Knowledge Base

nginx on Plesk for Linux server does not start automatically after reboot: 99: Cannot assign requested address

Symptoms

After server reboot, nginx does not get started:

# systemctl --failed
UNIT LOAD ACTIVE SUB DESCRIPTION
● nginx.service loaded failed failed Startup script for nginx service
Domains are not working.
OS with systemd is installed (Debian 8, CentOS 7 and etc.).
In /var/log/nginx/error.log the following messages can be found:

[emerg] 1140#0: bind() to [203.0.113.2]:80 failed (99: Cannot assign requested address)
In journalctl the following entries can be found:

# journalctl -u network.service -u network.target -u nginx.service -b
nginx[352]: nginx: [emerg] bind() to 203.0.113.2:80 failed (99: Cannot assign requested address)
systemd[1]: Failed to start Startup script for nginx service.
systemd[1]: Unit nginx.service entered failed state.
network[268]: Bringing up interface eth0:
dhclient[665]: DHCPREQUEST on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x4b684081)
dhclient[665]: DHCPACK from 203.0.113.2 (xid=0x4b684081)
network[268]: [ OK ]
However, nginx can be started manually without any issues:

# systemctl start nginx.service

Cause

Delay in assigning of IP address to a network interface. For example, because of delayed response from DHCP server.

Resolution

Connect to the server using SSH.
Make sure that network interfaces are enabled on system boot:
- for RHEL, CentOS, CloudLinux:
  
  # grep -r "ONBOOT" /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-*
  /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-lo:ONBOOT=yes
  /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-venet0:ONBOOT=yes
  /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-venet0:0:ONBOOT=yes
- for Debian and Ubuntu:
  
  # grep auto /etc/network/interfaces
  # This configuration file is auto-generated.
  auto lo
  auto venet0
  auto venet0:0
Back up the nginx startup script /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nginx.service:

# cp /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nginx.service{,.bk}
Make sure that the package systemd-networkd is installed on the server. Install it if it is not installed:
- for RHEL, CentOS, CloudLinux:
  
  # yum install systemd-networkd
- for Debian and Ubuntu:
  Should be installed by default.
  
  The service will ensure that network interfaces are up and have IP addresses bound. For additional details, refer to http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/NetworkTarget/
If Plesk 17.5 or older is used, proceed as follows to create the file /etc/systemd/system/nginx.service.d/override.conf with an nginx startup parameter to be executed only after the network is up and all IP addresses are assigned:
- Run the following command. It will open the default text editor on the server:
  
  # systemctl edit nginx.service
  
  Add the following line, save and exit the file:
  
  After=network-online.target remote-fs.target nss-lookup.target
Reboot the server:
# reboot

If it does not help, additional action is required:

For SystemD add the following line in [Service] section in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nginx.service file:

ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 10

Note: Increase timeout if needed.
For OS without SystemD, edit /etc/init.d/nginx adding sleep command to the start, so it should look like:

# grep -i "start()" /etc/init.d/nginx
start() { sleep 20
Reboot the server:

# reboot