Nginx PHP5 FPM Restart Fix on Ubuntu

Getting stop: Unknown instance: after runing service php5-fpm restart? Normal. This script fixes Ubuntu-Nginx Service php5-fpm restart issue. This is a known bug which has reappeared. If you run tail -f /var/log/php5-fpm.log& - you'll find nothing wrong. Do not stop / kill the process in production server. If it does not start, it will be worser!

This conf needs edit :

/etc/init/php-fpm.conf

Note for newer Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Updated on [30th Aug, 2015]

I found that, /etc/init/php-fpm.conf has been /etc/init/php5-fpm.conf now (HP Cloud, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Partner Image, also on Softlayer Ubuntu 14.05 LTS) ! In that case, cd to /etc/init/ and do a ls to check the file name. Thing has not been corrected, only the filename can be different (php-fpm or php5-fpm). cd to ``/etc/init/and find the file namedphp-fpm.conf` or `php5-fpm.conf`, cat to see the content and find the lines :

# Precise upstart does not support reload signal, and thus rejects the
# job. We'd rather start the daemon, instead of forcing users to
# reboot https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/php5/+bug/1272788
#
# reload signal USR2

and uncomment this :

reload signal USR2

on running service php5-fpm restart, you'll get warning though. Because, this script :

/etc/init.d/php5-fpm

has issues on Ubuntu 14.xy.

Open Filezilla, take backup of /etc/init.d/php5-fpm on your computer, delete php5-fpm script from /etc/init.d/ and create a new script :

nano /etc/init.d/php5-fpm

You can check it :

cd /etc/init.d && ls
cat php5-fpm 

Copy this repo's the file named php5-fpm's material full text as raw and wrtite out. Save and run service php5-fpm restart. Change the ownership of the file to none or activate UNIX Wheel Group [see my details on wheel group - https://thecustomizewindows.com/2014/03/what-is-wheel-group-in-unix-unix-like-os/ ], otherwise on dist-upgrade, it can get replaced.

You can empty the php5-fpm file by :

cd /etc/init.d
cp /etc/init.d/php5-fpm ~/php5-fpm
echo " " > php5-fpm

and paste the content. Give a soft reboot from SSH - reboot. Now check by running service php5-fpm restart, it will work!

Why it Happens?

By default it never happens. Possibly after optimizing the www.conf file or php.ini file, somehow evoke this. There can be non-Free software which may not be updated but we use. Difficult for us to trace.

Can I use dot override file instead?

Yes. See issues - #4

I personally think, editing is better. Ubuntu or PHP5-FPM may need a patch when we update, in that case it will get replaced. That is good for security. If you get restart error, as you can see it is not difficicult to fix. We are not kernel security experts. Getting overrriden is safer for us. Not all the users reading & using are experts.

Wiki

We are trying to create a small wiki. You can help us to edit the wiki here.

Others

1. My website will not load on Windozzz XP + IE ver 1 to 6, ver 8 ! Use a modern OS and browser. It is HSTS Preload listed. There is no matching cipher suite.
2. If you use HHVM with PHP5-FPM fallback, this file will not hamper your work. I will suggest to use HHVM with PHP5-FPM fallback now for WordPress for Faster loading. HHVM needs some tweaks, search on my website, you'll get some. Facebook fully copy-pasted many files and docs, the expire header need huge works.
3. Nginx - PHP5-FPM does not purge due to other reason, Nginx Plus purges. I tested on 22nd Feb, 2015; for community edition, this change has nothing to to do with purging.

If you do not want to change the default file

If you want to fully remove (be careful, it will remove all the settings) and reinstall a fresh copy, this is the command :

sudo apt-get purge php5-fpm && sudo apt-get install php5-fpm

Initially service php-fpm restart will work.

This is fully Copyleft. You can verbatim copy, distribute without any credit.

Also see https://github.com/AbhishekGhosh/Nginx-PHP5-FPM-UNIX-Socket-Configuration to fix latest Nginx PHP5-FPM UNIX Socket related issues.