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I had a full functioning ubuntu 14.04 with apache2 serving up a ror website with Passenger Standalone in reverse proxy. After upgrading to 16.04 it all stopped working although I can still access the site using 'just' passenger standalone.

After a LOT of 'investigations' I'm coming to the conclusion that there is something wrong with the basic apache2 installation on my machine. So I went back to basics.

I created a VirtualHost which is as follows:

ServerName pd DocumentRoot /home/purvez/www/testapp/public

I saved this as a file in /etc/apache2/sites-available/pd.conf

I then ran sudo a2ensite pd.conf which put a symlink into /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/pd.conf

I have a very simple index.html which consists of a single line as follows:

<h1>Test pd site</h1>

and I also have an entry in hosts

127.0.0.1  pd

I've restarted the apache server and re-booted the machine.

However when I go to pd in a web page all I get is the Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page (the start bit of it has this text)...

Ubuntu Logo Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page It works!

This is the default welcome page used to test the correct operation of the Apache2 server after installation on Ubuntu systems. It is based on the equivalent page on Debian, from which the Ubuntu Apache packaging is derived. If you can read this page, it means that the Apache HTTP server installed at this site is working properly. You should replace this file (located at /var/www/html/index.html) before continuing to operate your HTTP server.

If you are a normal user of this web site and don't know what this page is about, this probably means that the site is currently unavailable due to maintenance. If the problem persists, please contact the site's administrator. Configuration Overview

etc.

The other mad thing is even if I shutdown the apache service I still get the same page.

Currently it looks to me like apache2 is either NOT working or if working is just serving up the 'Default Page'.

----------Edit 1 for @eldergeek who wanted the full apache2.conf

#
# Based upon the NCSA server configuration files originally by Rob McCool.
#
# This is the main Apache server configuration file.  It contains the
# configuration directives that give the server its instructions.
# See http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/ for detailed information about
# the directives.
#
# Do NOT simply read the instructions in here without understanding
# what they do.  They're here only as hints or reminders.  If you are unsure
# consult the online docs. You have been warned.  
#
# The configuration directives are grouped into three basic sections:
#  1. Directives that control the operation of the Apache server process as a
#     whole (the 'global environment').
#  2. Directives that define the parameters of the 'main' or 'default' server,
#     which responds to requests that aren't handled by a virtual host.
#     These directives also provide default values for the settings
#     of all virtual hosts.
#  3. Settings for virtual hosts, which allow Web requests to be sent to
#     different IP addresses or hostnames and have them handled by the
#     same Apache server process.
#
# Configuration and logfile names: If the filenames you specify for many
# of the server's control files begin with "/" (or "drive:/" for Win32), the
# server will use that explicit path.  If the filenames do *not* begin
# with "/", the value of ServerRoot is prepended -- so "foo.log"
# with ServerRoot set to "/etc/apache2" will be interpreted by the
# server as "/etc/apache2/foo.log".
#

### Section 1: Global Environment
#
# The directives in this section affect the overall operation of Apache,
# such as the number of concurrent requests it can handle or where it
# can find its configuration files.
#

#
# ServerRoot: The top of the directory tree under which the server's
# configuration, error, and log files are kept.
#
# NOTE!  If you intend to place this on an NFS (or otherwise network)
# mounted filesystem then please read the LockFile documentation (available
# at <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mpm_common.html#lockfile>);
# you will save yourself a lot of trouble.
#
# Do NOT add a slash at the end of the directory path.
#
#ServerRoot "/etc/apache2"

#
# The accept serialization lock file MUST BE STORED ON A LOCAL DISK.
#
# LockFile ${APACHE_LOCK_DIR}/accept.lock

#
# PidFile: The file in which the server should record its process
# identification number when it starts.
# This needs to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
#
PidFile ${APACHE_PID_FILE}

#
# Timeout: The number of seconds before receives and sends time out.
#
Timeout 300

#
# KeepAlive: Whether or not to allow persistent connections (more than
# one request per connection). Set to "Off" to deactivate.
#
KeepAlive On

#
# MaxKeepAliveRequests: The maximum number of requests to allow
# during a persistent connection. Set to 0 to allow an unlimited amount.
# We recommend you leave this number high, for maximum performance.
#
MaxKeepAliveRequests 100

