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Original poster

What happened yesterday?

41 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 22/09/2015 07:15

I can't find any explanation of why mn was down. With the odd redirect and the history of the site over the summer, it would be rather good to have an explanation please.

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MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 22/09/2015 08:51

Hello all,
The problems yesterday were caused by an internal tech error - which resulted in the entire database being erased. That meant we had to restore it from the latest back up, and that took quite a few hours, as it's huge. We may have lost a very small amount of data - i.e. some of the posts just before the database was wiped.

I haven't gone into the ins and outs of it yet as lots of people were up very late last night but it definitely wasn't an outside attack, and we're confident that what allowed the error to happen has been fixed, so it shouldn't happen again.

Many apologies for the outage. I really hope it didn't inconvenience anyone too much.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:43

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of updates; unfortunately there wasn't really much to say beyond 'we're working on it' until the site came back up in the early hours of the morning. Tech have isolated the problem, so things should be up and running smoothly from hereonin - apologies again for the loss of service. Those on the tech desk who were up through the night have now passed the baton on to those who managed some sleep; they're looking to see if there are any residual problems, and will work on them if there are. We'll keep you posted, and meanwhile, do please report any issues you come across to [email protected] - or post them here.

Thanks v much
MNHQ

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:56

@lloydlf76

That hasn't actually answered the question of what happened yesterday though? I'm glad the techs were working on it but what is it? Site issues or hacker issues?

It was entirely a tech issue, lloyd - as Justine said in her post, there was an internal error that resulted in the database being erased. Definitely not an external attack.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:57

@mermaidbutmytailfelloff

Sarah mn- it ISNT working well now though since active convos still link to the "it's not working" thread. There is another thread on it in site stuff,

thanks mermaid - I'll flag this to tech now. Everyone else - do please point out any other errors you're getting. Thanks again

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:59

Actually, mermaid, could you clarify a bit? Do you mean when you click on active convos you're being taken to this thread, or that it's happening when you click on threads WITHIN active convos, IYSWIM?

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:17

@ouryve

What I'm more curious about is, why is there not the usual banner saying "MNHQ have commented on this thread"?

Good question ourvye - I'll ask about this too.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:17

@NorbertDentressangle

SarahMumsnet - I've got the same problem as mermaid.

When I click on the Active tab I get sent to a page that says "We're sorry, the site is currently down. Tech's working hard to sort things out and we hope to be back up soon; meanwhile why not come and hang out with us on Facebook or Twitter?" and has the twitter feed below it.

This happens on my laptop and phone.

and thanks Norbert - v helpful. Will let you know what tech say asap.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:22

OK - on the error page still showing - I have BrunoTech sitting by my desk now Smile. He says - can you try clearing your cache? It sounds most like a browser issue at your end - would you mind trying that and letting us know what happens?

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:27

On the AIBU question - could you possibly try clearing your caches too, and see if that sorts things out?

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:29

@QueenStromba

I've just cleared my cache and can get onto AIBU now. This is how to do it on Firefox:

Firefox

1 From the History menu, select Clear Recent History. ...
2 From the Time range to clear: drop-down menu, select the desired range; to clear your entire cache, select Everything.
3 Next to "Details", click the down arrow to choose which elements of the history to clear; to clear your entire cache, select all items.

For the last step I deselected everything but cache and that worked.

Brilliant! thanks QueenStromba - and for the crib sheet Smile

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:30

@ouryve

What I'm more curious about is, why is there not the usual banner saying "MNHQ have commented on this thread"?

That's sorted now ourvye

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:47

@rumbleinthrjungle

I can access everything fine from iPad but laptop is still showing the mumsnet is down screen. Have cleared cache, hasn't helped.

rumble, could you look at the url at the top of the page you're on on the laptop? Does it still read www.mumsnet.com/tempproblem.html ?

If so, could you try deleting the /tempproblem.html bit and hitting refresh again?

