Apache cannot be started if ModSecurity is enabled: failed to load IPs from:

[Suhitha]

Question: Apache cannot be started if ModSecurity is enabled: failed to load IPs from: /etc/asl/whitelist


Applicable to:

• Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

• Apache cannot be started if ModSecurity is enabled.
• The following error appears in /var/log/plesk/panel.log with the enabled debug logging:

Code Select Expand

ERR [panel] Unable to start service:
Unable to manage service by apache_control_adapter: ('start', 'web').
Error: Jan 13 17:42:26 uknet.eu systemd[1]: Starting The Apache HTTP Server...
httpd[9828]: AH00526: Syntax error on line 24 of /etc/httpd/conf/modsecurity.d/rules/tortix/modsec/tortix_waf.conf:
httpd[9828]: ModSecurity: failed to load IPs from: /etc/asl/whitelist
Could not open ipmatch file "/etc/asl/whitelist": No such file or directory
aum.x86_64 package is missing:

# rpm -qa | grep aum
<empty output>

# dpkg -l | grep aum
<empty output>


Cause

Corrupted Modsecurity installation.


Resolution

1.Connect to the server via SSH.

2.Install the missing package:

                        For RedHat/CentOS:

# yum install aum --enablerepo tortix-common -y

If the step above did not help, install aum manually:

# wget -q -O - https://updates.atomicorp.com/installers/aum | sh

                            For Debian/Ubuntu:

# wget -q -O - https://www.atomicorp.com/RPM-GPG-KEY.art.txt | apt-key add -

# apt-get update

# apt-get install aum -y

If the above actions did not help consider applying the following workaround:

1.Log in to Plesk.

2.Go to Tools & Settings > Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) and enable the web application firewall.

3.Set ruleset to any non-atomic ruleset, for example, Comodo and press OK to apply changes.

4.After that, again open Tools & Settings > Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) > Settings tab and switch to the Atomic ruleset.