"zabbix-server start" result "stop/pre-start" but can start manually...

[theWoosh]

Hi I'm on ubuntu 14.04 and installed zabbix 3.02 server & agent way back and it worked fine but haven't had occasion to look at it for ages.
Now when I do I find that the zabbix-server isn't working and when I try to start it with "service zabbix-server start" it responds 'stop/pre-start'.
Presumably something has been broken during routine upgrades...
No log file is being produced and the process number it gives doesn't exist...
I am able to start zabbix-server manually from the command line with "zabbix_server" and this produces a log file in the right place and logs to it...

Any ideas how to debug the script? Without a logfile I don't even know where to start!

zabbix_server.conf looks like this (and the zabbix_agent script, which works, is identical except for agent not server):

# This is a configuration file for Zabbix server daemon
# To get more information about Zabbix, visit http://www.zabbix.com

############ GENERAL PARAMETERS #################

### Option: ListenPort
# Listen port for trapper.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1024-32767
# Default:
# ListenPort=10051

### Option: SourceIP
# Source IP address for outgoing connections.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# SourceIP=

### Option: LogType
# Specifies where log messages are written to:
# system - syslog
# file - file specified with LogFile parameter
# console - standard output
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# LogType=file

### Option: LogFile
# Log file name for LogType 'file' parameter.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# LogFile=

LogFile=/var/log/zabbix/zabbix_server.log

### Option: LogFileSize
# Maximum size of log file in MB.
# 0 - disable automatic log rotation.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1024
# Default:
# LogFileSize=1

LogFileSize=5

### Option: DebugLevel
# Specifies debug level:
# 0 - basic information about starting and stopping of Zabbix processes
# 1 - critical information
# 2 - error information
# 3 - warnings
# 4 - for debugging (produces lots of information)
# 5 - extended debugging (produces even more information)
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-5
# Default:
# DebugLevel=3
DebugLevel=4
### Option: PidFile
# Name of PID file.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# PidFile=/tmp/zabbix_server.pid

PidFile=/var/run/zabbix/zabbix_server.pid

### Option: DBHost
# Database host name.
# If set to localhost, socket is used for MySQL.
# If set to empty string, socket is used for PostgreSQL.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
DBHost=localhost

### Option: DBName
# Database name.
# For SQLite3 path to database file must be provided. DBUser and DBPassword are ignored.
#
# Mandatory: yes
# Default:

DBName=#####

### Option: DBSchema
# Schema name. Used for IBM DB2 and PostgreSQL.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# DBSchema=

### Option: DBUser
# Database user. Ignored for SQLite.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# DBUser=
DBUser=#####
### Option: DBPassword
# Database password. Ignored for SQLite.
# Comment this line if no password is used.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# DBPassword=
DBPassword=######

### Option: DBSocket
# Path to MySQL socket.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# DBSocket=/tmp/mysql.sock

### Option: DBPort
# Database port when not using local socket. Ignored for SQLite.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1024-65535
# Default (for MySQL):
# DBPort=3306

############ ADVANCED PARAMETERS ################

### Option: StartPollers
# Number of pre-forked instances of pollers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartPollers=5

### Option: StartIPMIPollers
# Number of pre-forked instances of IPMI pollers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartIPMIPollers=0

### Option: StartPollersUnreachable
# Number of pre-forked instances of pollers for unreachable hosts (including IPMI and Java).
# At least one poller for unreachable hosts must be running if regular, IPMI or Java pollers
# are started.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartPollersUnreachable=1

### Option: StartTrappers
# Number of pre-forked instances of trappers.
# Trappers accept incoming connections from Zabbix sender, active agents and active proxies.
# At least one trapper process must be running to display server availability and view queue
# in the frontend.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartTrappers=5

### Option: StartPingers
# Number of pre-forked instances of ICMP pingers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartPingers=1

### Option: StartDiscoverers
# Number of pre-forked instances of discoverers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-250
# Default:
# StartDiscoverers=1

### Option: StartHTTPPollers
# Number of pre-forked instances of HTTP pollers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartHTTPPollers=1

### Option: StartTimers
# Number of pre-forked instances of timers.
# Timers process time-based trigger functions and maintenance periods.
# Only the first timer process handles the maintenance periods.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-1000
# Default:
# StartTimers=1

### Option: StartEscalators
# Number of pre-forked instances of escalators.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-100
# Default:
# StartEscalators=1

### Option: JavaGateway
# IP address (or hostname) of Zabbix Java gateway.
# Only required if Java pollers are started.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# JavaGateway=

### Option: JavaGatewayPort
# Port that Zabbix Java gateway listens on.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1024-32767
# Default:
# JavaGatewayPort=10052

