Apache Server Frequently Asked Questions

Error Log Messages and Problems Starting Apache

  1. Why do I get "setgid: Invalid argument" at startup? Your Group directive (probably in conf/httpd.conf) needs to name a group that actually exists in the /etc/group file (or your system's equivalent). This problem is also frequently seen when a negative number is used in the Group directive (e.g., "Group #-1"). Using a group name -- not group number -- found in your system's group database should solve this problem in all cases.
  2. Why am I getting "httpd: could not set socket option TCP_NODELAY" in my error log? This message almost always indicates that the client disconnected before Apache reached the point of calling setsockopt() for the connection. It shouldn't occur for more than about 1% of the requests your server handles, and it's advisory only in any case.
  3. Why am I getting "connection reset by peer" in my error log? This is a normal message and nothing about which to be alarmed. It simply means that the client canceled the connection before it had been completely set up - such as by the end-user pressing the "Stop" button. People's patience being what it is, sites with response-time problems or slow network links may experience this more than high capacity ones or those with large pipes to the network.
  4. The errorlog says Apache dumped core, but where's the dump file? In Apache version 1.2, the error log message about dumped core includes the directory where the dump file should be located. However, many Unixes do not allow a process that has called setuid() to dump core for security reasons; the typical Apache setup has the server started as root to bind to port 80, after which it changes UIDs to a non-privileged user to serve requests.
    Dealing with this is extremely operating system-specific, and may require rebuilding your system kernel. Consult your operating system documentation or vendor for more information about whether your system does this and how to bypass it. If there is a documented way of bypassing it, it is recommended that you bypass it only for the httpd server process if possible.
    The canonical location for Apache's core-dump files is the ServerRoot directory. As of Apache version 1.3, the location can be set via the CoreDumpDirectory directive to a different directory. Make sure that this directory is writable by the user the server runs as (as opposed to the user the server is started as).
  5. When I run it under Linux I get "shmget: function not found", what should I do? Your kernel has been built without SysV IPC support. You will have to rebuild the kernel with that support enabled (it's under the "General Setup" submenu). Documentation for kernel building is beyond the scope of this FAQ; you should consult the Kernel HOWTO, or the documentation provided with your distribution, or a Linux newsgroup/mailing list. As a last-resort workaround, you can comment out the #define USE_SHMGET_SCOREBOARD definition in the LINUX section of src/conf.h and rebuild the server (prior to 1.3b4, simply removing #define HAVE_SHMGET would have sufficed). This will produce a server which is slower and less reliable.
  6. Server hangs, or fails to start, and/or error log fills with "fcntl: F_SETLKW: No record locks available" or similar messages These are symptoms of a fine locking problem, which usually means that the server is trying to use a synchronization file on an NFS filesystem.
    Because of its parallel-operation model, the Apache Web server needs to provide some form of synchronization when accessing certain resources. One of these synchronization methods involves taking out locks on a file, which means that the filesystem whereon the lockfile resides must support locking. In many cases this means it can't be kept on an NFS-mounted filesystem.
    To cause the Web server to work around the NFS locking limitations, include a line such as the following in your server configuration files:
    LockFile /var/run/apache-lock
    The directory should not be generally writable (e.g., don't use /var/tmp). See the LockFile documentation for more information.

  7. Why am I getting "Expected but saw " when I try to start Apache? This is a known problem with certain versions of the AIX C compiler. IBM are working on a solution, and the issue is being tracked by problem report #2312.

  8. I'm using RedHat Linux and I have problems with httpd dying randomly or not restarting properly RedHat Linux versions 4.x (and possibly earlier) RPMs contain various nasty scripts which do not stop or restart Apache properly. These can affect you even if you're not running the RedHat supplied RPMs.
    If you're using the default install then you're probably running Apache 1.1.3, which is outdated. From RedHat's ftp site you can pick up a more recent RPM for Apache 1.2.x. This will solve one of the problems.
    If you're using a custom built Apache rather than the RedHat RPMs then you should rpm -e apache. In particular you want the mildly broken /etc/logrotate.d/apache script to be removed, and you want the broken /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd (or httpd.init) script to be removed. The latter is actually fixed by the apache-1.2.5 RPMs but if you're building your own Apache then you probably don't want the RedHat files.
    We can't stress enough how important it is for folks, especially vendors to follow the stopping Apache directions given in our documentation. In RedHat's defense, the broken scripts were necessary with Apache 1.1.x because the Linux support in 1.1.x was very poor, and there were various race conditions on all platforms. None of this should be necessary with Apache 1.2 and later.

  9. I upgraded from an Apache version earlier than 1.2.0 and suddenly I have problems with Apache dying randomly or not restarting properly You should read the previous note about problems with RedHat installations. It is entirely likely that your installation has start/stop/restart scripts which were built for an earlier version of Apache. Versions earlier than 1.2.0 had various race conditions that made it necessary to use kill -9 at times to take out all the httpd servers. But that should not be necessary any longer. You should follow the directions on how to stop and restart Apache.
    As of Apache 1.3 there is a script src/support/apachectl which, after a bit of customization, is suitable for starting, stopping, and restarting your server.

