cURL throws 504 gateway timeout error with external website on my vps

Question

The following returns a gateway timeout on my vps (debian, squeeze)

 curl --head http://www.flipkart.com/
 HTTP/1.1 504 Gateway Timeout

But works fine i.e gives a 302 HTTP on my home computer. So I guess something is wrong in my vps settings. But what?

The same command was working fine yesterday.

Help!

Edit: PHP-cURL throws a 504 as well, which is how this problem was discovered..

Edit2: Other sites work just fine though:

 curl --head https://google.com

Edit3: I can successfully ping to flipkart.com

same command works fine i.e gives a 200 HTTP from my home computer. — gyaani_guy, Sep 25 '14 at 13:45
That's funny, because I get an instant 504 error. Which means the remote site is doing something stupid. This isn't your problem. — Michael Hampton, Sep 25 '14 at 13:46
But if the remote site can be accessed with a browser, it should be accessible from curl as well . right ? — gyaani_guy, Sep 25 '14 at 13:51

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 25 '14 at 14:05

2

Figured it out!! It was giving 504 when curl tries to resolve to ipv6

On comparing the requests, the only difference was the ip address.

So I tried forcing ipv4 resolving via

curl -4 --head  http://www.flipkart.com

and it worked!

answered Sep 25 '14 at 14:05

gyaani_guy

See, I told you the remote site was doing something stupid. :) – Michael Hampton Sep 25 '14 at 14:06
Indeed. My solution is more like a workaround. – gyaani_guy Sep 25 '14 at 14:07

1 Answers1