#
# KeepAliveTimeout: Number of seconds to wait for the next request from the
# same client on the same connection.
#
KeepAliveTimeout 5

##
## Server-Pool Size Regulation (MPM specific)
## 

# prefork MPM
# StartServers: number of server processes to start
# MinSpareServers: minimum number of server processes which are kept spare
# MaxSpareServers: maximum number of server processes which are kept spare
# MaxClients: maximum number of server processes allowed to start
# MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
<IfModule mpm_prefork_module>
    StartServers          5
    MinSpareServers       5
    MaxSpareServers      10
    MaxClients          150
    MaxRequestsPerChild   0
</IfModule>

# worker MPM
# StartServers: initial number of server processes to start
# MinSpareThreads: minimum number of worker threads which are kept spare
# MaxSpareThreads: maximum number of worker threads which are kept spare
# ThreadLimit: ThreadsPerChild can be changed to this maximum value during a
#              graceful restart. ThreadLimit can only be changed by stopping
#              and starting Apache.
# ThreadsPerChild: constant number of worker threads in each server process
# MaxClients: maximum number of simultaneous client connections
# MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
<IfModule mpm_worker_module>
    StartServers          2
    MinSpareThreads      25
    MaxSpareThreads      75 
    ThreadLimit          64
    ThreadsPerChild      25
    MaxClients          150
    MaxRequestsPerChild   0
</IfModule>

# event MPM
# StartServers: initial number of server processes to start
# MinSpareThreads: minimum number of worker threads which are kept spare
# MaxSpareThreads: maximum number of worker threads which are kept spare
# ThreadsPerChild: constant number of worker threads in each server process
# MaxClients: maximum number of simultaneous client connections
# MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
<IfModule mpm_event_module>
    StartServers          2
    MinSpareThreads      25
    MaxSpareThreads      75 
    ThreadLimit          64
    ThreadsPerChild      25
    MaxClients          150
    MaxRequestsPerChild   0
</IfModule>

# These need to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
User ${APACHE_RUN_USER}
Group ${APACHE_RUN_GROUP}

#
# AccessFileName: The name of the file to look for in each directory
# for additional configuration directives.  See also the AllowOverride
# directive.
#

AccessFileName .htaccess

#
# The following lines prevent .htaccess and .htpasswd files from being 
# viewed by Web clients. 
#
<Files ~ "^\.ht">
    Order allow,deny
    Deny from all
    Satisfy all
</Files>

#
# DefaultType is the default MIME type the server will use for a document
# if it cannot otherwise determine one, such as from filename extensions.
# If your server contains mostly text or HTML documents, "text/plain" is
# a good value.  If most of your content is binary, such as applications
# or images, you may want to use "application/octet-stream" instead to
# keep browsers from trying to display binary files as though they are
# text.
#
# It is also possible to omit any default MIME type and let the
# client's browser guess an appropriate action instead. Typically the
# browser will decide based on the file's extension then. In cases
# where no good assumption can be made, letting the default MIME type
# unset is suggested  instead of forcing the browser to accept
# incorrect  metadata.
#
DefaultType None


#
# HostnameLookups: Log the names of clients or just their IP addresses
# e.g., www.apache.org (on) or 204.62.129.132 (off).
# The default is off because it'd be overall better for the net if people
# had to knowingly turn this feature on, since enabling it means that
# each client request will result in AT LEAST one lookup request to the
# nameserver.
#
HostnameLookups Off

# ErrorLog: The location of the error log file.
# If you do not specify an ErrorLog directive within a <VirtualHost>
# container, error messages relating to that virtual host will be
# logged here.  If you *do* define an error logfile for a <VirtualHost>
# container, that host's errors will be logged there and not here.
#
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log

#
# LogLevel: Control the number of messages logged to the error_log.
# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
# alert, emerg.
#
LogLevel warn

# Include module configuration:
Include mods-enabled/*.load
Include mods-enabled/*.conf

# Include all the user configurations:
# Include httpd.conf

# Include ports listing
Include ports.conf

#
# The following directives define some format nicknames for use with
# a CustomLog directive (see below).
# If you are behind a reverse proxy, you might want to change %h into %{X-Forwarded-For}i
#
LogFormat "%v:%p %h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %O \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" vhost_combined
LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %O \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" combined
LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %O" common
LogFormat "%{Referer}i -> %U" referer
LogFormat "%{User-agent}i" agent

