Invalid Mutex directory in argument file:${APACHE_LOCK_DIR}

Question

hi every body after clean install of ubuntu 16.04 and tasksel lamp apache2 got this error :

[Mon Jul 18 22:42:00.114578 2016] [core:warn] [pid 4654] AH00111: Config variable ${APACHE_LOCK_DIR} is not defined
[Mon Jul 18 22:42:00.114623 2016] [core:warn] [pid 4654] AH00111: Config variable ${APACHE_PID_FILE} is not defined
[Mon Jul 18 22:42:00.114641 2016] [core:warn] [pid 4654] AH00111: Config variable ${APACHE_RUN_USER} is not defined
[Mon Jul 18 22:42:00.114645 2016] [core:warn] [pid 4654] AH00111: Config variable ${APACHE_RUN_GROUP} is not defined
[Mon Jul 18 22:42:00.114657 2016] [core:warn] [pid 4654] AH00111: Config variable ${APACHE_LOG_DIR} is not defined
[Mon Jul 18 22:42:00.133748 2016] [core:warn] [pid 4654] AH00111: Config variable ${APACHE_LOG_DIR} is not defined
AH00526: Syntax error on line 74 of /etc/apache2/apache2.conf:
Invalid Mutex directory in argument file:${APACHE_LOCK_DIR}

OP, please review the answers below. I recommend the one by @EnterUserNameHere. It worked for me. — Oliver Williams, Dec 02 '16 at 23:04

score 26 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 19 '16 at 00:30

26

I ran into this once and this worked for me:

source /etc/apache2/envvars 
apache2 -V
sudo service apache2 restart

I haven't had the problem since.

answered Jul 19 '16 at 00:30

EnterUserNameHere

391
2
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considering lines like `export APACHE_LOCK_DIR=/var/lock/apache2$SUFFIX` are in that envvars file that makes total sense :) If not one could do a `grep` for that var string if your apache config is different. – Oliver Williams Dec 02 '16 at 23:03
apache2 -V gave me error on miss configured vhost. Everything work well after disabled that vhost by using `a2dissite site.local` . – Sadee Apr 18 '17 at 09:15

score 22 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '16 at 19:55

22

That looks like you tried to start Apache by running something like

apache2

That doesn't work. Use

sudo service apache2 start

instead.

answered Jul 18 '16 at 19:55

Florian Diesch

86,013
17
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score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 04 '17 at 23:19

The correct answer is quite simple yet not obvious.

The apache2 service in Ubuntu/Debian uses the environment file /etc/apache2/envvars during its startup via apache2ctl restart or service apache2 restart.

In order to successfully show apache2 -V details just source the apache2 environment file:

# source /etc/apache2/envvars
# apache2 -V

There should not be any syntax error with the apache2.conf, since the environment variables shown in line 74 are automatically sourced by apache2 during its startup.

Invalid Mutex directory in argument file:${APACHE_LOCK_DIR}

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