Thank you Mickey.
That is exactly what the problem is; all /var/run subdirectories get
deleted on reboot.
I tried to move the pid file to another location, for a start its default
location under the apache install directory, but even directly on
/var/run/, with the result that systemctl could not find it. The pid file
was written correctly, under the correct name, and was readable by root,
but was reported as missing by systemctl and as a result the "systemctl
stop httpd" command didn't work. It just issued an error message and httpd
kept right on running.
One trhing that I have been careful to do is keep the start up script at
init.d/httpd pointed at the same location as httpd.conf.
I'm not sure why but systemctl seems to insist that that the httpd pid file
be exactly /var/run/httpd/httpd.pid .
I think there must be a configuration parameter somewhere for systemctl but
I have not been able to find it; can't believe it would be hard coded in the
programme!
That said, thank you for the reply. It does give me the idea that I am on
the right track.
John
===========================================
On Tuesday 28 March 2017 03:05:31 Mickey Nordstrom wrote:
> Hi John,
>
> I didn't read your full post so apologies if I'm not answering your
> question. I have had similar problems on SuSE Linux whith systemd and
> the solution was to create a file under /etc/tmpfiles.d with content
> something like this:
>
> d /var/run/httpd 770 webservd webservd
>
> Modify it to the user and group that runs your httpd daemon.
>
> This is needed because /run and /var/run are volatile and gets cleaned
> out at each reboot.
>
> /Mikael
>
> On 28/03/17 04:22, John Iliffe wrote:
> > First, I know this is probably not an Apache question, but I'm hoping
> > that someone on this list may have seen this problem before and knows
> > the solution.
> >
> > I know this is going to be very long winded, my apologies in advance,
> > but I have done quite a bit of research so I have a good idea what
> > won't work :-(
> >
> > Problem:
> >
> > OS is Fedora 25
> >
> > Fedora replaces service with systemctl control using service files for
> > starting and stopping daemons. This is a bit different than the
> > traditional init.d approach.
> >
> > I installed Apache-2.4.25 from source without using the Fedora
> > installation so I had to produce my own start up scripts and used the
> > compatibility feature of systemctl so httpd can be started from
> > /etc/init.d/httpd
> >
> > My startup script works perfectly UNTIL I reboot. At that point the
> > directory where httpd.pid resides (/var/run/httpd/httpd.pid) gets
> > deleted. I have a good idea of why this happens; it is this line in
> >
> > /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions which runs during shutdown or reboot:
> > rm -f "${pid_file:-/var/run/$base.pid}"
> >
> > It is obvious that $base includes the httpd/ subdirectory so that gets
> > deleted too.
> >
> > Changing the pid file location away from /var/run/httpd/ can't be
> > done. Even if the start up script in init.d is changed systemctl
> > expects to find it there. So I changed the httpd.conf file to put it
> > where systemctl wants it to be.
> >
> > In case anyone wonders, I can put the pid file anywhere during start
> > up but if I do that systemctl hangs and then times out during startup
> > with a message that the pid file is unreadable, leaving httpd running
> > and an orphan. Also "systemctl stop httpd" hangs and httpd stays up.
> > In this one case, "systemctl reboot" never completes; you end up
> > having to push the reset button; although I would assume that in the
> > fullness of time it might time out.
> >
> > "systemctl status httpd" in this case shows that httpd is NOT running
> > due to a missing resource (the pid file) even though it is up and
> > running fine.
> >
> > There is one obvious work-around, check for /var/run/httpd on startup
> > in the init.d script, and it it isn't there, create it, but that begs
> > the question of what am I not understanding.
> >
> > So, has anyone encountered this before. I sure hope it isn't a fat
> > finger error on my part but two days is enough for something like
> > this. I need help!
> >
> > Here is the relevant part of the (current) httpd.conf file in
> > /usr/apache-2.4.25/conf/httpd.conf
> >
> > # Added with 2.4.25, 25/3/2017, to work with Fedora which won't
> > # relocate the pid file to the default location
> > PidFile /var/run/httpd/httpd.pid
> > #
> >
> > and here is the complete init.d/httpd startup script. Mostly it was
> > cribbed from the old server's (RHEL6 and apache-2.4.10) script. A
> > lot of the commented lines are where I have been trying to find a
> > solution to the problem. In general, one # is Red Hat's comments and
> > two ## is my testing.
> >
> > #!/bin/bash
> > #
> > # httpd Startup script for the Apache HTTP Server
> > #
> > # chkconfig: - 85 15
> > # description: The Apache HTTP Server is an efficient and extensible
> > \ # server implementing the current HTTP standards. #
> > processname: httpd
> > # config: /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
> > # config: /etc/sysconfig/httpd
> > # pidfile: /var/run/httpd/httpd.pid
> > #
> > ### BEGIN INIT INFO
> > # Provides: httpd
> > # Required-Start: $local_fs $remote_fs $network $named
> > # Required-Stop: $local_fs $remote_fs $network
> > # Should-Start: distcache
> > # Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
> > # Default-Stop: 0 1 6
> > # Short-Description: start and stop Apache HTTP Server
> > # Description: The Apache HTTP Server is an extensible server
> > # implementing the current HTTP standards.
