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A blank body from curl is a symptom, not a diagnosis. The response may actually be a redirect, an error, or a successful HTTP response whose PHP process produced no output. Start with curl -i -v to see the status line, headers, redirects, and body, then repeat the request while watching Nginx and PHP-FPM logs.
For PHP requests, the most important configuration checks are the selected Nginx location block, its fastcgi_pass endpoint, and the value generated for fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME. That path must point to the real, readable script beneath the active Nginx root. A temporary diagnostic PHP file can then separate a web-server problem from an application failure.
What a “blank page” actually tells you
curl prints the response body by default. If the terminal appears empty, you know only that no visible body reached the terminal. You do not yet know whether Nginx returned a zero-length 200 OK, followed a redirect, generated a 404 or 502, or passed the request to PHP and received no output.
The HTTP status and headers determine the next branch of the investigation:
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| What you observe | Most likely layer | First check |
|---|---|---|
200 OK with a zero-length body |
PHP application or output generation | PHP-FPM and application error logs; reproduce with verbose curl |
301 or 302 |
HTTP or application routing | Inspect the Location header and request the intended scheme and host |
404 before PHP runs |
Nginx routing | Check location matching, try_files, index, and the URI |
502 Bad Gateway |
FastCGI transport | Check the PHP-FPM service, socket or TCP endpoint, permissions, and timeouts |
| PHP source appears as text or downloads | Nginx handler selection | Ensure the PHP location uses FastCGI instead of serving the file statically |
| Nginx reports “Primary script unknown” or a missing input file | Filesystem path mapping | Correct root and SCRIPT_FILENAME, then verify the resulting file |
A genuinely empty 200 response and a blank-looking terminal caused by a redirect are different failures. Do not change PHP settings until you have established which response you are receiving.
Step 1: Inspect the response on the wire
Use a request that includes both headers and verbose connection details:
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curl -i -v https://example.test/file.phpThe -i option prints response headers with the body. The -v option shows the connection, request headers, TLS or proxy details, and response exchange. Record the status line, any Location header, Content-Length, Content-Type, and whether a body follows the headers.
For a local virtual host, the hostname in the URL may not resolve to the machine you are testing. Send the expected host header explicitly:
curl -i -v -H 'Host: example.test' http://127.0.0.1/file.phpThat test reaches loopback while allowing Nginx to select the intended server block. Compare it with a request made through the public hostname if a proxy, TLS terminator, or load balancer sits in front of Nginx.
curl -I is useful when you only need headers, but it is not the best first probe for an empty PHP response. A headers-only request can use different request handling from a normal GET, and it cannot show whether the application emitted a body. Prefer -i -v while diagnosing.
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Interpret the status before changing configuration
- 3xx: Follow the
Locationvalue manually and determine whether the redirect is intentional. A scheme, host, or application URL mismatch can create a loop or send you to a route you did not test. - 4xx: Establish whether Nginx rejected the URI or the application generated the response. The Nginx access and error logs, along with the response headers, usually identify the layer.
- 5xx: Read the error logs immediately. A 502 usually means Nginx could not communicate with PHP-FPM; a PHP fatal error may instead result in a 500 or an empty 200, depending on the application and error handling.
- 200 with no bytes: Treat it as an execution or output problem until logs and a direct test prove otherwise.
Step 2: Watch Nginx and PHP-FPM logs while reproducing
Open separate terminals, start log watches, and make one curl request. Nginx troubleshooting normally involves its configured access.log and error.log. PHP-FPM and the application have their own error destination. Paths and filenames vary by distribution, package, pool, container image, and service configuration, so discover the active paths rather than assuming a particular filename.
tail -f /path/to/nginx/error.logtail -f /path/to/nginx/access.logtail -f /path/to/php-fpm-or-application-error.logUse the active Nginx configuration and the PHP-FPM service or pool configuration to identify the real files. If the service runs in a container, inspect the container’s logs and filesystem; a path on the host may not exist inside the container. Make a single request after the watches are running so that each new line can be tied to that request.
