Setting up ads.txt on AWS Lightsail (Bitnami WordPress)

Posted on by user

Overview

If you see the following warning in Google AdSense:

“Earnings at risk – You need to fix some ads.txt file issues to avoid severe impact on your revenue.”

You need to correctly configure the ads.txt file on your AWS Lightsail instance running Bitnami WordPress. This guide explains the steps to do so.

Steps to Fix ads.txt Issue

1. Obtain Your ads.txt File Content

  1. Log in to your Google AdSense account.
  2. Navigate to Sites and select your domain.
  3. If there’s a warning about ads.txt, download the provided file or create one manually with the following content:
   google.com, pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

Replace pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX with your own AdSense Publisher ID (found in AdSense settings).

2. Connect to Your Lightsail Instance via SSH

  1. Open the AWS Lightsail dashboard.
  2. Click on your WordPress instance.
  3. Click “Connect using SSH” to open the terminal.

3. Upload the ads.txt File to the Correct Location

By default, Bitnami WordPress serves content from /opt/bitnami/wordpress/. Place the ads.txt file there:

cd /opt/bitnami/wordpress/
sudo nano ads.txt

Paste your ads.txt content and save it (Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter).

Alternatively, create the file using a single command:

echo "google.com, pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0" | sudo tee /opt/bitnami/wordpress/ads.txt

4. Adjust File Permissions

Ensure the file has the correct permissions:

sudo chown bitnami:daemon /opt/bitnami/wordpress/ads.txt
sudo chmod 644 /opt/bitnami/wordpress/ads.txt

5. Restart Apache

To apply changes, restart Apache:

sudo /opt/bitnami/ctlscript.sh restart apache

6. Verify ads.txt Availability

Check if your ads.txt is accessible by opening the following URL in your browser:

https://yourdomain.com/ads.txt

Alternatively, use curl to verify:

curl -I https://yourdomain.com/ads.txt

If successful, you should see HTTP/1.1 200 OK.

7. Clearing Cache (If Needed)

If you get a 404 error, try the following:

  • Disable caching plugins in WordPress.
  • Clear Cloudflare cache if you’re using a CDN.
  • Force refresh in your browser (Ctrl + Shift + R).
  • Retry after some time (Google may take a few hours to recognize changes).

Alternative: Use a WordPress Plugin

If manually adding ads.txt does not work, use the “Ads.txt Manager” plugin:

  1. Install and activate Ads.txt Manager from the WordPress plugin directory.
  2. Go to Settings → Ads.txt.
  3. Paste your ads.txt content and save.

Conclusion

Once set up correctly, the AdSense warning should disappear within 24-48 hours. If the issue persists, double-check file permissions, caching, and ensure the correct placement of the ads.txt file.