Apache not able to restart

Question

Trying to restart apache from terminal using the following command:

 sudo service apache2 restart

When executing that command, I'm getting below error:

Job for apache2.service failed. See "systemctl status apache2.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

On excuting "systemctl status apache2.service" I get this output:

apache2.service - (null)
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/apache2)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sat 2015-05-30 02:22:41 IST; 12s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 4866 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/apache2 start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Apache error.log:

AH00489: Apache/2.4.12 (Unix) configured -- resuming normal operations
AH00094: Command line: '/usr/local/apache2/bin/httpd'

after you run the apache2 restart and get that error, run sudo journalctl -xe that will give you a better idea about what happened. if you still have issues understanding it. Post the results here. — grag42, May 29 '15 at 20:50
ok. That didn't help me either. What is in the apache log files. /var/log/apache2/error.log — grag42, May 29 '15 at 20:56
@grag42 thanks for your suggestion, I ran sudo journalctl -xe and found some rewrite rule issue was there and fixed it and its running now. — Gautam Savaliya, May 29 '15 at 21:10
@rancho: What leads you to believe the question is a duplicate? The linked question contains a quite specific error message which we don't have here. The possible causes for OP's issue a pretty unclear at this moment. — David Foerster, Aug 05 '16 at 13:52
In my case case port 80 was taken, so I had to shut it down, sudo fuser 80/tcp -l , after this I was able to start apache — Armin, Jan 30 '20 at 20:10

score 132 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 22 '19 at 23:46

132

There is some syntax error in the file apache2.conf.

In a terminal, type:

cd /etc/apache2

Then:

apache2ctl configtest

It will show you where is the error in the apache2.conf file to correct.

edited Aug 22 '19 at 23:46

Eliah Kagan

117,780

answered Aug 01 '16 at 18:31

rancho

4,036

2

great approach tnx, saved my time – George G Nov 03 '17 at 18:52
1

This is fantastic. – abalter May 24 '18 at 05:03
1

Thanks. Was a problem with redmine and PassengerResolveSymlinksInDocumentRoot option. – Vadim Jun 19 '18 at 05:24
5

lol, after execute: apache2ctl configtest got syntax ok, but when i run apache2 --help got apache2: Syntax error on line 82 of /etc/apache2/apache2.conf: DefaultRuntimeDir must be a valid directory, absolute or relative to ServerRoot and no errors in apache error.log ! – Vladimir Ch Apr 05 '19 at 18:52
1

after see closely to /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/ dir, i noticed, that i got file, not symbolic linc to site.conf + reenable mod php5.6 (sudo a2dismod php5.6 ; sudo a2enmod php5.6) my service apache2 has been started without "ohh-ahh" – Vladimir Ch Apr 05 '19 at 19:19
Thanks for this technique. In my PC, the problem was that the log directory of Apache2 in /var/log/ directory was missing. Once I recreated the directory using mkdir /var/log/apache2, it didn't complain anymore. – Puspam Mar 01 '20 at 10:05
Thanks, that was a life-saver. – ericgr Jul 31 '20 at 19:33
Thanks saved My lot of time – Nirali Khoda Oct 22 '20 at 08:58
You may need to run this with sudo or its output may be a bit misleading. – tyler.frankenstein Sep 23 '21 at 20:20
The error was due to the line :Include /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf which includes an empty file, so I've commented it and everything is OK now – NAND Jun 05 '23 at 18:46
worked like a charm.+1 – Death-is-the-real-truth Dec 05 '23 at 13:07

score 89 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 18 '15 at 14:51

89

Maybe this will help to find the cause:

journalctl | tail

In my case it was a mistake in the configuration file:

AH00526: Syntax error on line 5 of /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/mydomain-wsf.lan.conf

edited Aug 18 '15 at 14:51

Andrea Corbellini

15,826

answered Aug 18 '15 at 10:16

Arek

996

7

No journal files were found. – tread Sep 09 '15 at 19:27
6

@StevieG, try sudo journalctl | tail – Dherik Dec 09 '15 at 12:36
1

What did you do to fix the thing? – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 22 '16 at 15:42
in my case, i also did a mistake in the apache2.config file – alamin Sep 01 '16 at 07:41
Thanks. I wrong typed my directory for my newly added site conf. – Lynnell Neri Feb 28 '18 at 03:52

score 40 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 31 '16 at 08:35

40

The problem is because some configuration files are deleted, you have to reinstall it.