### Option: StartJavaPollers
# Number of pre-forked instances of Java pollers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000
# Default:
# StartJavaPollers=0

### Option: StartVMwareCollectors
# Number of pre-forked vmware collector instances.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-250
# Default:
# StartVMwareCollectors=0

### Option: VMwareFrequency
# How often Zabbix will connect to VMware service to obtain a new data.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 10-86400
# Default:
# VMwareFrequency=60

### Option: VMwarePerfFrequency
# How often Zabbix will connect to VMware service to obtain performance data.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 10-86400
# Default:
# VMwarePerfFrequency=60
### Option: VMwareCacheSize
# Size of VMware cache, in bytes.
# Shared memory size for storing VMware data.
# Only used if VMware collectors are started.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 256K-2G
# Default:
# VMwareCacheSize=8M

### Option: VMwareTimeout
# Specifies how many seconds vmware collector waits for response from VMware service.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-300
# Default:
# VMwareTimeout=10

### Option: SNMPTrapperFile
# Temporary file used for passing data from SNMP trap daemon to the server.
# Must be the same as in zabbix_trap_receiver.pl or SNMPTT configuration file.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# SNMPTrapperFile=/tmp/zabbix_traps.tmp

### Option: StartSNMPTrapper
# If 1, SNMP trapper process is started.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1
# Default:
# StartSNMPTrapper=0

### Option: ListenIP
# List of comma delimited IP addresses that the trapper should listen on.
# Trapper will listen on all network interfaces if this parameter is missing.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# ListenIP=0.0.0.0

# ListenIP=127.0.0.1

### Option: HousekeepingFrequency
# How often Zabbix will perform housekeeping procedure (in hours).
# Housekeeping is removing outdated information from the database.
# To prevent Housekeeper from being overloaded, no more than 4 times HousekeepingFrequency
# hours of outdated information are deleted in one housekeeping cycle, for each item.
# To lower load on server startup housekeeping is postponed for 30 minutes after server start.
# With HousekeepingFrequency=0 the housekeeper can be only executed using the runtime control option.
# In this case the period of outdated information deleted in one housekeeping cycle is 4 times the
# period since the last housekeeping cycle, but not less than 4 hours and not greater than 4 days.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-24
# Default:
# HousekeepingFrequency=1

### Option: MaxHousekeeperDelete
# The table "housekeeper" contains "tasks" for housekeeping procedure in the format:
# [housekeeperid], [tablename], [field], [value].
# No more than 'MaxHousekeeperDelete' rows (corresponding to [tablename], [field], [value])
# will be deleted per one task in one housekeeping cycle.
# SQLite3 does not use this parameter, deletes all corresponding rows without a limit.
# If set to 0 then no limit is used at all. In this case you must know what you are doing!
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-1000000
# Default:
# MaxHousekeeperDelete=5000

### Option: SenderFrequency
# How often Zabbix will try to send unsent alerts (in seconds).
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 5-3600
# Default:
# SenderFrequency=30

### Option: CacheSize
# Size of configuration cache, in bytes.
# Shared memory size for storing host, item and trigger data.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 128K-8G
# Default:
# CacheSize=8M

### Option: CacheUpdateFrequency
# How often Zabbix will perform update of configuration cache, in seconds.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600
# Default:
# CacheUpdateFrequency=60

### Option: StartDBSyncers
# Number of pre-forked instances of DB Syncers.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-100
# Default:
# StartDBSyncers=4
### Option: HistoryCacheSize
# Size of history cache, in bytes.
# Shared memory size for storing history data.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 128K-2G
# Default:
# HistoryCacheSize=16M

### Option: HistoryIndexCacheSize
# Size of history index cache, in bytes.
# Shared memory size for indexing history cache.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 128K-2G
# Default:
# HistoryIndexCacheSize=4M

### Option: TrendCacheSize
# Size of trend cache, in bytes.
# Shared memory size for storing trends data.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 128K-2G
# Default:
# TrendCacheSize=4M

### Option: ValueCacheSize
# Size of history value cache, in bytes.
# Shared memory size for caching item history data requests.
# Setting to 0 disables value cache.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0,128K-64G
# Default:
# ValueCacheSize=8M

### Option: Timeout
# Specifies how long we wait for agent, SNMP device or external check (in seconds).
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-30
# Default:
# Timeout=3

Timeout=4

### Option: TrapperTimeout
# Specifies how many seconds trapper may spend processing new data.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-300
# Default:
# TrapperTimeout=300

### Option: UnreachablePeriod
# After how many seconds of unreachability treat a host as unavailable.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600
# Default:
# UnreachablePeriod=45

### Option: UnavailableDelay
# How often host is checked for availability during the unavailability period, in seconds.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600
# Default:
# UnavailableDelay=60

