Apache Problems - "no listening sockets available, shutting down"

Everything was fine with my Apache installation. I was coding websites in PHP with using MySQL. I turned on my PC today however and the whole thing is broken. I haven't changed any configuration settings and I haven't made changes to my firewall either.

Here are the errors from the Event Viewer:


The Apache service named reported the following error:
>>> Unable to open logs .

The Apache service named reported the following error:
>>> no listening sockets available, shutting down .

The Apache service named reported the following error:
>>> (OS 10048)Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted. : make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:80 .


I've tried removing Apache, including the program files dir and then reinstalling it but to no avail.

Restarting the service fails with the dialogue box: "The requested operation has failed".

I've also tried turning off the firewall to see if that was the issue but that didn't help either.

I searched the internet, most of the relevant topics were unhelpful or related to Apache 3. They seemed to point to checking the log dirs (which haven't changed) such as this one:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/list...e/users/350974

I am running Apache 2.2 on Windows XP, with PHP 5.2.3.

The weirdest thing is that I can't see the point in changing any settings since they were not wrong in the first place.

Please help.

Nibinaear

What about doing resetting to a system restore point prior to today?

I've never found they ever work. Usually I restart the machine and it tells me it's just failed. I can't say I've ever got one to work.

--Edited--

What I can't understand is why is it trying to bind to 0.0.0.0:80? Shouldn't it be 127.0.0.1?

SOLUTION HERE

I finally found the solution. The answer is that something else is already linked to port 80 on your machine preventing anything else from binding to that port. (I don't pretend to understand these things, surely all web browsers use port 80 for the internet and can run at once? Answers welcomed.)

Anyway, I loaded up ctrl+alt+delete and found that FNPLicensingService was running. I didn't know what it was at the time but thought I'd end it anyway and see if it made a difference. Hey presto, it worked! Apache starts as normal.

The reason I have FNPLicensingService I found is that I recently installed Adobe Acrobat again. Yesterday my entire Adobe CS3 stopped working and I spent 2hrs uninstalling it and reinstalling it, today Apache broke!

This is where I found the answer: http://www.peeniewallie.com/2006/03/...ling_apac.html
About FNPLicensingService:
http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Run...ete_it%3F.html

If you've just jumped from Google to this page I hope the solution helped you out.

Only one program at a time can listen on a particular port. If FNPLicensingService is already listening on port 80, then all other programs will not be able to.

This is a sensible result. Suppose you had two or three different web servers all listening at the same time on port 80. A new connection request comes in. Where should it go? It can't go to all three?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikeAThon

Only one program at a time can listen on a particular port. If FNPLicensingService is already listening on port 80, then all other programs will not be able to.

This is a sensible result. Suppose you had two or three different web servers all listening at the same time on port 80. A new connection request comes in. Where should it go? It can't go to all three?

---

So how do any number of applications such as browsers request info? Surely the web is all port 80 or 81 I think. I know that ports are used to decide where the information should go and that it's one app per port, so there's something I don't really get.

The difference is listening. Web browsers do not listen, web servers do.

Agree with PeejAvery. Web browsers make outgoing connections. They do not accept incoming connections, like web servers. Web servers accept incoming connections by listening on port 80. Web browsers make outgoing connections from "ephemeral" port numbers (look up this term), and the port numbers typically start from some gerenally ascending number like 1025. To see an example, open up a few pages from your browser, and immediately do a "netstat -an" from a command prompt. You will see the actual port numbers currently being used by your browser.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MikeAThon

Agree with PeejAvery. Web browsers make outgoing connections. They do not accept incoming connections, like web servers. Web servers accept incoming connections by listening on port 80. Web browsers make outgoing connections from "ephemeral" port numbers (look up this term), and the port numbers typically start from some gerenally ascending number like 1025. To see an example, open up a few pages from your browser, and immediately do a "netstat -an" from a command prompt. You will see the actual port numbers currently being used by your browser.

---

Thanks for the info, that really cleared it up.

For me, the app that had stolen port 80 was Skype. I must have been asleep or temporarily insane when I turned that option on in Advanced/Connection: "[x] Use port 80 and 443 as alternativse for incoming connections"

But, the Windows 7 Resource Monitor is a thing of beauty. I just click on the Network tab, opened up Listening Ports, and there it was. Wish I'd remembered that utility before uninstalling/reinstalling Apache twice, yanking all the customizations out of httpd.conf, and turning off and on about half a dozen services :)

Oh, and I do have Acrobat 8.1 installed and running, from CS3. I think maybe the CS3 is using a different licensing service.

This happens as there is a program that is already listening on port 80.
User the following command to find which program is listening to the port.
netstat -a -n -p tcp -b
In my case it was inetinfo.exe, IIS service.
I've stopped and disabled IIS service and it started working now.

Welcome to the forums, lanabhat! :wave: Please remember to keep your posts relevant. This thread is over 2 years old already.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nibinaear

SOLUTION HERE

I finally found the solution. The answer is that something else is already linked to port 80 on your machine preventing anything else from binding to that port. (I don't pretend to understand these things, surely all web browsers use port 80 for the internet and can run at once? Answers welcomed.)

If you've just jumped from Google to this page I hope the solution helped you out.

---

You have no idea how this helped me! I was configuring apache on MacOS mountain lion and got error "no listening sockets available, shutting down". In my case some indexing service was already listening 80 port.

Thanks a lot!

Welcome to the forum witzawitz. :wave:

Please keep your posts relevant. This thread is 2 years old.

I had the same problem and killing Skype helped me. (logging out is not enough)