apache2 fails to start. After upgrade to Debian 13. did sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt full-upgrade -y sudo apt autoremove --purge -y apt update apt upgrade --without-new-pkgs apt full-upgrade #apache still works as expected reboot #apache fails to start apt-get install php8.4 php8.4-cli php8.4-cgi php8.4-fpm php8.4-gd php8.4-mysql php8.4-curl php8.4-intl php8.4-pspell php8.4-sqlite3 php8.4-tidy php8.4-xsl php8.4-zip php8.4-mbstring php8.4-soap php8.4-opcache libonig5 php8.4-common php8.4-readline php8.4-xml curl #apache still fails to start #rolled back to snapshot everything works but debian 12
Did you find any info on Apache problems in Debian 13 Release Notes? It is difficult to find the cause now after host was restored to Debian 12. Apache logs should have shown why it was not starting. Did you perhaps copy the log files so they are still available?
Hello Till, Taleman, do you have any news on upgrading debian 12 to 13 with ispconfig ? I found many errors on dovecot configuration migration ( tried also dovecot's migration scripts, but not working, at least for me ). Is there any indicatopn on how to proceed ?
When you do a dist upgrade, you must always run an ISPConfig update afterward. Let the ISPConfig updater write the new config.
Tilli, I actually di that just after upgrade, but dovecot refused to start, claiming errors in config anyway, I'll retry and check again. Just to be aligned, the steps I performed were: 1) upgrade debian from 12 to 13 ( no reboot) 2) set default php cli 8.3 3) force ispconfig update Is there anything you would advise to perform more? Any order change? Thanks
How did you do the upgrade from Debian 12 to 13? Why no reboot? There are instructions on how that update should be done in Debian 13 Release Notes.
Hello Taleman, here the list of packages i issue for an upgrade: # apt update # apt upgrade # apt dist-upgrade # apt clean # apt autoremove # apt --fix-broken install # dpkg --configure -a # sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list # find /etc/apt/sources.list.d -name "*.list" -exec sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' {} \; # apt update # apt upgrade --without-new-pkgs # apt full-upgrade # apt autoremove # apt autoclean About "reboot" question, I found some guides telling to reboot just after the substitution "bookworm/trixie" in configuration files , but I avoided that. After the reboot , then I performed "ispconfig_update.sh --force"
No. It's just important that you let the ISPConfig updater reconfigure services when it asks if it should do that. It will then write a new dovecot config file which is compatible with the new Dovecot version. Do not try to let dovecot convert the old one; let ISPConfig updater write a fresh version that matches the used Dovecot version.
If it does not work, please post the generated dovecot.conf file and also the errors you get from dovecot, so we can try to track down what the issue is. Maybe a dovecot module is missing after the update or something similar.
Hello Till, here attached the two files you requested. Just made two tries of upgrading debian from 12 to 13 ( first one upgrading configuration files as requested by "apt full-upgrade" command , the second one keeping the current dovecot's configuration files. in both cases I got errors and dovecot didn't start If you need more tries, wit particular settings,. please ask
more, the output of a "systemctl status dovecot.service" dovecot.service - Dovecot IMAP/POP3 email server Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/dovecot.service; enabled; preset: enabled) Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2026-06-07 15:29:24 CEST; 9s ago Duration: 27min 8.994s Invocation: 9237e924e0b74880b61987a7b9d36df8 Docs: man:dovecot(1) https://doc.dovecot.org/ Process: 120720 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/dovecot -F (code=exited, status=89) Main PID: 120720 (code=exited, status=89) Mem peak: 3.1M CPU: 26ms Jun 07 15:29:24 hosting03 systemd[1]: Starting dovecot.service - Dovecot IMAP/POP3 email server... Jun 07 15:29:24 hosting03 dovecot[120720]: doveconf: Fatal: Error in configuration file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/99-ispconfig-custom-config.conf line 5: Unknown section name: plugin Jun 07 15:29:24 hosting03 systemd[1]: dovecot.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=89/n/a Jun 07 15:29:24 hosting03 systemd[1]: dovecot.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Jun 07 15:29:24 hosting03 systemd[1]: Failed to start dovecot.service - Dovecot IMAP/POP3 email server.
Here we have it. Seems as if you created your own custom Dovecot config in the file /etc/dovecot/conf.d/99-ispconfig-custom-config.conf which is still in the old format. You must update your own custom config to the new format or empty the file. This is not a file from ISPConfig, its a customization possibility you used to override ISPConfigs default configuration and the overrides you created there are in wrong format now.
Till , thank you, you were right and I didn't notice the 99-ispconfig.... file in conf.d folder. It was a bit tricky to convert but it worked. Thank you again
