Cannot start php because it is unable to create PID file

Question

If I try to start PHP-FPM I get this error:

ERROR: Unable to create the PID file (/var/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.pid).: No such file or directory ERROR: FPM initialization failed

Do I have to give permissions in the systemctl .service file so it can create the folder and file?

This is my php.service file:

[Unit]
Description=The PHP FastCGI Process Manager
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=notify
EnvironmentFile=/etc/opt/remi/php70/sysconfig/php-fpm
ExecStart=/opt/remi/php70/root/usr/sbin/php-fpm --nodaemonize
ExecReload=/bin/kill -USR2 $MAINPID
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

In the www.conf file there is a user and group set as apache. I tried changing it to root, but then I get the message 'try another user than root'. I've also tried nginx, but then again I got the previous error.

Here is my www.conf

; Start a new pool named 'www'.
; the variable $pool can we used in any directive and will be replaced by the
; pool name ('www' here)
[www]

; Per pool prefix
; It only applies on the following directives:
; - 'access.log'
; - 'slowlog'
; - 'listen' (unixsocket)
; - 'chroot'
; - 'chdir'
; - 'php_values'
; - 'php_admin_values'
; When not set, the global prefix (or @php_fpm_prefix@) applies instead.
; Note: This directive can also be relative to the global prefix.
; Default Value: none
;prefix = /path/to/pools/$pool

; Unix user/group of processes
; Note: The user is mandatory. If the group is not set, the default user's group
;       will be used.
; RPM: apache Choosed to be able to access some dir as httpd
user = apache
; RPM: Keep a group allowed to write in log dir.
group = apache

; The address on which to accept FastCGI requests.
; Valid syntaxes are:
;   'ip.add.re.ss:port'    - to listen on a TCP socket to a specific IPv4 address on
;                            a specific port;
;   '[ip:6:addr:ess]:port' - to listen on a TCP socket to a specific IPv6 address on
;                            a specific port;
;   'port'                 - to listen on a TCP socket to all addresses
;                            (IPv6 and IPv4-mapped) on a specific port;
;   '/path/to/unix/socket' - to listen on a unix socket.
; Note: This value is mandatory.
listen = 127.0.0.1:9000

; Set listen(2) backlog.
; Default Value: 511
;listen.backlog = 511

; Set permissions for unix socket, if one is used. In Linux, read/write
; permissions must be set in order to allow connections from a web server.
; Default Values: user and group are set as the running user
;                 mode is set to 0660
;listen.owner = nobody
;listen.group = nobody
;listen.mode = 0660

; When POSIX Access Control Lists are supported you can set them using
; these options, value is a comma separated list of user/group names.
; When set, listen.owner and listen.group are ignored
;listen.acl_users = apache,nginx
;listen.acl_groups =

; List of addresses (IPv4/IPv6) of FastCGI clients which are allowed to connect.
; Equivalent to the FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS environment variable in the original
; PHP FCGI (5.2.2+). Makes sense only with a tcp listening socket. Each address
; must be separated by a comma. If this value is left blank, connections will be
; accepted from any ip address.
; Default Value: any
"www.conf" 422L, 18812C

EDIT: I was missing the /var/run/php-fpm/folder. I've added it, now it runs.

Solution

ERROR: Unable to create the PID file (/var/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.pid).: No such file or directory

It means that directory /var/run/php-fpm/ does not exist. You should add this directory to the tmpfiles.d configuration. For example, add the following line to /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/php-fpm.conf:

d /var/run/php-fpm 755 root root

Set PIDFile in the [Service] section of your php.service file:

PIDFile=/var/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.pid

Re-install and start the service:

systemctl disable php.service
systemctl enable php.service
systemctl start php.service

Comments

[Professor Abronsius]

can you include your config?

[Barsch]

I've edited the .service file and the user and group of my www.conf file to my post, or which config did you mean?

[Ruslan Osmanov]

@Barsch, try to add PIDFile=/var/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.pid to the [Service] section

[Barsch]

@RuslanOsmanov I've tried it. Still the same error. In /var/run/ there is no folder php-fpm. But I guess it should be created at the start/installation of php?

[Barsch]

added this folder, now it starts

[Remi Collet]

default PID location from /etc/opt/remi/php70/php-fpm.conf (default configuration) is pid = /var/opt/remi/php70/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.pid which should exists (own by the package). @RuslanOsmanov: PIDfile in unit file is uneeded (type=notify)

[Barsch]

I get the following message: Job for php70-php-fpm.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status php70-php-fpm.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

[Bara' ayyash]

which php version do you use ?

[Barsch]

I use php7 on this server

[Bara' ayyash]

try adding php56-php-fpm and php-fpm to variable php_packages

[Barsch]

noob question: how do I do that, and what does it do?