Cobra Forum

Question: A website hosted in Plesk shows 500 Internal Server Error: Option FollowSymLinks not allowed here


Applicable to:

• Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

• A website is not accessible with the following error message in a web-browser:

500 Internal Server Error.

• The following error message appears on the logs page in Plesk at Domains > example.com > Logs:

[core:alert] /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/.htaccess: Option FollowSymlinks not allowed here

[core:alert] /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/.htaccess: Option All not allowed here


Cause

The setting Restrict the ability to follow symbolic links is enabled at Domains > example.com > Hosting & DNS > Apache & nginx Settings.


Resolution

1.Log in to Plesk.

2.Go to Domains > example.com > Hosting & DNS > Apache & nginx Settings.

3.Disable the setting Restrict the ability to follow symbolic links.

4.Apply the changes.

Note: To manage this setting for all domains in Plesk, visit this KB article.

(https://pix.cobrasoft.org/images/2025/12/15/Screenshot_2020-12-10_Apache_nginx_Settings_for_example_com_-_Plesk_Obsidian_18_0_30.png)

Note: The setting can also be adjusted via domain's .htaccess file. Open the .htaccess file in domain's document root directory and change the setting Options All -Indexes to Options -Indexes to remove the error "Option All not allowed here".