Apache server not starting

[bzflaglegomaniac@…]

I was trying to resolve a problem whereby the server locks up when I transfer a large file (with "broken pipe" messages on the screen), but now I have a bigger problem:

I'm not sure what I did or how I did it (I was changing BIOS settings and didn't touch the OS) but now apache2 ins't starting. Hence I have no management via either localhost nor via https: from another computer.

service apache2 restart doesn't do the trick. Neither does service zentyal restart

(Forgive me - it's 3 in the morning so I may have the commands not-quite-right)

At any rate, I'm still a bit wet behind the ears in linux server management. Can someone give me some guidance on how to debug this?

BTW. When I use service zentyal restart, there is an error when it tries to stop apache. Shouldn't it be trying to restart apache2 instead?

[jacalvo@…]

Zentyal has its own standalone apache managed by /etc/init.d/zentyal apache restart, the apache2 is managed by the zentyal-webserver module.

We can't reproduce this, which settings were you changing in the BIOS? We would need more information to understand what's happening. Please, reopen if you think it is really a Zentyal bug and not a problem with your system, providing the steps you follow to reproduce it.

I mean, check if you still can reproduce it after the /etc/init.d/zentyal apache restart, and check for errors in /var/log/zentyal/* if that command fails. Thanks!

[BZFlagLEGOManiac@…]

The server is running on a Fit-PC2i. The original problem I was trying to solve was that, when large file transfers are taking place, the system's interfaces hang. That is a known issue of the hardware and not Zentyal related. The fix that was suggested and which I implemented prior to losing apache was the change the following BIOS setting:

Processor full speed: GV3 Only

This has to do with processor throttling and so I doubt it has anything to do with apache.

I doubt that this is a true bug in Zentyal, as it's been reliable for me for 7 months. I'm only asking here to heed the warning at log in that the server is controlled by Zentyal and should not be modified unless you know what you're doing, and I'm not completely convinced that I do, so I though I'd ask for guidance here so that I make a bad situation worse.

In hopes I can still get some guidance, here's what's happening:

From the Zentyal Server:

 https://localhost or  https://192.168.0.200, either way, it fails to connect (ie. No responce).  http://192.168.0.200 gets the standard apache test page: "It works!". I did have the web server module turned on but never got around to actually using it.

From any workstation:

All http or https connections to 192.168.0.200 fail (time out). I would almost get the impression that there's a firewall rule blocking access. For the standard http connection, I could understand this as I turned it on without configuring it, but I did not intentionally do anything to block https access.

The last things I recall doing on the server itself (via the management interface) was to lower the DG filter status from Strict to the next lowest setting. Which seemed to go OK (ie. I didn't lose the connection doing it). Also, I viewed the firewall rules under "Rules added by Zentyal Server (Advanced)" and posted them to ticket #3449 in relation to another question.

Thanks for the info about Zentyal having it's own separate apache setup. I was confused by that, initially.

root@FitPC2i:/# service zentyal apache status EBox: status module apache: [ RUNNING ]

root@FitPC2i:/# /etc/init.d/zentyal apache restart

• Restarting Zentyal module: apache [ OK ]

I'm leaning toward a firewall problem...

Stopping the firewall service:

Connection from workstation to  http://192.168.0.200 yeilds the "It Works!" page, as expected. Connection from workstation to  https://192.168.0.200 times out.

The logs you suggested I look at don't have any entries past Nov. 11th and seem to be Ok up to that point.

I'm not sure how to proceed.

[BZFlagLEGOManiac@…]

I've done some more exploring:

/etc/init.d/zentyal firewall start

• Restarting Zentyal module: firewall [ OK ]

root@FitPC2i:/home/matthias# /etc/init.d/zentyal restart

• Stopping Zentyal module: squid [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: samba [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: ftp [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: users [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: remoteservices [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: openvpn [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: monitor [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: logs [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: ids [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: events [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: dns [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: dhcp [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: ca [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: audit [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: antivirus [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: firewall [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: network [ OK ]
• Stopping Zentyal module: apache [fail]

root command /usr/share/zentyal/apache2ctl stop failed. Error output: [Tue Nov 15 11:57:34 2011] [warn] Useless use of AllowOverride? in line 17 of /var/lib/zentyal/conf/remoteservices/soap-loc.conf.

(20014)Internal error: Error retrieving pid file /var/lib/zentyal/tmpapache.pid Remove it before continuing if it is corrupted.

Command output: . Exit value: 1

• Starting Zentyal module: network [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: firewall [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: antivirus [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: audit [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: ca [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: dhcp [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: dns [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: events [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: ids [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: logs [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: monitor [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: openvpn [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: remoteservices [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: users [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: ftp [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: samba [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: squid [ OK ]
• Starting Zentyal module: apache [ OK ]

I'm curious about:

Error retrieving pid file /var/lib/zentyal/tmpapache.pid

First of all, the can't be right. Also /var/lib/zentyal/tmp/apache.pid is an empty file. Should it be?

Second, paying closer attention, I see that the connections to http: are truly timing out when the firewall is on and connecting when it's off, but in either case the connections to https: are rejected immediately, even with the firewall off.

[jacalvo@…]

The in the path is not wrong, just a bit ugly, but it's harmless, don't worry about it ;)

Please try the following:

sudo pkill -9 apache
sudo rm /var/lib/zentyal/tmp/apache.pid
sudo /etc/init.d/zentyal apache restart

[BZFlagLEGOManiac@…]

Brilliant! Thank you. That solved the problem.

Interesting. Apache.pid initially showed up as a blank file. After restart it contains "29791". I saw the error but never thought to actually delete it since it was blank anyway. I've learned something.