REINSTALL APACHE2:

To replace configuration files that have been deleted, without purging the package, you can do:

sudo apt-get -o DPkg::Options::="--force-confmiss" --reinstall install apache2

To fully remove the apache2 config files, you should:

sudo apt-get purge apache2

which will then let you reinstall it in the usual way with:

sudo apt-get install apache2

Purge is required to remove all the config files - if you delete the config files but only remove the package, then this is remembered & missing config files are not reinstalled by default.

Then REINSTALL PHP5:

apt-get purge libapache2-mod-php5 php5 && \
apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5 php5

edited Mar 31 '16 at 08:35

Parto

15,325
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answered Mar 15 '16 at 10:06

Rujika Rajan

409

2

Why do you think some configuration files were deleted? – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 22 '16 at 15:43
Thank you for pointing me to purge! This one fixed my issues with apache2 not running: $ sudo apt purge apache2 && sudo apt install apache2 – Fred Feb 14 '22 at 12:23
This works for me. Genius! – Carlos Eduardo Baldocchi Apr 06 '23 at 12:12

score 6 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 27 '16 at 08:37

6

Problem:

Job for apache2.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status apache2.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

Solution:

To fully remove the apache2 config files, you should:

1) sudo apt-get purge apache2
which will then let you reinstall it in the usual way with:

2) sudo apt-get install apache2

==> It Works fine...

thanks....

edited Dec 27 '16 at 08:37

Videonauth

33,355
17
105
120

answered Dec 27 '16 at 07:12

Riyal Padhiyar

61
1
1

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 01 '17 at 19:47

I got the same error after removing a virtual host. The problem was the lingering SSL conf file associated with that host located in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled. The SSL was through Let's Encrypt so the code for me to remove was:

sudo rm yourdomain.com-le-ssl.conf

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 15 '17 at 12:12

3

you most likely have a syntax error. for me it was in my 'sites-enabled' folder.

i mis-spelled 'ServerAlias' to 'ServerAlisa'.

answered Sep 15 '17 at 12:12

Bruce Tong

151
3

Mine was I misspelled my folder. – Lynnell Neri Feb 28 '18 at 03:50

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 26 '17 at 05:48

I got the Same errors While working with .htaccess

I just put this command

<Directory /var/www/html>
                Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
                AllowOverride All
                Order allow,deny
                allow from all
</Directory>

in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf this folder

after adding this i have getting the error

then i delete these peace of command from the file and my error has resolved.

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 08 '19 at 11:20

In my case, the error started to appear after doing apt upgrade. After playing a lot I went to following directories to see what I can disable.

/etc/apache2/mods-enabled - a2dismod (to turn back on a2enconf)
/etc/apache2/conf-enabled - a2disconf (to turn back on a2enconf)

In my case, I had to those MODS enabled.

It seems that apt-upgrade must have removed/broken php7.2 because as soon as I disabled it and restarted everything worked. Of course, in anyone else's case, it may be something different. When Apache crashes it may be bad config or bad mod. You have to pick your battles.

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 07 '20 at 09:14

For what it may be relevant at this stage, but today I came across the same problem and it turned out to be an issue with the certificate file.

So eventually the config was all ok, but in uploading the new .crt content I did in the wrong file, meaning there were no more matching for a particular site and the whole server was refusing to start.

No indication of incorrect SSL certificate in the log or anywhere else, which took me a while to figure out.

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 20 '16 at 06:15

1

This is mostly a configuration error. I just now had an old site enabled on apache, what caused this error. So I had to disable it before reloading apache.

sudo a2dissite <my-site>
sudo service apache2 reload

Problem solved :)

answered Aug 20 '16 at 06:15

Thomas Venturini

739

score 1 · Answer 11 · edited Jan 16 '17 at 06:41

1

Thank you for your help! I was able to install correctly with Solution:

To fully remove the apache2 config files, you should:

sudo apt-get purge apache2 which will then let you reinstall it in the usual way with:
sudo apt-get install apache 2

It now works fine.

edited Jan 16 '17 at 06:41

muru

197,895
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answered Jan 16 '17 at 01:41

Renata Sembay

11

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered May 16 '17 at 14:56

1

I think the problem is that you have some site enabled but you deleted its configuration file. Try disabling the site with sudo a2dissite "name" and then restart apache server. At least this was the problem for me and this action solved it.

answered May 16 '17 at 14:56

Ilias Koritsas

11

Apache not able to restart

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