess in the same directory as your script.

 

✅ Final Checklist (4GoodHosting CGI)

While we can't possibly troubleshoot scripts for everyone, if you are having serious problems and have read the instructions for your program, AND tried the above, then please open a trouble ticket and we will help you as best we can. We don't normally do script installation, but we don't like to leave our customers out in the cold eiter.