Instance and server shows running but live domain shows "this site can’t be reached"

Question

1. Tried restarting & reinstalling nginx and rebooting instance.
2. Renewed SSL Certificate, no outstanding bills
3. DNS points to correct hosted zone nameservers
4. was working a day ago

When providing a solution, kindly guide me how as I'm a novice with AWS. Thanks so much.

EDIT: Yes sorry domain name is rps.game.

https://www.sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html#hostname=rps.game displays ssl is not installed even though I get these logs:

ubuntu@ip-172-31-12-157:/$ sudo nginx -t
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
ubuntu@ip-172-31-12-157:/$ sudo nginx -T
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
# configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:
user www-data;
worker_processes auto;
pid /run/nginx.pid;
include /etc/nginx/modules-enabled/*.conf;

# configuration file /etc/nginx/conf.d/rps_game*-ssl.conf:
server {

listen 443;

ssl on;

ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl_new/nginx_bundle_2246d829ae8d.crt;

ssl_certificate_key /opt/rpsbet/private.key;

root /opt/rpsbet;

server_name rps.game;

}

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name rps.game;
  return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

Also the DNS Propagation tool displays as correct DNS!  ([https://dnschecker.org/#NS/rps.game]())

![Enter image description here](/media/postImages/original/IMxj0ONRwHTgmb0I9D0PgjFw)

Here are the error logs too for the tail command:

ubuntu@ip-172-31-12-157:/etc/nginx/ssl_new$ sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
2024/04/03 17:18:25 [error] 4997#4997: *31 open() "/opt/rpsbet/favicon.ico" failed (2: No such file or directory), client: 86.138.111.179, server: rps_game, request: "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1", host: "ec2-3-133-160-47.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com", referrer: "https://ec2-3-133-160-47.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/"
2024/04/03 17:19:13 [error] 4997#4997: *31 directory index of "/opt/rpsbet/" is forbidden, client: 86.138.111.179, server: rps_game, request: "GET / HTTP/1.1", host: "ec2-3-133-160-47.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com"
2024/04/03 17:19:18 [error] 4997#4997: *31 directory index of "/opt/rpsbet/" is forbidden, client: 86.138.111.179, server: rps_game, request: "GET / HTTP/1.1", host: "ec2-3-133-160-47.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com"
2024/04/03 17:20:04 [error] 4997#4997: *35 directory index of "/opt/rpsbet/" is forbidden, client: 152.32.170.230, server: rps_game, request: "GET / HTTP/1.1", host: "3.133.160.47"
2024/04/03 17:20:05 [error] 4997#4997: *36 open() "/opt/rpsbet/favicon.ico" failed (2: No such file or directory), client: 152.32.170.230, server: rps_game, request: "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1", host: "3.133.160.47"
2024/04/03 17:20:06 [error] 4997#4997: *37 open() "/opt/rpsbet/robots.txt" failed (2: No such file or directory), client: 152.32.170.230, server: rps_game, request: "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.1", host: "3.133.160.47"
2024/04/03 17:20:06 [error] 4997#4997: *38 open() "/opt/rpsbet/sitemap.xml" failed (2: No such file or directory), client: 152.32.170.230, server: rps_game, request: "GET /sitemap.xml HTTP/1.1", host: "3.133.160.47"
2024/04/03 17:55:03 [error] 4997#4997: *55 directory index of "/opt/rpsbet/" is forbidden, client: 86.138.111.179, server: rps_game, request: "GET / HTTP/1.1", host: "ec2-3-133-160-47.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com"
2024/04/03 18:13:54 [notice] 5215#5215: signal process started

Accepted Answer

Hello Lenny,

I ran some tests on your domain and from there I think there is a mistake in opening up the ports on the security group. I see that you are using the EC2 public IP to host your site and when I try to reach the site, my request is timing out which leads me to believe that there port is not accepting connections from the internet.
```
curl -v -i https://rps.game
*   Trying 3.137.217.78:443...
* connect to 3.137.217.78 port 443 failed: Connection timed out
* Failed to connect to rps.game port 443 after 134404 ms: Connection timed out
* Closing connection 0
curl: (28) Failed to connect to rps.game port 443 after 134404 ms: Connection timed out
```
Please review the security groups associated with your instance and try again. I do not think it is an SSL configuration issue at this time. I would have received a different error if that was the case.

I also checked if your port is open or not and discovered that it is closed.

![Port 443 closed](/media/postImages/original/IMAr1XWQgmSRm78wx0bcjsDA)

Answer

I can definitely help you troubleshoot this issue as an AWS Solution Architect. Here are some steps to investigate why your domain shows "This Site Can't Be Reached" even though the instance and server are running:

### 1. Double-Check DNS Propagation:

You mentioned renewing your DNS, but DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to fully propagate globally. Wait at least 24 hours after making any DNS record updates to see if the issue resolves.

### 2. Verify Security Group Rules:

Ensure your security group allows inbound traffic on port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS) for your website. You can check and modify security groups in the AWS Management Console.

### 3. Investigate Nginx Logs:

Nginx logs might reveal clues about the issue. You can access logs by connecting to your instance via SSH and looking in the location specified in your Nginx configuration file (usually /var/log/nginx/access.log and /var/log/nginx/error.log). Look for errors related to requests or unexpected behavior.

### 4. Check Instance Health:

Go to the EC2 service in the AWS Management Console and look at the health status of your instance. Any errors or warnings could indicate a problem.

- Consider using a tool like `dig` or `nslookup` to verify your DNS records are resolving correctly from your location.

- These are general troubleshooting steps. The specific solution depends on your configuration.

Instance and server shows running but live domain shows "this site can’t be reached"

configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:

configuration file /etc/nginx/conf.d/rps_game*-ssl.conf:

1. Double-Check DNS Propagation:

2. Verify Security Group Rules:

3. Investigate Nginx Logs:

4. Check Instance Health:

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