Apache httpd service will not start due to 'Address already in use' error on VMware guest

When trying to start Apache's httpd web server the service fails with an
error like the following:

server:~ # /etc/init.d/apache2 start
Starting httpd2 (worker) (98)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to address [::]:631
(98)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:631
no listening sockets available, shutting down

Unable to open logs

startproc: exit status of parent of /usr/sbin/httpd2-worker: 1 failed

The cupsd process shows that the cups service is binding port 631 even though the cupsd service is disabled on the system.


server:~ # netstat -tulpen | grep :631

tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:631 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 0 16846 1234/cupsd
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:631 0.0.0.0:*        0 16847 1234/cupsd


server:~ # /sbin/chkconfig -l cupsd
cupsd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off

This can happen when VMware's Virtual Machine Tools are applied to a system.  Unless you need VMware's ThinPrint functionality on the VM see VMware's documentation for how to disable this functionality.  Currently instructions to make this change can be found at the following location:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1013363

VMware has not yet released a fix for non-windows platforms but a known workaround is to comment out line 1266 of /etc/init.d/vmware-tools which follows:

vmware_exec 'Virtual Printing daemon:' vmware_start_thinprint

If the line number has changed or if other questions come up please contact VMware for official steps to resolve the issue around the vmware-tools component.

This topic has  been seen by customers in the Novell Forums including at the following URL:

https://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=402941