Plesk is unavailable with 500.0 error: The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly

• Plesk is unavailable with the following error, when open it in server's browser locally:

  CONFIG_TEXT: HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error
  C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Parallels\\Plesk\\admin\\bin\\php-cgi.exe - The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly Detailed Error Information
  Module FastCgiModule
  Notification ExecuteRequestHandler
  Handler PleskEngine-FastCGI-php
  Error Code 0xc0000005
  Requested URL https://localhost:8443/index.php
  Physical Path C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Parallels\\Plesk\\admin\\htdocs\\index.php
  Logon Method Anonymous
  Logon User Anonymous

• The following error can be found in Event viewer > Application:

  CONFIG_TEXT: Faulting application name: php-cgi.exe, version: 7.1.14.0, time stamp: 0x5a79309d
  Faulting module name: php7.dll, version: 7.1.14.0, time stamp: 0x5a793034
  Exception code: 0xc0000005
  Fault offset: 0x00000000000c87cd
  Faulting process id: 0x1a80
  Faulting application start time: 0x01d409f418a8cd48
  Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Plesk\admin\engine\php-cgi.exe
  Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Plesk\admin\engine\php7.dll
  Report Id: 5657b988-75e7-11e8-968c-020066000003

  OR

  CONFIG_TEXT: Empty repository file: C:\Program Files (x86)\Plesk\admin\repository\registry.xml
  at getWaitTimeout()(`anonymous-namespace'::TokenUpdater::getWaitTimeout line 92)
  Execute file name: C:\Program Files (x86)\Plesk\admin\bin\plesksrv.exe

• The following command does not show any output:

  C:\> "%plesk_bin%\php.exe" -v

• The following commands hangs with "Not Responding" error:

  C:\> "%plesk_dir%\admin\engine\php.exe" -v
  "%plesk_dir%\admin\engine\php-cgi.exe" -v

• The %plesk_dir%admin\repository\registry.xml file is empty.

• Below articles did not help to resolve the issue:

  • Plesk website is not available. HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error, Error Code 0xc0000005

  • Plesk is not accessible with error 500: The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly, error code 0x00000000

Cause

PHP-CGI crashes on error reporting. While the original issue is corrupted %plesk_dir%\admin\repository\registry.xml

Resolution

1. Connect to the Plesk server via RDP.

2. Go to the %plesk_dir%admin\repository folder and rename/remove the registry.xml file.

3. Go to Windows Start > All Programs > Plesk and open Plesk Services Monitor.

4. In Plesk Services Monitor, mark the Plesk Management Service and click the Restart button.

5. Log into Plesk.

6. Go to Plesk > Tools & Settings > License Management.

7. Click the Retrieve Keys button.