Messages that narrow the fault
- “Primary script unknown” or “No input file specified”: PHP-FPM received a script path that does not identify a readable file. Check the Nginx root, URI-to-file mapping, and
SCRIPT_FILENAME. - Permission denied: The worker cannot traverse a parent directory or read the script. Check ownership, mode bits, access-control policies, and the identity used by PHP-FPM.
- Upstream connection refused, no such file, or timeout: Nginx cannot reach the configured FastCGI endpoint. Check the running PHP-FPM service, socket path, TCP listener, and permissions.
- Application fatal error: The FastCGI path worked; fix the bootstrap, configuration, dependency, or application code named in the PHP-FPM or application log.
The access log confirms what Nginx returned. The error log explains routing and upstream failures. The PHP-FPM or application log is where execution errors generally appear. Reading only one of these can make a correct diagnosis look impossible.
Step 3: Validate the PHP location block
Nginx must select a PHP location and pass the request to the PHP-FPM endpoint. A minimal pattern is:
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fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php-fpm.sock;
}This is a pattern, not a universal copy-and-paste configuration. The socket name is distribution- and PHP-version-specific, and a site may use a TCP endpoint instead. The endpoint in fastcgi_pass must be the live socket or listener for the intended PHP-FPM service and pool.
Nginx’s FastCGI documentation identifies SCRIPT_FILENAME as the parameter PHP uses to determine the script name. In the example above, Nginx combines its active root with $fastcgi_script_name. For a request for /file.php, the resulting path must be the actual filesystem path to that file, not a path in another release directory, container, or document root.
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Confirm which configuration Nginx is actually using
When several virtual hosts or include files exist, edit neither a guess nor an inactive copy. Inspect the loaded configuration, identify the server block selected for the test host, and verify its root, PHP location, include files, and fastcgi_pass. After a change, validate the configuration before reloading Nginx and then repeat the same curl request.
A common failure is a correct-looking PHP block in one server block while the request is handled by another block because the host, port, or default-server selection differs. The explicit Host test in the first step helps expose that mismatch.
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The standard parameter include supplies request information used by PHP, including the query string and other CGI variables. Preserve the parameters required by your application, especially when handling POST requests. Changing only SCRIPT_FILENAME should not accidentally remove the rest of the FastCGI parameter set.
Step 4: Prove the script path and permissions
Take the URI from curl and calculate the path Nginx is sending to PHP-FPM. Then test that exact path on the server, using the same filesystem namespace seen by the PHP-FPM worker.
- Confirm that the file exists at the computed location.
- Confirm that every parent directory is traversable by the Nginx/PHP-FPM identity.
- Confirm that the worker can read the PHP file.
- Check for an unintended extra slash, a wrong release directory, or a symlink that points outside the expected tree.
- If Nginx and PHP-FPM run in different containers, verify that both see the same mounted path; a host path is not automatically a container path.
A path can look correct in the Nginx configuration and still be wrong at runtime. The decisive test is whether the PHP-FPM process can open the exact file named by SCRIPT_FILENAME.
Use try_files as an early existence check
Nginx can check that a PHP file exists before passing the request upstream. A typical form is:
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location ~ .php$ {
try_files $uri =404;
include fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php-fpm.sock;
}The Nginx documentation describes try_files as checking for the PHP file before passing the request to FastCGI. This prevents a missing script from reaching PHP-FPM and makes the failure an explicit Nginx 404.
Apply this only when it matches the application’s routing model. A front-controller application may intentionally send many virtual URLs to index.php. Blindly appending =404 can break those routes. Keep the existence check consistent with the framework’s intended entry point and rewrite rules.
Step 5: Confirm the FastCGI endpoint is alive
Even a perfect script path cannot work if Nginx is pointed at the wrong PHP-FPM endpoint. Check all of the following:
- The PHP-FPM service for the intended PHP version is running.
- The Unix socket named by
fastcgi_passexists, or the configured TCP address and port are listening. - The Nginx worker has permission to connect to the Unix socket.
- The pool serving the request has not stopped, exhausted its workers, or been blocked by a timeout.
- Nginx and PHP-FPM agree about the network namespace when they run in separate containers or hosts.
