Apache hangs or crashes on reload in Plesk: seg fault or similar nasty error detected in the parent process

Symptoms

• Plesk is installed on Ubuntu/Debian OS based.

• Apache hangs or crashes on reload with the following error:

  [Mon Sep 04 06:16:22.869861 2017] [core:notice] [pid 26825] AH00060: seg fault or similar nasty error detected in the parent process

• The logrotate configuration files are reloading Apache service instead of restarting it:

  # egrep -R “apache2 reload” /etc/logrotate.*
  /etc/logrotate.d/apache2: /etc/init.d/apache2 reload > /dev/null;
  /etc/logrotate.d/mod_security: /etc/init.d/apache2 reload > /dev/null 2>/dev/null || true

Cause

Apache crashed during log rotation. This is Plesk bug with ID #PPPM-5774 which is planned to be fixed in future product updates.

Resolution

As a workaround, change the affected Apache Logrotate configuration files as follows:

1. Connect to the server via SSH

2. Back up the directory containing the additional Logrotate configuration files:

   # cp -a /etc/logrotate.d{,.backup}

3. Update the Logrotate configuration file /etc/logrotate.d/apache2:

   # sed -i ‘s/apache2 reload/apache2 restart/g’ /etc/logrotate.d/apache2

4. Update the Logrotate configuration file /etc/logrotate.d/mod_security:

   # sed -i ‘s/apache2 reload/apache2 restart/g’ /etc/logrotate.d/mod_security