Cobra Forum

Question: Unable to start NGINX: [emerg] unknown directive "passenger_enabled"


Applicable to:

• Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

• Unable to start NGINX:

# service nginx start
nginx: [emerg] unknown directive "passenger_enabled" in /etc/nginx/plesk.conf.d/vhosts/example.com.conf:43 nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed

• The Phusion Passenger component is not installed according to Plesk Installer going to Tools & Settings > Updates & Upgrades > Add/Remove Components > Web Hosting:

(https://pix.cobrasoft.org/images/2025/10/21/passenger.png)

• The Phusion Passenger is installed in the system:

# dpkg -s passenger
Package: passenger
Status: install ok installed


Cause

Plesk does not support Phusion Passenger installed manually.


Resolution

1.Connect to the server via SSH.

2.Remove custom Phusion Passenger server.

3.Log in to Plesk.

Go to Tools & Settings > Updates & Upgrades > Add/Remove Components > Web Hosting and install Phusion Passenger server.

5.Start NGINX service:

# service nginx start