Operation Manual
user is not allowed to overwrite any Option directives when using mod_userdir (see
the /etc/apache2/mod_userdir.conf conguration le).
28.8 Troubleshooting
If Apache does not start, the Web page is not accessible, or users cannot connect to the
Web server, it is important to nd the cause of the problem. Here are some typical
places to look for error explanations and important things to check:
Output of rcapache2
Instead of starting and stopping the Web server with the binary /usr/sbin/
httpd2, rather use the rcapache2 script instead (described in Section 28.3,
“Starting and Stopping Apache” (page 460)). It is verbose about errors, and it even
provides tips and hints for solving conguration errors.
Log Files and Verbosity
In case of both fatal and nonfatal errors, check the Apache log les for causes,
mainly the error log le that is located at /var/log/apache2/error_log
by default. Additionally, you can control the verbosity of the logged messages with
the LogLevel directive if more detail is needed in the log les.
TIP: A Simple Test
Watch the Apache log messages with the command tail -F
/var/log/apache2/my_error_log. Then run rcapache2 restart.
Now, try to connect with a browser and check the output.
Firewall and Ports
A common mistake is to not open the ports for Apache in the rewall conguration
of the server. If you congure Apache with YaST, there is a separate option available
to take care of this specic issue (see Section 28.2.3, “Conguring Apache with
YaST” (page 454)). If you are conguring Apache manually, open rewall ports
for HTTP and HTTPS via YaST's rewall module.
If the error cannot be tracked down with the help of any these, check the online Apache
bug database at http://httpd.apache.org/bug_report.html. Additionally,
the Apache user community can be reached via a mailing list available at http://
482 Reference