### Option: UnreachableDelay
# How often host is checked for availability during the unreachability period, in seconds.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600
# Default:
# UnreachableDelay=15

### Option: AlertScriptsPath
# Full path to location of custom alert scripts.
# Default depends on compilation options.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# AlertScriptsPath=${datadir}/zabbix/alertscripts

AlertScriptsPath=/usr/lib/zabbix/alertscripts

### Option: ExternalScripts
# Full path to location of external scripts.
# Default depends on compilation options.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# ExternalScripts=${datadir}/zabbix/externalscripts

ExternalScripts=/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts

### Option: FpingLocation
# Location of fping.
# Make sure that fping binary has root ownership and SUID flag set.
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# FpingLocation=/usr/sbin/fping

FpingLocation=/usr/bin/fping

### Option: Fping6Location
# Location of fping6.
# Make sure that fping6 binary has root ownership and SUID flag set.
# Make empty if your fping utility is capable to process IPv6 addresses.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# Fping6Location=/usr/sbin/fping6

Fping6Location=/usr/bin/fping6

### Option: SSHKeyLocation
# Location of public and private keys for SSH checks and actions.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# SSHKeyLocation=

### Option: LogSlowQueries
# How long a database query may take before being logged (in milliseconds).
# Only works if DebugLevel set to 3, 4 or 5.
# 0 - don't log slow queries.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600000
# Default:
# LogSlowQueries=0

LogSlowQueries=3000

### Option: TmpDir
# Temporary directory.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# TmpDir=/tmp

### Option: StartProxyPollers
# Number of pre-forked instances of pollers for passive proxies.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 0-250
# Default:
# StartProxyPollers=1

### Option: ProxyConfigFrequency
# How often Zabbix Server sends configuration data to a Zabbix Proxy in seconds.
# This parameter is used only for proxies in the passive mode.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600*24*7
# Default:
# ProxyConfigFrequency=3600

### Option: ProxyDataFrequency
# How often Zabbix Server requests history data from a Zabbix Proxy in seconds.
# This parameter is used only for proxies in the passive mode.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Range: 1-3600
# Default:
# ProxyDataFrequency=1

### Option: AllowRoot
# Allow the server to run as 'root'. If disabled and the server is started by 'root', the server
# will try to switch to the user specified by the User configuration option instead.
# Has no effect if started under a regular user.
# 0 - do not allow
# 1 - allow
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# AllowRoot=0

### Option: User
# Drop privileges to a specific, existing user on the system.
# Only has effect if run as 'root' and AllowRoot is disabled.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# User=zabbix

### Option: Include
# You may include individual files or all files in a directory in the configuration file.
# Installing Zabbix will create include directory in /usr/local/etc, unless modified during the compile time.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# Include=

# Include=/usr/local/etc/zabbix_server.general.conf
# Include=/usr/local/etc/zabbix_server.conf.d/
# Include=/usr/local/etc/zabbix_server.conf.d/*.conf

### Option: SSLCertLocation
# Location of SSL client certificates.
# This parameter is used only in web monitoring.
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# SSLCertLocation=${datadir}/zabbix/ssl/certs

### Option: SSLKeyLocation
# Location of private keys for SSL client certificates.
# This parameter is used only in web monitoring.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# SSLKeyLocation=${datadir}/zabbix/ssl/keys

### Option: SSLCALocation
# Override the location of certificate authority (CA) files for SSL server certificate verification.
# If not set, system-wide directory will be used.
# This parameter is used only in web monitoring and SMTP authentication.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# SSLCALocation=

####### LOADABLE MODULES #######

### Option: LoadModulePath
# Full path to location of server modules.
# Default depends on compilation options.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# LoadModulePath=${libdir}/modules

### Option: LoadModule
# Module to load at server startup. Modules are used to extend functionality of the server.
# Format: LoadModule=<module.so>
# The modules must be located in directory specified by LoadModulePath.
# It is allowed to include multiple LoadModule parameters.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# LoadModule=

####### TLS-RELATED PARAMETERS #######

### Option: TLSCAFile
# Full pathname of a file containing the top-level CA(s) certificates for
# peer certificate verification.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# TLSCAFile=

### Option: TLSCRLFile
# Full pathname of a file containing the server private key.
#
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# TLSKeyFile=

[volter]

Try zabbx_server -f -c <that_configuration_file>, or is that what you did?

[theWoosh]

thanks volter - I hadn't tried that but it just works fine
when I execute it like this:
# runuser -l zabbix /usr/sbin/zabbix_server -f -c /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf If I run it as root it tells me it can't run as root even though I have the user option set...

I'm pretty sure there must be something wrong in the /etc/initd/zabbix-server script...