"make_sock: could not bind to address [::]:443" when restarting apache (installing trac and mod_wsgi)

I'm trying to install trac and mod_wsgi over SSL. I tried to manually install it, but that didn't work out so well so I started to follow this: trac-on-ubuntu

I skipped the svn part because I'd like to use git instead. After the first edit of httpd.conf:

WSGIScriptAlias /trac /var/trac/apache/trac.wsgi

<Directory /var/trac/apache>
    WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL}
    Order deny,allow
    Allow from all
</Directory>

I restarted apache only to get this error:

* Restarting web server apache2                                                    

(98)Address already in use: make_sock: could not bind to address [::]:443

                                                                     [ OK ]

Doing these showed nothing.

 netstat -anp | grep 443 
 fuser 443/tcp

Doing this didn't yield anything except the grep command that I ran:

ps -aux | grep httpd

Why is it saying that something else is using the port when there's nothing showing up?

EDIT: You guys are going to laugh at this. I had an extra Listen 443 in ports.conf that shouldn't have been there. Removing that solved this.

You guys are going to laugh at this. I had an extra Listen 443 in ports.conf that shouldn't have been there. Removing that solved this.

Thank you for you answers, on apache 2.4.x versions if have installed ssl_module using yum command, dont want to add the port :443 in httpd.conf (main) file,

To find out the port 443 in configure files,

# grep '443' /etc/httpd/conf.d/*

/etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:Listen 443 https
/etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:<VirtualHost _default_:443>
/etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf:#ServerName www.example.com:443

# grep '443' /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf 
Listen 443

Just remove the line or command it (Listen 443) from httpd.conf file.

I'm adding another answer to this as I had the same problem and solved it the same way: I had installed SSL on apache2 using a2enmod ssl, which seems to have added an extra configuration in /etc/apache2/ports.conf:

NameVirtualHost *:80
Listen 80

NameVirtualHost *:443
Listen 443

<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
    Listen 443
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_gnutls.c>
    Listen 443
</IfModule>

I had to comment out the first Listen 443 after the NameVirtualHost *:443 directive:

NameVirtualHost *:443
#Listen 443

But I'm thinking I can as well let it and comment the others. Anyway, thank you for the solution :)

For everyone else who has no duplicate Listen directives and no running processes on the port: check that you don't accidentally include ports.conf twice in apache2.conf (as I did due to a bad merge).

I use apache version 2.4.27, also have this problem, solved it through modify

the conf/extra/httpdahssl.conf,comment the 18 line content(Listen 443 https),it works fine.

I made the mistake of incorrectly naming a backup file in the /etc/httpd/conf.d directory. In the README it states that it alphabetically goes through all .conf files.

I had created ssl-<date>.conf (meant to be a backup) and it was loading before ssl.conf. It was binding the :443 port based on the ssl-<date>.conf and failing on the ssl.conf.

Once I renamed the backup file to ssl.conf.<date>, the service started without issue.

As a note, the server I'm on is running RHEL 6

I am using Ubuntu. I just disabled ssl mode of apache2 and it worked for me.

a2dismod ssl

and then restarted apache2.

service apache2 restart

I seconded Matthieu answer

I commented #Listen 443 in httpd-ssl file and apache can be started

Because the file already has VirtualHost default:443

Let me add one more reason for the error. In httpd.conf I included explicitly

Include etc/apache24/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

while did not notice previous wildcard

Include etc/apache24/extra/*.conf

Grepping 443 will not find this.

I had same issue, was due to multiple copies of ssl.conf In /etc/httpd/conf.d - There should only be one.

I have checked and fixed the following and got it resolved -

1. httpd.conf file at /etc/httpd/conf/
2. Checked the listening IP and port e.g. 10.12.13.4:80
3. Removed extra listening port(s)
4. Restarted the httpd service to take

I meet the problem in windows7, phpeclipse, when I start the XAMPP. My solution is :

• 1.Commented out the \xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf -> line171 -> #LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so

• 2.line539 -> #Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

or you can change the 443 port to another one

In httpd.conf instead:

Listen *:443

you need write Listen 127.0.0.1:443 It works for me.