/etc/init.d/apache2 doesn't do "chown www-data /var/lock/apache2" after directory creation

[Jyrki Muukkonen]

Binary package hint: apache2.2-common

It looks like /etc/init.d/apache2 has a one-liner to fix missing /var/lock/apache2 directory. This is useful for example when /var/lock is on tmpfs. However, the init script doesn't change the ownership of newly created /var/lock/apache2 directory.

Here's a snippet from /var/lib/dpkg/info/apache2.2-common.postinst:
# Make sure /var/lock/apache2 has the correct permissions
if [ -d /var/lock/apache2 ]; then
        chown www-data /var/lock/apache2
fi

But the /etc/init.d/apache2 does only the directory creation:
[ -d /var/lock/apache2 ] || mkdir -p /var/lock/apache2

I think copying (or even moving) the "if [ -d ..." block from the postinst script to init.d script would be the correct fix.

For example dav_fs tries to create a lock file, but fails:
[Mon Apr 23 14:53:27 2007] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] The locks could not be queried for verification against a possible "If:" header. [500, #0]
[Mon Apr 23 14:53:27 2007] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] Could not open the lock database. [500, #400]
[Mon Apr 23 14:53:27 2007] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] (13)Permission denied: Could not open property database. [500, #1]

I'm currently running a fresh AMD64 Kubuntu Feisty installation.

[Maurizio Parton (parton)]

I confirm this bug. Moreover, in the package apache2-common for edgy, the line is present:

------------/etc/init.d/apache2--------from package apache2-common_2.0.55-4ubuntu4_i386.deb (edgy)

case $1 in
 start)
  [ -f /etc/apache2/httpd.conf ] || touch /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
  # ssl_scache shouldn't be here if we're just starting up.
  [ -f /var/run/apache2/ssl_scache ] && rm -f /var/run/apache2/*ssl_scache*
  # /var/run and /var/lock could be on a tmpfs
  [ ! -d /var/run/apache2 ] && mkdir /var/run/apache2
  [ ! -d /var/lock/apache2 ] && mkdir /var/lock/apache2
  # Make sure /var/lock/apache2 has the correct permissions
  chown www-data /var/lock/apache2

  log_begin_msg "Starting apache 2.0 web server..."
  if $APACHE2CTL startssl; then
                        log_end_msg 0
                else
                        log_end_msg 1
                fi
 ;;

------------/etc/init.d/apache2--------from package apache2.2-common_2.2.3-3.2build1_i386.deb (feisty)

case $1 in
 start)
  [ -f /etc/apache2/httpd.conf ] || touch /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
  [ -d /var/run/apache2 ] || mkdir -p /var/run/apache2
  [ -d /var/lock/apache2 ] || mkdir -p /var/lock/apache2
  #ssl_scache shouldn't be here if we're just starting up.
  [ -f /var/run/apache2/ssl_scache ] && rm -f /var/run/apache2/*ssl_scache*
  log_begin_msg "Starting web server (apache2)..."
  if $APACHE2CTL start; then
                        log_end_msg 0
                else
                        log_end_msg 1
                fi
 ;;

Not yet solved in gutsy:
------------/etc/init.d/apache2--------from package apache2.2-common_2.2.3-4_i386.deb (gutsy)

case $1 in
 start)
  [ -f /etc/apache2/httpd.conf ] || touch /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
  [ -d /var/run/apache2 ] || mkdir -p /var/run/apache2
  [ -d /var/lock/apache2 ] || mkdir -p /var/lock/apache2
  #ssl_scache shouldn't be here if we're just starting up.
  [ -f /var/run/apache2/ssl_scache ] && rm -f /var/run/apache2/*ssl_scache*
  log_begin_msg "Starting web server (apache2)..."
  if $APACHE2CTL start; then
                        log_end_msg 0
                else
                        log_end_msg 1
                fi
 ;;

[Rob Caskey (rcaskey)]

Indeed, same problem following upgrade from edgy=>feisty, fixed by a chown/chmod.

[Mathias Gug (mathiaz)]

Thanks taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. However, I am closing it because the bug has been fixed in the latest development version of Ubuntu - the Gutsy Gibbon.

If you need a fix for the bug in previous versions of Ubuntu, please follow the instructions for "How to request new packages" at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuBackports#request-new-packages .