  10. When I try to start Apache from a DOS window, I get a message like "Cannot determine host name. Use ServerName directive to set it manually." What does this mean? It means what it says; the Apache software can't determine the hostname of your system. Edit your conf\httpd.conf file, look for the string "ServerName", and make sure there's an uncommented directive such as
    ServerName localhost
    or
    ServerName www.foo.com
    in the file. Correct it if there one there with wrong information, or add one if you don't already have one.
    Also, make sure that your Windows system has DNS enabled. See the TCP/IP setup component of the Networking or Internet Options control panel.
    After verifying that DNS is enabled and that you have a valid hostname in your ServerName directive, try to start the server again.

  11. When I try to start Apache for Windows, I get a message like "Unable To Locate WS2_32.DLL...". What should I do? Short answer: You need to install Winsock 2, available from http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/
    Detailed answer: Prior to version 1.3.9, Apache for Windows used Winsock 1.1. Beginning with version 1.3.9, Apache began using Winsock 2 features (specifically, WSADuplicateSocket()). WS2_32.DLL implements the Winsock 2 API. Winsock 2 ships with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98. Some of the earlier releases of Windows 95 did not include Winsock 2.

  12. Apache for Windows does not start. Error log contains this message: "[crit] (10045) The attempted operation is not supported for the type of object referenced: Parent: WSADuplicateSocket failed for socket ###". What does this mean? We have seen this problem when Apache is run on systems along with Virtual Private Networking clients like Aventail Connect. Aventail Connect is a Layered Service Provider (LSP) that inserts itself, as a "shim," between the Winsock 2 API and Window's native Winsock 2 implementation. The Aventail Connect shim does not implement WSADuplicateSocket, which is the cause of the failure.
    The shim is not unloaded when Aventail Connect is shut down. Once observed, the problem persists until the shim is either explicitly unloaded or the machine is rebooted. Another potential solution (not tested) is to add apache.exe to the Aventail "Connect Exclusion List".
    Apache is affected in a similar way by any firewall program that isn't correctly configured. Assure you exclude your Apache server ports (usually port 80) from the list of ports to block. Refer to your firewall program's documentation for the how-to.

  13. When I try to start Apache on Windows, I get a message like "System error 1067 has occurred. The process terminated unexpectedly." What does this mean? This message means that the Web server was unable to start correctly for one reason or another. To find out why, execute the following commands in a DOS window:
    c:
    cd "\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache"
    apache
    (If you don't get the prompt back, hit Control-C to cause Apache to exit.)
    The error you see will probably be one of those preceding this question in the FAQ.
    As of Apache 1.3.14, first check the Windows NT Event Log for Application errors using the Windows NT/2000 Event Viewer program. Any errors that occur prior to opening the Apache error log will be stored here, if Apache is run as a Service on NT or 2000. As with any error, also check your Apache error log.

  14. On a SuSE Linux system, I try and configure access control using basic authentication. Although I follow the example exactly, authentication fails, and an error message "admin: not a valid FDN: ...." is logged. In the SuSE distribution, additional 3rd party authentication modules have been added and activated by default. These modules interfere with the Apache standard modules and cause Basic authentication to fail. Our recommendation is to comment all those modules in /etc/httpd/suse_addmodule.conf and /etc/httpd/suse_loadmodule.conf which are not actually required for running your server.

  15. Why do I have weird entries in my logs asking for default.ida and cmd.exe? The host requesting pages from your website and creating those entries is a Windows machine running IIS that has been infected by an Internet worm such as Nimda or Code Red. You can safely ignore these error messages as they do not affect Apache. ApacheWeek has an article with more information.

  16. Why am I getting server restart messages periodically, when I did not restart the server? Problem: You are noticing restart messages in your error log, periodically, when you know you did not restart the server yourself:
    [Thu Jun  6 04:02:01 2002] [notice] SIGHUP received.  Attempting to restart
[Thu Jun  6 04:02:02 2002] [notice] Apache configured -- resuming normal operations
    Check your cron jobs to see when/if your server logs are being rotated. Compare the time of rotation to the error message time. If they are the same, you can somewhat safely assume that the restart is due to your server logs being rotated.

  17. Why am I getting "module module-name is not compatible with this version of Apache" messages in my error log? Module Magic Number (MMN) is a constant defined in Apache source that is associated with binary compatibility of modules. It is changed when internal Apache structures, function calls and other significant parts of API change in such a way that binary compatibility cannot be guaranteed any more. On MMN change, all third party modules have to be at least recompiled, sometimes even slightly changed in order to work with the new version of Apache.
    If you're getting the above error messages, contact the vendor of the module for the new binary, or compile it if you have access to the source code.

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