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Unable to start nginx on a Plesk server: PID file /run/nginx.pid not readable (yet?) after start.

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Kuzma Ivanov
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Applicable to:

  • Plesk 12.5 for Linux
  • Plesk Onyx for Linux

Symptoms

  • The nginx service fails to start with the following error message:

    # service nginx status
    ● nginx.service - Startup script for nginx service
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
    Active: failed (Result: timeout) since Wed 2018-02-14 14:33:44 UTC; 9s ago

    Feb 14 14:32:14 multiserver-test1 systemd[1]: Starting Startup script for nginx service...
    Feb 14 14:32:14 multiserver-test1 nginx[30160]: nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
    Feb 14 14:32:14 multiserver-test1 nginx[30160]: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
    Feb 14 14:32:14 multiserver-test1 systemd[1]: PID file /run/nginx.pid not readable (yet?) after start.
    Feb 14 14:33:44 multiserver-test1 systemd[1]: nginx.service start operation timed out. Terminating.
    Feb 14 14:33:44 multiserver-test1 systemd[1]: Failed to start Startup script for nginx service.
    Feb 14 14:33:44 multiserver-test1 systemd[1]: Unit nginx.service entered failed state.
    Feb 14 14:33:44 multiserver-test1 systemd[1]: nginx.service failed.

  • The directory /var/run is not a symbolic link to the directory /run:

    # ls -ld /var/run
    drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 Feb 14 14:33 /var/run

  • The directory /run exists on the server:

    # ls -ld /run
    drwxr-xr-x 31 root root 920 Feb 19 10:01 /run

  • The pid setting is commented out in nginx configuration files:

    # grep -ir pid /etc/nginx
    /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.default:#pid /var/run/nginx.pid;
    /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:#pid /var/run/nginx.pid;

Cause

The directory /var/run is not a symbolic link to the directory /run:

# ls -ld /var/run
drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 Feb 14 14:28 /var/run

Resolution

  1. Connect to the Plesk server via SSH.

  2. Rename the original directory:

    # mv /var/run /var/run_orig

  3. Create a symbolic link to /run:

    # ln -s ../run /var/run
    # ls -ld /var/run
    lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Feb 14 14:47 /var/run -> ../run

  4. Reboot the server for the changes to take affect.

  5. Verify that nginx is running:

    # service nginx status

 

Comments

2 comments

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  • Avatar
    Dimitri

    I moved my server from one VPS to another with sanpshot. Now I read same massage in the logs. Nginx eventually starts and I have no issues with it. But it happens after each restart.

    Jun 29 05:15:17 XXX systemd: PID file /run/munin/munin-node.pid not readable (yet?) after start.
    Jun 29 05:15:17 XXX nginx: nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
    Jun 29 05:15:17 XXX systemd: Started Munin Node.
    Jun 29 05:15:17 XXX nginx: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
    Jun 29 05:15:17 XXX systemd: Failed to read PID from file /run/nginx.pid: Invalid argument

    PID is readable and /var/run is set correctly as a soft link.

    root@XXX[/]:# ls -ld /var/run
    lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 6 Aug 8 2017 /var/run -> ../run

     

    Any thoghts?

    Thank you!

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  • Avatar
    Alexey Lapshin

    Hello @Dimitri

    The issue you faced is a known Ubuntu bug. Refer to this page for workaround https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nginx/+bug/1581864

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