The ‘Error: could not create or update nagios.configtest’ occurs while starting Nagios.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several such Nagios-related errors as part of our Server Management Services for web hosts and online service providers.

Today we’ll take a look at the causes for this error and see the fix.

What causes ‘Error: could not create or update nagios.configtest’ to occur

Before we get into the solution part of this error message, let us see what causes this error message to occur.

Normally, this error occurs while starting the Nagios.

The main reason for this error to occur is that the Nagios user account does not have a user shell, especially when nologin is used in the passwd file:

nagios:x:1001:1001::/home/nagios:/usr/sbin/nologin

How we resolve the Error: could not create or update nagios.configtest

Now let us see how our Support Engineers assist our customers in fixing this Nagios error message.

In order to fix this error message, we remove the /usr/sbin/nologin directive from the passwd file, or we define it as a valid shell.

The below examples should resolve this problem, however, depending on your Operating System.

No shell defined:

nagios:x:1001:1001::/home/nagios:

Bash shell defined:

nagios:x:500:500::/home/nagios:/bin/bash

After updating the passwd file, you must be able to start the Nagios successfully.

[Need any further assistance in fixing Nagios errors? – We are here to help you]

Conclusion

In short, this Nagios error occurs while starting it. Today, we saw the solution our Support Engineers provide to our customers to resolve this error.