# Include of directories ignores editors' and dpkg's backup files,
# see README.Debian for details.

# Include generic snippets of statements
#Include conf.d/

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

ServerName nexar

#LoadModule passenger_module /home/purvez/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p0@global/gems/passenger-3.0.11/ext/apache2/mod_passenger.so
#PassengerRoot /home/purvez/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p0@global/gems/passenger-3.0.11
#PassengerRuby /home/purvez/.rvm/wrappers/ruby-1.9.3-p0/ruby

----------------- End of edit 1

======== Edit 2: Here is the output of the command on cli of :

systemctl status apache2.service


systemctl status apache2.service
● apache2.service - LSB: Apache2 web server
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/apache2; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
  Drop-In: /lib/systemd/system/apache2.service.d
           └─apache2-systemd.conf
   Active: inactive (dead) since Wed 2017-04-12 20:05:23 BST; 8min ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 15645 ExecStop=/etc/init.d/apache2 stop (code=exited, status=0/SUCCES
  Process: 15628 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/apache2 start (code=exited, status=0/SUCC

Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]: (98)Address already 
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]: (98)Address already 
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]: no listening sockets
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]: AH00015: Unable to o
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]: Action 'start' faile
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]: The Apache error log
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15628]:  *
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15645]:  * Stopping Apache h
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 apache2[15645]:  *
Apr 12 20:05:23 127.0.1.1purvez-Aspire-5750 systemd[1]: Started LSB: Apache2 web
purvez@127:~$ 

I don't profess to understand all of it but it DOES look like Apache2 is running. Although the following line (about 5th / 6th from the start of the command is a bit worrying):

Active: inactive (dead) since Wed 2017-04-12 20:05:23 BST; 8min ago

================= End of Edit 2

8
  • Try clearing your cache and trying again. Also try a different browser, I've been doing a bit of work recently on my own hosted services trying to get apache to redirect to them and sometimes Chrome and Firefox would load completely different pages after I'd updated something.
    – Will
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:38
  • @Will thanks very much for your prompt response. I've cleared cache and also tried both Firefox and Chrome. No luck so far. Anything else you can think of to try please?
    – Purvez
    Apr 12, 2017 at 16:49
  • Can you edit your question and post your apache2.conf? Apr 12, 2017 at 17:01
  • @OrganicMarble Hope including the apache2.conf helps.
    – Purvez
    Apr 12, 2017 at 18:09
  • Shouldn't your Include sites-enabled/ line be Include sites-enabled/*.conf? Apr 12, 2017 at 18:15

2 Answers 2

0

Try this as a pd.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName pd
DocumentRoot /home/purvez/www/testapp/public
<Directory /home/purvez/www/testapp/public>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Require all granted
</Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Restart Apache and give it a go.

9
  • I made the changes that you suggested. Many thanks for that. .....unfortunately no change. I even went through the process of deleting cache again but no change.
    – Purvez
    Apr 12, 2017 at 18:07
  • Are you definitely connecting on port 80? try pd:80 just to be sure. It's strange you were getting the Apache page earlier even with the server turned off.
    – Will
    Apr 12, 2017 at 18:38
  • pd:80 reverts back to just pd on the browser for both firefox and chrome.....and alas it only gives me the Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page. This one is beginning to sound weird to myself!! LOL.
    – Purvez
    Apr 12, 2017 at 19:02
  • @Purvez I updated my answer. I have tried that and I can direct the document root to anywhere on my pc www-data has access to.
    – Will
    Apr 12, 2017 at 19:30
  • just seen your answer. It's 22:00+ in the UK. I'll try what you've suggested tomorrow and report back. Hope you stick around. Many thanks for all your help. Much appreciated.
    – Purvez
    Apr 12, 2017 at 21:11
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You either have something else running on port 80 (lsof -i :80 as root) or overlapping Listen directives (for port 80) throughout your various configuration files (grep -ri Listen /etc/apache2)

1
  • Many thanks for your answer. Yes it is something that is grabbing port 80. I'm currently trying to get to the bottom of that but your answer is on the right track. I'll post here once I have further info.
    – Purvez
    Apr 19, 2017 at 18:19

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