It may be that you have a window open from yesterday. If that's the case, and it still contains the temp problem url, whenever you refresh it, it's just going to refresh that url IYSWIM. If you delete the extension, you should hopefully get the live version of the site, from which you'll be able to access everything.

Have a go and let me know?

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:50

@LadyStark

Appreciate there may have not been much to say but given recent hacking issues regular reassurance to your users has huge value. Also, your last post was it should be up soon and then when people are checking 5/6 hours later they don't always know if it's still a site problem as opposed to a local user problem.

It doesn't take long to send a tweet with either a more accurate update - we will be back in the morning/whenever or assure people it's an internal tech issue that you're working hard to resolve.

If you create a void it will be filled - in this instance by Dadsec taking credit for it on Twitter.

Point taken, LadyStark. What happened last night was that we thought from about 7pm that things were just about to restart, but the goalposts kept moving. We didn't update, as we honestly thought we were within striking distance, so an update seemed redundant. Given Jeffrey, we ought to have kept more of a running commentary; you're right. Sorry for that.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:52

thanks rumble - and rats. Will get tech on it!

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 11:03

@rumbleinthrjungle

That's the url Sarah, however every time I delete the temp problem section and refresh it goes straight back to temp problem again. Have deleted all browsing histories and re started. Explorer is the browser if that helps.

Hey there - I have BrunoTech back again. He says: can you try opening a private window? Here's how:

Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button.

In the search box, type Internet Explorer, and then, in the list of results, click Internet Explorer.

Click the Tools button, point to Safety, and then click InPrivate Browsing.

If you can see Mumsnet as it should be in a private window, then the issue is with your browser not having cleared the cache/cookies fully; it could be that you've only cleared the cache for the last hour, for example (there are a number of different timeframes available). In that case, could you go into settings, change the length of time over which the cache is cleared, and try again?

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 12:30

@MrsUltracrepidarian

Well that don't emnd well. Using the in private has lost all the stuff I need for other, more useful logins like google. Thanks a lot Hmm

MrsUltra, as Norbert said, if you come out of private, your usual settings will still be there.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 12:33

@BoffinMum

If you could tweet the odd chirpy thing once an hour (not necessarily even talking about tech) during outages it would be very reassuring for the MN addict community. It felt like a black hole yesterday. I imagined this alternative universe where you had just evaporated and that was it. Nothingness.

Thanks,
Boff xx

Oh lord: apologies for inducing an existential crisis! Thanks for pointing this out: we clearly ought to have spent more time on Twitter yesterday, and will bear in mind should anything like this happen again.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 12:34

@BoreOfWhabylon

Just been thrown out again for about 15 mins - 502 Bad Gateway

Now managed to get back but had to sign in again and v v slooow

I'll flag this one to Tech - thanks for letting us know.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 09:22

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know I'm here and reading through everyone's comments; will respond asap

SarahMumsnet

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 09:24

@moab

When I try to post I get this

thanks for the screenshot moab; forwarding this one to tech

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 09:28

OK - looks like the key issues are with Threads I'm On and AIBU not appearing; I'm asking Tech to look at these now and will report back as soon as they've had a dig. Thanks for flagging, folks - and sorry again for the inconvenience Flowers

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 09:43

@moab

When I try to post I get this

Hi moab - could you possibly mail [email protected] to tell us where you were were trying to post, and what it was you were posting, when the error message came up?

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 10:19

@Egosumquisum

I love the redirect though.

mmsnet - goes to M&Ms - simple typo !!!

Blush - yes, we spotted that one ego. Tech are aware and hopefully adding in a 'u' as we speak Grin

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 10:21

@diddl

Now I'm on my tablet-can't get on on my laptop!

diddl, not to sound like a stuck record, but can I double check that you've cleared your cache, closed the windows you have open, opened a new window and tried to get on to the site through that? If that doesn't work, I'll get tech to take a look. Thanks for your patience.

MNHQ

SarahMumsnet · 23/09/2015 10:36

@diddl

OK, the clearing thing worked!

hooray! and

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