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# How do I restart my Faaaster site?

The **Actions** menu, in the bar at the top of the site screen, lets you restart the processes or the whole server. A **Restart** button is also available in the **Performance** tab: it restarts the server.

## Two levels of restart

The **Actions** menu offers exactly two restart options:

- **Restart PHP / Nginx** — restarts the web processes. It's the light option, almost instant, and enough in most cases.
- **Restart server** — restarts the whole container. Longer, to keep for cases where the first one didn't change anything.

The same menu also gives access to **DB credentials**, the **DB Client**, the **File editor** and **SSH / SFTP** access.

![The Actions menu: the two restart levels, then the access options.](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/9/d/2/d/9d2d3e0b7134b800/act-actions-menu-en_37jkqo.png)

## When should you restart?

- After a server configuration change that needs to be picked up.
- When the site responds poorly or not at all, before digging further.

> **Restart PHP / Nginx briefly interrupts service.** Visitors who are browsing may see an error for a few seconds. **Restart server**, on the other hand, keeps your production site online as long as the zero-downtime switchover is possible (see below).

## How long does it take?

**Restart PHP / Nginx** takes a few seconds: the web processes are restarted and the opcode cache is cleared, without touching the environment.

**Restart server** recreates the whole environment, which takes longer. On your production site, the new environment is prepared alongside, then the site switches over to it: it stays online, and a "Server restart — zero-downtime update" banner is displayed during the operation, while server changes are suspended. On a development environment, on the Dev plan, or if the zero-downtime switchover isn't possible, the site restarts and remains unavailable during the restart. A PHP version change goes through the same mechanism.

## Which one should you choose?

**Always** start with PHP / Nginx: it's the light option, and it solves most cases — a temporary error, a file edited over SSH that isn't picked up, an inconsistent opcode cache.

Only restart the server if the first one didn't change anything.

> ⚠️ **Before Restart PHP / Nginx, Faaaster tests the nginx configuration.** If a file you edited in the `conf` folder is invalid, the restart is cancelled and the site keeps running with the old configuration. The interface then shows "Invalid nginx configuration — restart aborted. Fix the configuration:", followed by the error details returned by nginx; the message stays on screen until you close it. This is a safeguard — a restart on a broken configuration would leave the site unreachable. Fix or remove that file, then try again. For any other error, the interface shows "An error occurred while processing your request".

👉 [My site is unreachable](https://help.faaaster.io/en-us/article/my-site-is-down-fqt2jm/) · [How do I change the PHP version?](https://help.faaaster.io/en-us/article/change-the-php-version-1dzn592/)