Apache2 Won't Start

Question

I have set up ubuntu server on an old pc with webmin as well. I am not sure what was going on but i restarted the server and when it boots it now get this when Apache tries to start.

 * Starting web server apache2
apache2: Syntax error on line 237 of /etc/apache2/apache2.conf: Could not open configuration file /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default: No such file or directory
Action 'start' failed.
The Apache error log may have more information.

I have checked this file on this line and it looks like this:

# Include the virtual host configurations:
Include sites-enabled/

I have removed Apache and re installed it but not sure why it still fails.

Allargando

That doesn't look like your apache log, check /var/log/apache2 or /var/log/httpd – Bradeord

@Bradeord this is what i get in the command line i have managed to get to the log and there no entries for the time around when i did try – Allargando

I'm not sure I fully understand, does the file "/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default" actually exist? If it does, is it a symlink or a file? If it is a symlink, what does it point to? – Bradeord

@Bradeord the file does exist in the sites-enabled folder i checked it am it is a symlink. it is pointing to the ..sites-available/default the only file or folder in the sites-available folder is default-ssl do i just change this to the other file in the folder called kooserver.conf? – Allargando

The symlink will need to point to something valid, if kooserver.conf is your configuration, then yes. Apache includes everything in the sites-enabled directory, and typically the sites-enabled just contains symlinks to the sites-available directory. This makes it easy to enable and disable sites by adding or removing symlinks, rather than modifying the site configuration files or file locations. – Bradeord

@Bradeord i have changed it too kooserver and kooserver.conf and it still does the same – Allargando

Can you show the output of "ls -l /etc/apache2/sites-enabled" and "ls -l /etc/apache2/sites-available"? – Bradeord

I have just tried this which i have just found on a forum: root@kooserver:~# sudo a2ensite default ERROR: /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default is a dangling symlink! ERROR: Site default does not exist! – Allargando

remove the symlink to default in the sites-enabled – Bradeord

root@kooserver:~# ls -l /etc/apache2/sites-enabled total 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Oct 9 15:26 000-default -> ../sites-available/default lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 43 Oct 9 14:07 kooserver.conf -> /etc/apache2/sites-available/kooserver.conf – Allargando

root@kooserver:~# ls -l /etc/apache2/sites-available total 12 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7469 Feb 7 2012 default-ssl -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 156 Oct 9 15:10 kooserver.conf – Allargando

@Bradeord do you mean delete the file? – Allargando

yes, remove sites-enabled/default, it's not pointing to anything – Bradeord

I have removed it but i now get another error: Starting web server apache2 apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.1.1 for ServerName NameVirtualHost 192.168.1.22:0 has no VirtualHosts NameVirtualHost *:80 has no VirtualHosts (99)Cannot assign requested address: make_sock: could not bind to address 192.168.1.22:90 no listening sockets available, shutting down Unable to open logs Action 'start' failed. The Apache error log may have more information. – Allargando

That's a whole different issue, probably best to open a new question or search existing ones for the appropriate answer on this site. – Bradeord

Answer 1

As also answered by Qben, the issue was an invalid symlink in the sites-enabled folder. Removing the broken symlink and adding a valid one will fix the issue.

Bradeord

Answer 2

You do not have a default site enabled:

/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default: No such file or directory

site-enabled should contain symlinks to files in site-available and I guess your 000-default symlink does not link to a real file in site-available.

I guess this Ubuntu guide might be of interest for you.

Besmear

Thanks I have just looked in the sites-enabled folder and there is a file called "000-default" and in the "site-available" folder there is the following files. "default-ssl" and kooserver.conf – Allargando

Answer 3

One of the reason may be that you might have some site that is not enabled.To check that

1. Go to /etc/apache2/sites-enabled
2. Out of many/some [sitename].conf files , one/some may be crossed
3. Delete those found crossed

4. Restart apache server

   sudo service apache2 restart.

Hope this has helped you , but may be some other reason too. Thank you.

Saragossa

i appreciate your attempt to answer, but try answer like answer not like comment. – Cadi

I made some changes , hope this helps !! – Saragossa