Troubleshooting the Cloud Files CDN when files are not refreshing

This article helps you resolve Cloud Files issues in which the files on the
CDN don't appear to be refreshing properly.

Check Rackspace status

If you're experiencing issues with Cloud Files, visit the Rackspace System
Status
page and check for
open issues that might be impacting the service.

Check support tickets

Check your open support tickets for information about any incidents that might
be affecting the service.

Use the following steps to check your open support tickets:

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.
  2. Select Tickets > Ticket List.

Check the Time to Live

A common reason that people experience files on the CDN not refreshing is due
to the Time to Live (TTL) of the container. The TTL is how much time needs to
pass before the records expire. If a container has an exceptionally high TTL,
you could be waiting quite a while before the contents of that container
update on the CDN.

Use these steps to check the TTL of a container in the Cloud Control Panel:

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.

  2. Select Storage > Files.

  3. Find the container that you want to check, click the gear icon to the left
    of its name, and then click Modify Time to Live (TTL).

    The TTL presents how much time must pass before the CDN checks for new
    versions of the files that are in the container. If the TTL is a very high
    number, then it is not surprising that the CDN files have not refreshed.

Purge objects

You have the option in the Cloud Control Panel to purge up to 25 objects per
day.

Click the gear icon to the left of the object and then choose Refresh File
(Purge)…
.

If the file was deleted and you need it deleted from the CDN, this option is
not available in the Cloud Control Panel because the object is not present.
You have the option of using the API to Delete CDN Enabled
Objects
. The 25-object
limit also applies with API calls.

Note: Some instances have thousands of objects in a container. If an
entire container needs to be purged immediately, Rackspace Support can perform
this task.

Use the following steps to create a ticket:

  1. In the Cloud Control Panel, click Support > Support Tickets.
  2. Click Create Ticket.
  3. In Category, for Type choose Cloud Files, and then choose
    CDN.
  4. Provide the following information in the ticket:
  • Do you use any CNAMEs to access this container? If so, provide the full CNAME.
  • Which access URLs do you use to access these files? HTTP, HTTPS, Streaming, or iOS?
  • Does this container host a static webpage? If so, what is your index page (typically index.html)?