Error in Plesk: SWKeyExFatalError: “Cannot open file” or “Permission denied”

Symptoms

• When logging in to Plesk or browsing pages in Plesk, one of the following error messages appears:

  Type: SWKeyExFatalError
  Message: error: Cannot open file: /etc/sw/keys/info

  Type GraphQL Error
  Message external server error

  ---

  Type: SWKeyExFatalError
  Message: error: Cannot create: /etc/sw/keys/lock/repository: Permission denied

• Plesk license installation fails with:

  mkstemp failed: /etc/sw/keys/keys/keyXXXXXX: Permission denied (Error code: 2)

Cause

Permissions on the directory /etc/sw/keys or its subdirectories are incorrect.

Resolution

1. Connect to the Plesk server via SSH.

2. Fix permissions with this command:

   # /usr/sbin/usermod -a -G swkey-data psaadm && chown -R root:swkey-data /etc/sw/keys/ && chmod -R 660 /etc/sw/keys/* && chmod -R 644 /etc/sw/keys/info && find /etc/sw/keys -type d -exec chmod 2770 {} ; && chmod 4510 /etc/sw/keys/restart/* && chown -R psaadm:swkey-data /etc/sw/keys/registry.xml /etc/sw/keys/keys/*

3. Restart the Plesk services:

   # service sw-engine restart && service sw-cp-server restart

4. Retrieve the Plesk license:

   # plesk bin license --retrieve

   If the retrieval operation fails, log in to Plesk and install your Plesk license by clicking Install Key.