Apache fails to start with invalid DocumentRoot

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

Situation

The apache2 web service fails to start at boot time. The following errors are found in supportconfig boot.txt or /var/log/boot.msg:

"Starting httpd2 (prefork) Syntax error on line 6 of /etc/apache2/default-server.conf:
DocumentRoot must be a directory
The command line was:
/usr/sbin/httpd2-prefork -f /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
failed"

The rpm -V apache2 validation output in the supportconfig web.txt shows:

S.5....T c /etc/apache2/default-server.conf

This indicates the size, md5sum and time stamp have all changed since /etc/apache2/default-server.conf was installed. The /etc/apache2/default-server.conf in the supportconfig web.txt file shows the following configuration:

DocumentRoot "/srv/www/htdoc"
<Directory "/srv/www/htdocs">

Resolution

Change the /etc/apache2/default-server.conf file's DocumentRoot value to match the Directory tag and a valid directory on the filesystem.

1. Edit /etc/apache2/default-server.conf
2. Change DocumentRoot "/srv/www/htdoc" to DocumentRoot "/srv/www/htdocs"
3. Save and exit
4. Run /etc/init.d/apache2 restart to validate the fix worked and start the web server

Cause

There was an incorrect DocumentRoot value in /etc/apache2/default-server.conf. It must point to a valid directory on the filesystem.

Disclaimer

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