WebServer New Added 26 September 2026

Apache: AH01630: client denied by server configuration

mod_authz_core decided the request was not allowed for that directory, so it never reached the file and the response is a 403 with nothing in the access pattern to explain it. On an upgraded server it is usually a 2.2 style Order and Allow block being ignored, or a new document root that no Directory section grants access to.

Quick fix

Read the commands before running them. Anything that restarts a service, deletes data or changes permissions should be tried on a non-production system first.

Quick fix

# The log line names the path that was denied, start there
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log | grep AH01630

# 2.4 syntax: one Require line replaces Order, Allow and Deny
<Directory /var/www/app/public>
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

# What is in force for that path, and which vhost owns it
apache2ctl -S
grep -Rn 'Require\|Order\|Allow from' /etc/apache2/ /var/www/app/.htaccess

# A Require inside .htaccess is ignored unless AllowOverride permits it,
# so with AllowOverride None the vhost has to grant the access itself

sudo apache2ctl configtest && sudo systemctl reload apache2

# Directories outside the default root need their own section, /srv included

How to diagnose WebServer errors

Web server errors are usually about permissions, binding, or configuration that was never loaded. A common trap: the server runs as an unprivileged user (www-data, nginx), so it needs execute permission on every directory in the path to a file, not just read permission on the file itself. Another: editing a config file changes nothing until the server is reloaded and the file is actually included.

If the quick fix above does not resolve it, work through these steps. They apply to this whole class of error, not just to this one message, which is usually what saves the time.

Validate configuration before reloading: nginx -t, apachectl configtest, caddy validate. This catches syntax errors without dropping traffic.
Dump the fully resolved configuration with nginx -T to see what is actually in effect, including every include.
Read the error log, not the access log, for 5xx causes. nginx names the failing upstream and the exact filesystem path it could not open.
For permission errors, test as the server user: sudo -u www-data cat /path/to/file. Check execute bits on every parent directory.
For binding failures, find the current listener with ss -tulpn | grep :80. Ports below 1024 need privileges or a capability such as CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE.

Tools worth reaching for

nginx -t / nginx -T
apachectl configtest
ss -tulpn
tail -f error.log
sudo -u www-data

Authoritative references

Primary documentation for this error, worth reading before applying any fix in production.

httpd.apache.org httpd.apache.org

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