Lighttpd/external.conf edits break lighttpd

[B11]

I am trying to edit /etc/lighttpd/external.conf so that I can save my port configuration from being overwritten when making updates to my pihole. It is completely empty when I access it, and on the first line I type server.port = 8099. I then save and attempt to restart lighttpd, but I get this error message:

Job for lighttpd.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status lighttpd.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

I then go in and delete that one line, and everything works fine. Everything also works fine when I change the port in /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf. Any idea what's going on and why this won't work?

[tomporter518]

Check the lighttpd error log, but it probably fails with a duplicate config value. To replace a value, instead use the syntax (note the colon and lighttpd version requirement):

replace

NAME := VALUE

(replace/overwrite earlier value) (since 1.4.46)

See: https://redmine.lighttpd.net/projects/lighttpd/wiki/Docs_Configuration for more on the config syntax.

[Bucking_Horn]

Particularly note the := operator (which is only supported in lighttpd version 1.4.46 and above)

[B11]

tried this, same error code

[B11]

Here is the output from the error log

2022-01-30 00:00:49: server.c.1787) logfiles cycled UID = 0 PID = 4351
2022-02-03 22:46:29: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-03 22:46:41: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-03 22:46:41: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 00:46:43: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 00:46:55: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 00:46:55: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 01:07:33: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 01:07:45: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 01:07:45: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 01:08:30: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 01:08:30: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 01:14:49: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 01:15:02: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 01:15:02: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 01:35:50: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 01:36:02: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 01:36:02: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 01:42:54: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 01:50:52: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 01:50:52: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 01:57:13: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 02:00:44: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 02:00:44: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 02:02:27: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1
2022-02-04 02:06:15: server.c.1513) server started (lighttpd/1.4.59)
2022-02-04 02:06:15: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
2022-02-04 21:19:20: server.c.1976) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1

[Bucking_Horn]

You may test your lighttpd installation for syntactical correctness by running:

lighttpd -t -f /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf

If that comes back with Syntax OK , try restarting it:

sudo service lighttpd restart

In case that fails, please provide the output for:

sudo systemctl status --full --no-pager lighttpd.service

Also, please upload a debug log and post just the token URL that is generated after the log is uploaded by running the following command from the Pi-hole host terminal:

pihole -d

or do it through the Web interface:

Tools > Generate Debug Log

[B11]

syntax check returned:

2022-02-04 21:28:19: configfile.c.1970) source: cat external.conf 2>/dev/null line: 1 pos: 22 parser failed somehow near here: server.port
2022-02-04 21:28:19: configfile.c.1970) source: /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf line: 68 pos: 14 parser failed somehow near here: (EOL)

Full output returned:

● lighttpd.service - Lighttpd Daemon
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/lighttpd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2022-02-04 21:26:46 GMT; 4min 10s ago
    Process: 28724 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/lighttpd -tt -f /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 28731 (lighttpd)
      Tasks: 6 (limit: 4165)
        CPU: 173ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/lighttpd.service
             ├─28731 /usr/sbin/lighttpd -D -f /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf
             ├─28742 /usr/bin/php-cgi
             ├─28744 /usr/bin/php-cgi
             ├─28745 /usr/bin/php-cgi
             ├─28746 /usr/bin/php-cgi
             └─28747 /usr/bin/php-cgi

Feb 04 21:26:46 montanapi systemd[1]: Starting Lighttpd Daemon...
Feb 04 21:26:46 montanapi lighttpd[28724]: 2022-02-04 21:26:46: configfile.c.1142) WARNING: unknown config-key: alias.url (ignored)
Feb 04 21:26:46 montanapi systemd[1]: Started Lighttpd Daemon.

Pihole debug log token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/EcsfEEnH/

[B11]

also, the syntax I am using in /external.conf is:

replace  server.port := **** (replace/overwrite earlier value) (since 1.4.46)

Edit: redacted port

[DanSchaper]

The word replace shouldn't be in the config file, just the server.port := 1234.

[jfb]

@B11

Edit: redacted port

You don't need to redact the port.

[B11]

Got it working now, thank you!

[falc0n2k]

This is what was tripping me up on my own external.conf edits. Thank you so much for mentioning this!