Knowledge Base

Unable to start Node.js application on Plesk server without nginx: Execution nginx_modules_ctl has failed with exit code 1

Unable to start NodeJS application from Domains > example.com > NodeJS > Enable
No errors are displayed in Plesk Panel
No Nginx installed on the server, only Apache is used
The configuration made in Plesk > Domains > example.com > Node.js is accurate and made in accordance with the information in How to run a simple node.js application in Plesk to test it working?
The following error shows up when trying to enable NodeJS via CLI:

# plesk ext nodejs --enable -domain example.com
Execution nginx_modules_ctl has failed with exit code 1, stdout: , stderr: START nginx_modules_ctl --enable phusion-passenger
/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/nginx-config: line 272: /usr/sbin/nginx: No such file or directory
Nginx configuration after enable of 'phusion-passenger' is in invalid state, rollback the change

This happens due to an identified bug with ID EXTNODEJS-327 which will be fixed in the future releases of NodeJS extension.

Until a fix is released the following workaround can be used:

Log into Plesk
Perform any change on PHP from Domains > example.com > PHP

Note: Change PHP version for any different version and then go back and configure the original version.
Connect to the server via SSH
Enable NodeJS application via command line as below:

# plesk ext nodejs --enable -domain example.com