Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions for Atomic Edge WAF configuration.

Site Not Loading

Symptoms

• Site returns "Connection refused" or "Site can’t be reached"
• Blank page or timeout errors

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. DNS not configured correctly

• Verify your domain’s A record points to Atomic Edge’s IP
• Use nslookup yourdomain.com to check DNS
• Wait 5-60 minutes for DNS propagation

2. Backend IP incorrect

• Check the Backend IP in General settings
• Verify your web server is running: curl http://your-backend-ip
• Ensure the IP is accessible from Atomic Edge

3. Site disabled

• Check if "Active" toggle is enabled in General settings
• Re-enable the site if it was disabled

4. Firewall blocking Atomic Edge

• Whitelist Atomic Edge’s IPs in your server firewall
• Check your hosting provider’s firewall settings

SSL/HTTPS Errors

Symptoms

• "Your connection is not private" warnings
• SSL certificate errors
• Mixed content warnings

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. Backend SSL misconfigured

• If your backend uses HTTPS, enable "Backend SSL" in General settings
• If using self-signed certificate, disable "SSL Verification" (not recommended for production)

2. Certificate mismatch

• Ensure your backend server has a valid SSL certificate
• Certificate must match your domain name

3. Mixed content

• Check your site for hardcoded HTTP:// links
• Use relative URLs or HTTPS:// for all resources

Legitimate Traffic Being Blocked

Symptoms

• Users report "Access Denied" or 403 errors
• Your own IP is blocked
• Legitimate requests in WAF logs

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. WAF false positive

• Check WAF logs to identify the triggering rule
• Add the rule ID to "Disabled Rules" in WAF settings
• Example: 913100,920100

2. IP blacklisted

• Check IP Blacklist in Access Control
• Remove the IP if it was added by mistake

3. Geographic blocking

• Check if the user’s country is blocked
• Adjust geographic restrictions if needed

4. Rate limiting too strict

• Increase "Events Per Minute" in Rate Limiting
• Enable "Whitelist Bypass" for your own IPs

5. Page Protection blocking

• Check Page Protection rules
• Verify the IP is in the whitelist for that URI
• Enable "Inherit Global Whitelist"

Performance Issues

Symptoms

• Site loading slowly
• Timeouts
• High latency

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. Backend server slow

• Atomic Edge adds minimal latency (~5-20ms)
• Check your backend server performance
• Use curl -w "@curl-format.txt" https://yoursite.com to measure timing

2. Rate limiting interfering

• Check if legitimate traffic is being rate limited
• Increase rate limit threshold
• Enable whitelist bypass

3. WAF processing overhead

• WAF adds ~10-30ms per request
• This is normal and necessary for security
• If critical, disable specific heavy rulesets

4. Geographic distance

• Latency increases with distance to Atomic Edge servers
• Contact support about edge locations

WAF Not Blocking Attacks

Symptoms

• Known attacks getting through
• No entries in WAF logs
• Site still vulnerable

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. WAF not enabled

• Check that WAF toggle is enabled
• Verify rule groups are selected

2. Rules disabled

• Check "Disabled Rules" field
• Remove rule IDs if they were disabled by mistake

3. IP whitelisted

• Whitelisted IPs bypass WAF
• Check if attacker IP is in whitelist

4. DNS not configured

• Traffic not flowing through Atomic Edge
• Verify DNS points to Atomic Edge

5. Attack type not covered

• Some attacks may not be detected by current rulesets
• Contact support to add custom rules

Bot Blocking Not Working

Symptoms

• AI bots still accessing site
• No blocked bot entries in logs

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. Bot blocking not enabled

• Check that "Enable Bot Blocking" toggle is on
• Verify bot providers are selected

2. Bot using unknown IPs

• Some bots may use undisclosed IP ranges
• IP lists are updated daily but may not be complete

3. Bot IP whitelisted

• Check if bot IP is in global whitelist
• Remove if added by mistake

4. DNS not configured

• Traffic not flowing through Atomic Edge
• Verify DNS configuration

Rate Limiting Not Working

Symptoms

• No 429 errors in logs
• Abuse continuing despite rate limits

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. Rate limiting not enabled

• Check that rate limiting is configured
• Verify "Events Per Minute" is set

2. Whitelist bypass enabled

• Whitelisted IPs bypass rate limiting
• Check if abuser IP is whitelisted

3. Distributed attack

• Attacker using many different IPs
• Consider geographic blocking or IP blacklist

4. Rate limit too high

• Lower "Events Per Minute" threshold
• Monitor logs to find appropriate limit

Logs Not Appearing

Symptoms

• Empty log tables
• No traffic statistics
• Missing WAF events

Possible Causes & Solutions

1. DNS not configured

• Traffic not flowing through Atomic Edge
• Verify DNS points to Atomic Edge

2. Site disabled

• Check if "Active" toggle is enabled
• Re-enable the site

3. Log processing delay

• Logs may take 1-5 minutes to appear
• Wait and refresh the page

4. Date filter too narrow

• Check date range filter
• Expand to "Last 7 Days" or "All Time"

Getting Help

If you’ve tried these solutions and still have issues:

1. Check the Status Page: status.atomicedge.io
2. Review Documentation: Browse other help topics in this section
3. Contact Support:
   • Email: support@atomicedge.io
   • Include: Site URL, description of issue, relevant log entries
   • Attach: Screenshots if applicable

Information to Include

When contacting support, please provide:

• Site URL: The domain experiencing issues
• Issue Description: What’s happening vs. what you expect
• Steps to Reproduce: How to trigger the issue
• Logs: Relevant entries from WAF or Access logs
• Configuration: Settings you’ve tried
• Timeline: When the issue started

Diagnostic Commands

Useful commands for troubleshooting:

Check DNS

nslookup yourdomain.com
dig yourdomain.com

Test Backend Server

curl -I http://your-backend-ip
curl -I https://your-backend-ip

Test Through Atomic Edge

curl -I https://yourdomain.com
curl -v https://yourdomain.com

Check SSL Certificate

openssl s_client -connect yourdomain.com:443 -servername yourdomain.com

Test Rate Limiting

for i in {1..70}; do curl -I https://yourdomain.com; done

Test WAF

curl "https://yourdomain.com/?id=1' OR '1'='1"

Maintenance Windows

If you need to perform maintenance:

1. Disable Site: Turn off "Active" toggle
2. Perform Maintenance: Update your backend server
3. Test Backend: Verify everything works
4. Re-enable Site: Turn on "Active" toggle
5. Monitor Logs: Check for any issues

Important: Disabling a site stops all traffic routing. Visitors will not be able to access your site through Atomic Edge.