Server error 500 when trying to perform a backup?

I keep getting error 500 when trying to backup my magento store. I've never backed it up and currently im on 1.5 which by the weekend i will be on 2.0, but i need a backup before i can upgrade.

I have spent hours and tried endless different things, permissions...etc without any luck.

Hope someone can help me?

500 is a server related error. You should look into error log to find the exact reason. Some of the other reasons of it while doing backup are

1. Permission of files:- While taking backup, magento set permission to files. There is an function
public function open($mode = 'w+', $chmod = 0666) {
//code
}

In file /lib/Mage/Archive/Helper/File.php. It set 666 permission which is not allowed on server. You can use following command to reset the permission.

find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;



2. Timeout while processing:- Look into the log if the backup process is being timeout.

We recommend you to first try it on a test environment to make sure that it's working properly.

Regards,

Knowband Plugins

Magento version 1.6 and later create problem while you took backup its change some of file and folders persmissions

Following are some code that helps to reset your file and folder permission

find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
chmod 550 mage

If above code not works then use the following code

sudo find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo chmod o+w var app/etc
sudo chmod 550 mage
sudo chmod -R o+w media

Thanks

The 500 internal server error runs on every page of your site when there's a problem with the server or file system that's powering your site. These solution require making a lot of changes in your site root directory. It's a highly recommended you backup your site prior to trying any of these solutions in case something goes wrong. The two most common causes of this error are a corrupted .htaccess file and exceeding your server's PHP memory limit the .htaccess file in your wordpress directory can become currupted after you install a plugin or make another change to your wordpress site.