> > ### END INIT INFO
> >
> > # Source function library.
> > . /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
> >
> > if [ -f /etc/sysconfig/httpd ]; then
> >
> > . /etc/sysconfig/httpd
> >
> > fi
> >
> > # Start httpd in the C locale by default.
> > HTTPD_LANG=${HTTPD_LANG-"C"}
> >
> > # This will prevent initlog from swallowing up a pass-phrase prompt if
> > # mod_ssl needs a pass-phrase from the user.
> > INITLOG_ARGS=""
> >
> > # Set HTTPD=/usr/sbin/httpd.worker in /etc/sysconfig/httpd to use a
> > server # with the thread-based "worker" MPM; BE WARNED that some
> > modules may not # work correctly with a thread-based MPM; notably PHP
> > will refuse to start. # Path to the apachectl script, server binary,
> > and short-form for messages. # This was damaged by Red Hat system
> > update 23/4/2013. Changed back to # probable initial code.
> > #
> > # Converted for new prod04 server 26/3/2017 JI
> > #
> > ## apachectl=/usr/sbin/apachectl
> > apachectl=/usr/apache-2.4.25/bin/apachectl
> > ## httpd=${HTTPD-/usr/sbin/httpd}
> > httpd=${HTTPD-/usr/apache-2.4.25/bin/httpd}
> > prog=httpd
> > pidfile=${PIDFILE-/var/run/httpd/httpd.pid}
> > ##>>>pidfile=${PIDFILE-/usr/apache-2.4.25/logs/httpd.pid} <<-- this
> > doesn't work
> > lockfile=${LOCKFILE-/var/lock/subsys/httpd}
> > RETVAL=0
> > STOP_TIMEOUT=${STOP_TIMEOUT-10}
> >
> > # The semantics of these two functions differ from the way apachectl
> > does # things -- attempting to start while running is a failure, and
> > shutdown # when not running is also a failure. So we just do it the
> > way init scripts
> > # are expected to behave here.
> > start() {
> >
> > echo -n $"Starting $prog: "
> >
> > ## LANG=$HTTPD_LANG daemon --pidfile=${pidfile} $httpd $OPTIONS
> >
> > $apachectl -k start
> >
> > RETVAL=$?
> > echo
> > [ $RETVAL = 0 ] && touch ${lockfile}
> > return $RETVAL
> >
> > }
> >
> > # When stopping httpd, a delay (of default 10 second) is required
> > # before SIGKILLing the httpd parent; this gives enough time for the
> > # httpd parent to SIGKILL any errant children.
> > stop() {
> >
> > echo -n $"Stopping $prog: "
> >
> > ## killproc -p ${pidfile} -d ${STOP_TIMEOUT} $httpd
> >
> > $apachectl -k stop
> >
> > RETVAL=$?
> > echo
> >
> > ## [ $RETVAL = 0 ] && rm -f ${lockfile} ${pidfile}
> >
> > [ $RETVAL = 0 ]
> >
> > }
> >
> > reload() {
> >
> > echo -n $"Reloading $prog: "
> > if ! LANG=$HTTPD_LANG $httpd $OPTIONS -t >&/dev/null; then
> >
> > RETVAL=6
> > echo $"not reloading due to configuration syntax error"
> > failure $"not reloading $httpd due to configuration syntax
> > error"
> >
> > else
> >
> > # Force LSB behaviour from killproc
> >
> > # LSB=1 killproc -p ${pidfile} $httpd -HUP
> >
> > $apachectl -k restart
> >
> > RETVAL=$?
> > if [ $RETVAL -eq 7 ]; then
> >
> > failure $"httpd shutdown"
> >
> > fi
> >
> > fi
> > echo
> >
> > }
> >
> > # See how we were called.
> > case "$1" in
> >
> > start)
> >
> > start
> > ;;
> >
> > stop)
> >
> > stop
> > ;;
> >
> > status)
> >
> > status -p ${pidfile} $httpd
> > RETVAL=$?
> > ;;
> >
> > restart)
> >
> > stop
> > ;;
> >
> > status)
> >
> > status -p ${pidfile} $httpd
> > RETVAL=$?
> > ;;
> >
> > restart)
> >
> > stop
> > start
> > ;;
> >
> > condrestart|try-restart)
> >
> > if status -p ${pidfile} $httpd >&/dev/null; then
> >
> > stop
> > start
> >
> > fi
> > ;;
> >
> > force-reload|reload)
> >
> > reload
> > ;;
> >
> > graceful|help|configtest|fullstatus)
> >
> > $apachectl $@
> > RETVAL=$?
> > ;;
> >
> > *)
> >
> > echo $"Usage: $prog
> > {start|stop|restart|condrestart|try-restart|
> >
> > force-reload|reload|status|fullstatus|graceful|help|configtest}"
> >
> > RETVAL=2
> >
> > esac
> >
> > exit $RETVAL
> >
> >
> > FYI, the usual "S" and "K" links are in /etc/rc[1-6].d directories.
> > They were created automatically when I ran "systemctl enable" on
> > httpd.
> >
> > Any suggestions as to where to go next would be appreciated!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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