Dist-upgraded server 20.04.6 => 22.04.1 => 24.04.1 - Apache problems....

[Bo Berglund]

So today I have done the following from my Ubuntu server 20.04.6 LTS:

1) Updated it fully so it showd the logoi message about do-relese-upgrade

2) Used GParted on a bootable image to back up my server's partitions to an USB3
connected 1 TB drive.

3) Shut down all job scheduling via at (I have a number of these at jobs
normally running).

4) Then I connected a monitor to the PC so I could be hooked up without SSH

5) On the command prompt I issued sudo do-release-upgrade and ran that to full
completion to 22.04.1

6) Then I repeated that on the 22.04.1 fresh system

7) This also completed so I am now on 24.04.1 LTS

Now I wanted to check up on the functionality and this was what happened:
- My OpenVPN server works fine and clients can connect.
- The Samba shares work OK
- But my webserver is not working so I cannot reach it.

QUESTION
---------
How can I check the Apache server functionality or running status?

I have tried this:

$ systemctl status apache2.service

 apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; preset:
enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sat 2024-12-14 14:42:38 CET; 34s
ago
       Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
    Process: 5318 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/apachectl start (code=exited,
status=1/FAILURE)
        CPU: 31ms

Dec 14 14:42:38 ubuntuserv systemd[1]: Starting apache2.service - The Apache
HTTP Server...
Dec 14 14:42:38 ubuntuserv apachectl[5320]: apache2: Syntax error on line 146 of
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf: Syntax error on line 3 of
/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/php8.1.load: Cannot load
/usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp8.1.so into server:
/usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp8.1.so: cannot open shared object file: No such
file or directory
Dec 14 14:42:38 ubuntuserv systemd[1]: apache2.service: Control process exited,
code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Dec 14 14:42:38 ubuntuserv systemd[1]: apache2.service: Failed with result
'exit-code'.
Dec 14 14:42:38 ubuntuserv systemd[1]: Failed to start apache2.service - The
Apache HTTP Server.

What is it it cannot "load" and why does this happen folowing a dist-upgrade?

I have not checked other services yet...

Apache was  the most important after OpenVPN (which does work)...


-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden