Apache2 & apache2lib-mod-php5 -- PHP stopped working

[DappledOne]

Hello.

I recently built an Ubuntu Server system and set up Apache2 and mod_php (libapache2-mod-php5) on it. After some work I was able to get PHP to run phpmyadmin and some other PHP based programs neatly as it should.

The links currently in 'mods-enabled' are:

alias.conf autoindex.conf mime.load setenvif.conf
alias.load autoindex.load mime_magic.conf setenvif.load
auth_basic.load cgi.load mime_magic.load speling.load
authn_file.load dir.conf negotiation.conf ssl.conf
authz_default.load dir.load negotiation.load ssl.load
authz_groupfile.load env.load php5.conf status.conf
authz_host.load include.load php5.load status.load
authz_user.load mime.conf rewrite.load


php5.load:

LoadModule php5_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so


php5.conf:

<IfModule mod_php5.c>
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .phtml .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
</IfModule>


And apache2ctl status reports:

Server Version: Apache/2.2.4 (Ubuntu) PHP/5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1 mod_ssl/2.2.4 OpenSSL/0.9.8e

So PHP should definitely be loaded.


This is possibly unrelated, but some days ago a security fix was released for PHP, which was installed followingly:


Preparing to replace php5-cli 5.2.3-1ubuntu6 (using .../php5-cli_5.2.3-1ubuntu6...
Unpacking replacement php5-cli ...
Preparing to replace php5-mysql 5.2.3-1ubuntu6 (using .../php5-mysql_5.2.3-1ubu...
Unpacking replacement php5-mysql ...
Preparing to replace libapache2-mod-php5 5.2.3-1ubuntu6 (using .../libapache2-m...
Unpacking replacement libapache2-mod-php5 ...
Preparing to replace php5-common 5.2.3-1ubuntu6 (using .../php5-common_5.2.3-1u...
Unpacking replacement php5-common ...
Preparing to replace php5 5.2.3-1ubuntu6 (using .../php5_5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1_all.d...
Unpacking replacement php5 ...

Setting up php5-common (5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1) ...
Setting up php5-cli (5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1) ...
Setting up libapache2-mod-php5 (5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1) ...
Setting up php5-mysql (5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1) ...
Setting up php5 (5.2.3-1ubuntu6.1) ...


Soon, if not directly after which PHP stopped working. Other than that I had been working on an ACL setup, which I promptly disabled as well as made a clean reboot to make sure it was not affecting the service. I have by now even apt-get purged Apache2 and PHP5 and re-installed, but this neither provided a solution. And as mentioned the configuration files for the websites worked perfectly before.

Neither phpadmin with it's default config nor another site that I set up a virtual host for myself are executing PHP. Here's for example the site that I set up:


<IfModule mod_php5.c>
<VirtualHost *>
ServerName <REMOVED>
DocumentRoot /var/www/smf

# Enable PHP for smf
php_value engine on
# Limit PHP's file access to path and subdirs
php_value open_basedir /var/www/smf

<Directory /var/www/smf>
Options -Indexes FollowSymLinks
DirectoryIndex index.php
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>


Note the fact that the site does get set up even with the <IfModule mod_php5.c>.

I've spent a good while already trying to figure the problem out, and I thought I'd drop by here to see if anyone would have any good ideas or if there's something that I've missed. Has anyone else experienced problems after installing the security update?

I would need to get the site running again as soon as possible since it's associated with a project.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

- Dappled One

[moorezilla]

I think I have a related problem. Since the recent php update, some isolated php scripts are returning a "connection reset by server error." This usually has to do with logging into the admin area of certain php applications, or uploading xml. That's all I have so far. Nothing shows up in my apache error log, so it's a bit of a mystery to me.

gutsy server running whatever apt-get update & apt-get upgrade has running!

here's an example:

http://chs.chelseaschools.com/surveys/admin/admin.php fires a reset connections error, but
http://chs.chelseaschools.com/surveys/ runs the php script properly, even though it fires a script-generated warning

[bitumen]

AHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh
this will explain why my new reinstall of ubuntu 7.10 64-bit and apache2 web development server is going so badly
php 5.* running but no phpmyadmin pages thought i had screwed the install so reinstalled and now got no php whats so ever

ohhh will ill have to use windows (booooooooo)

[moorezilla]

Yeah... I'm thinking now that my issue may be a firewall issue, rather than one with php. Works fine inside the school network, but fires errors outside.

[DappledOne]

moorezilla:
It's possible that it's an issue either with the firewall/http proxy that allows traffic into the network, or any host based limitations set up for those administrative tools.


Still no luck with mod_php5 so I'm not very happy... after some further hours of trying to figure out what's going wrong with it, here's at least a work around until new updates or something else comes up:
Install mod_fastcgi: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=341164

There are certain gains to using mod_fastcgi, for example being able to split the virtualdomains between different users and use Unix permissions controls to restrict PHP access if you have multiple sites.

Now the site at least is working, but only through a work around. I'd still like to hear if anyone has any ideas on why the normal mod_php5 isn't working.

[bitumen]

i seem to working OK now except phpmyadmin is still showing blank pages
decided to try webmin instead

[DappledOne]

This would appear to likely have been the cause of the problem :/

http://www.linuxcompatible.org/USN-549-2_PHP_regression_p101819.html

I might test if it's working properly now, at some point. But mod_php's already disabled and worked around so it'd be inconvenient to go back just for a check.