Do not replace a socket path with a familiar filename without checking the active service. Package conventions differ, and a server can have more than one PHP version installed. A socket for an unused version may exist while the configured pool is stopped, or the running pool may listen on a different path.
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A transport failure normally produces a 502 and an upstream error in Nginx’s error log. That evidence points to fastcgi_pass, service state, socket permissions, or timeout settings—not to PHP application output.
Step 6: Separate PHP execution from application routing
Create a temporary, controlled script in the same document root:
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<?php
header('Content-Type: text/plain');
echo "php-okn";Save it as a new file such as php-check.php, request it directly, and remove it immediately after the test.
curl -i -v https://example.test/php-check.phpIf the response contains php-ok, Nginx, FastCGI transport, path mapping, and basic PHP execution are broadly working. The original script is then more likely to fail during bootstrap, configuration loading, dependency initialization, authentication, or output generation.
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The diagnostic file should not remain publicly accessible. It confirms execution but exposes an unnecessary endpoint, so delete it after the request and clear any deployment artifact that could recreate it.
Step 7: Treat invisible PHP errors as a logging issue
PHP’s display_errors setting controls whether errors are sent in the response. Production configurations commonly disable it, which can leave curl with an empty body while the actual fatal error is recorded in PHP-FPM or the application log.
There is an additional trap: changing display_errors at runtime with ini_set() does not necessarily affect fatal errors. A fatal error can occur before the setting takes effect, so adding a runtime switch to the failing script is not a reliable diagnostic method.
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When the body is empty but the log is not
Some applications deliberately suppress output, terminate early, or send a response through a framework handler. Check whether the script calls an exit path, buffers output, returns an empty template, or emits content under a condition that your curl request does not satisfy. Compare request headers, cookies, query parameters, and host or scheme with a known-working request, but make the comparison only after the direct PHP test and logs show that the server path works.
Fixes matched to the evidence
| Observed evidence | Layer | Fix to test |
|---|---|---|
200 OK, zero-length body, PHP-FPM log contains a fatal error |
PHP application | Fix the fatal error and inspect the PHP-FPM/application log; do not rely on visible errors |
| Nginx says “Primary script unknown” or reports a missing input file | Path mapping or filesystem | Correct root and SCRIPT_FILENAME; verify the computed file exists and is readable |
502 Bad Gateway |
FastCGI transport | Check fastcgi_pass, PHP-FPM service state, socket path, permissions, and timeouts |
404 before PHP runs |
Nginx routing | Check location matching, try_files, index, and the requested URI |
Redirect loop or unexpected 301/302 |
HTTP or application routing | Use curl -i -v to inspect Location; verify scheme, host, and application URL settings |
| PHP source is downloaded or displayed as text | Nginx handler | Ensure the PHP location is selected and uses fastcgi_pass; never serve PHP source as a static file |
A repeatable troubleshooting checklist
- Run
curl -i -vagainst the exact URL. If virtual-host selection matters, add the correctHostheader. - Classify the result as a redirect, 4xx, 5xx, zero-length 200, or source download. Note
Location,Content-Length, andContent-Type. - Watch Nginx access and error logs plus the PHP-FPM or application error log, then make one identical request.
- Confirm the active server block, PHP location, Nginx
root, andfastcgi_passendpoint. - Compute the
SCRIPT_FILENAMEfor the requested URI and verify that the PHP-FPM worker can traverse, open, and read it. - Use an appropriate
try_filescheck, while preserving front-controller routing where the application requires it. - Request a temporary plain-text PHP diagnostic file and remove it after testing.
- If the diagnostic succeeds, debug the original application’s bootstrap and output path using its logs. If it fails, remain at the Nginx, filesystem, FastCGI, and PHP-FPM layers.
- Keep detailed errors out of production responses and rely on monitored server-side logging.
This sequence minimizes guesswork because each step uses evidence from a different layer: the HTTP exchange, Nginx routing, filesystem mapping, FastCGI transport, and PHP execution. Changing a setting without identifying the failing layer can conceal the original error or introduce a second one.
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