1. The problem I’m having:
My Caddy install has stopped listening on port 443, and thus redirecting http → https after updating to the latest version.
I believe I accidentally overwrote the install at the wrong file location (var/lib/caddy; instead of /usr/bin/caddy). Either this has reset the config, or the update to Caddy v2 has changes which have led to the caddy server no longer listening on port 443. While I was able to get it working again on the http port, the caddy logs declare “server is not listening on port 443”.
I have checked with my ISP, and confirmed that my router is also both open and pointing 443 to Caddy. DNS addresses are set correctly.
Curl output shows the site is working (I am finally learning how to properly troubleshoot thanks to the team’s patience and help here! 
)
* Host domain1.net:80 was resolved.
* IPv6: IPv6
* IPv4: IPv4
* Trying [IPv6]:80...
* Trying IPv4:80...
* Connected to domain1.net (IPv4) port 80
> GET / HTTP/1.1
> Host: domain.net
> User-Agent: curl/8.5.0
> Accept: */*
>
< HTTP/1.1 302 Found
< Content-Length: 0
< Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2025 01:05:43 GMT
< Location: web/
< Server: Caddy
< Server: Kestrel
<
* Connection #0 to host domain1.net left intact
2. Error messages and/or full log output:
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: caddy.HomeDir=/var/lib/caddy
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: caddy.AppDataDir=/var/lib/caddy/.local/share/caddy
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: caddy.AppConfigDir=/var/lib/caddy/.config/caddy
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: caddy.ConfigAutosavePath=/var/lib/caddy/.config/caddy/autosave.json
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: caddy.Version=v2.9.1 h1:OEYiZ7DbCzAWVb6TNEkjRcSCRGHVoZsJinoDR/n9oaY=
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: runtime.GOOS=linux
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: runtime.GOARCH=amd64
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: runtime.Compiler=gc
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: runtime.NumCPU=12
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: runtime.GOMAXPROCS=12
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: runtime.Version=go1.23.4
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: os.Getwd=/
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/snap/bin
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: NOTIFY_SOCKET=/run/systemd/notify
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: USER=caddy
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: LOGNAME=caddy
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: HOME=/var/lib/caddy
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: INVOCATION_ID=1ddcb4740dfb493f88ce442d38cc0294
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: JOURNAL_STREAM=8:64795
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: SYSTEMD_EXEC_PID=10068
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: MEMORY_PRESSURE_WATCH=/sys/fs/cgroup/system.slice/caddy.service/memory.pressure
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: MEMORY_PRESSURE_WRITE=c29tZSAyMDAwMDAgMjAwMDAwMAA=
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: CF_API_TOKEN=removed
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: CF_API_TOKEN_2=removed
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1645226,"msg":"using config from file","file":"/etc/caddy/Caddyfile"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1654692,"msg":"adapted config to JSON","adapter":"caddyfile"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1660628,"logger":"admin","msg":"admin endpoint started","address":"localhost:2019","enforce_origin":false,"origins":["//[::1]:2019","//127.0.0.1:2019","//localhost:2019"]}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737634668.166145,"logger":"http.auto_https","msg":"server is listening only on the HTTP port, so no automatic HTTPS will be applied to this server","server_name":"srv0","http_port":80}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1662474,"logger":"tls.cache.maintenance","msg":"started background certificate maintenance","cache":"0xc0000ed300"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 calcifer caddy[10068]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737634668.1664176,"logger":"http","msg":"HTTP/2 skipped because it requires TLS","network":"tcp","addr":":80"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737634668.1664236,"logger":"http","msg":"HTTP/3 skipped because it requires TLS","network":"tcp","addr":":80"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1664252,"logger":"http.log","msg":"server running","name":"srv0","protocols":["h1","h2","h3"]}
Jan 23 23:17:48 caddy[10068]: {"level":"error","ts":1737634668.166443,"msg":"unable to create folder for config autosave","dir":"/var/lib/caddy/.config/caddy","error":"mkdir /var/lib/caddy: not a directory"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 calcifer caddy[10068]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737634668.1664574,"logger":"tls","msg":"unable to get instance ID; storage clean stamps will be incomplete","error":"open /var/lib/caddy/.local/share/caddy/instance.uuid: not a directory"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 calcifer caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1664624,"msg":"serving initial configuration"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 calcifer caddy[10068]: {"level":"error","ts":1737634668.166515,"logger":"tls","msg":"could not clean default/global storage","error":"unable to acquire storage_clean lock: creating lock file: open /var/lib/caddy/.local/share/caddy/locks/storage_clean.lock: not a directory"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 calcifer caddy[10068]: {"level":"info","ts":1737634668.1665196,"logger":"tls","msg":"finished cleaning storage units"}
Jan 23 23:17:48 calcifer systemd[1]: Started caddy.service - Caddy.
3. Caddy version:
v2.9.1 h1:OEYiZ7DbCzAWVb6TNEkjRcSCRGHVoZsJinoDR/n9oaY=
4. How I installed and ran Caddy:
Run using systemctl commands.
Installed via downloading custom binary with cloudflare binary and moving to /var/lib/caddy. I also run chmod +x and chown caddy:caddy commands.
a. System environment:
Ubuntu 22.04.1 on Intel (amd64)
b. Command:
Caddy autoruns on startup. To reload I use
systemctl reload caddy
d. My complete Caddy config:
GNU nano 7.2 /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
http://domain1.net {
reverse_proxy IP1:8096
tls {
issuer acme {
dns cloudflare {env.CF_API_TOKEN}
resolvers 1.1.1.1
propagation_delay 60s
propagation_timeout -1
}
}
}
http://domain2.net {
file_server
encode zstd gzip
header {
Access-Control-Allow-Headers *
Access-Control-Allow-Methods *
Access-Control-Allow-Origin *
}
@options {
method OPTIONS
}
respond @options 204
reverse_proxy IP2:6789 {
header_up Host IP2:6789
}
tls {
issuer acme {
dns cloudflare {env.CF_API_TOKEN_2}
resolvers 1.1.1.1
propagation_delay 60s
propagation_timeout -1
}
}
}
5. Links to relevant resources:
As you can see above, the logs are showing that caddy is failing to write to /var/lib/caddy. I am really perplexed by this. So far to attempt to fix I have tried:
- Uninstalling caddy and reinstalling
apt remove caddy | apt install caddy - Removing
/usr/bin/caddy,/var/lib/caddy, replacing them with the custom binary - Running chmod, chown commands; i.e.
sudo chmod +x /var/lib/caddy | sudo chown caddy:caddy /var/lib/caddy - Running validation on the Caddyfile and reloading, i.e.
sudo caddy fmt /etc/caddy/Caddyfile --overwrite - Manually deleting and then creating the folder caddy is unable to write to manually, using
sudo rmand thensudo mkdircommands. - Running chmod and chown commands on the newly created directories; i.e.
sudo chown caddy:caddy /var/lib/caddy/.config/caddyandsudo chmod 655 /var/lib/caddy/.config/caddy
Still, the caddy logs output remains identical:
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[149564]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9312725,"msg":"using config from file","file":"/etc/caddy/Caddyfile"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[149564]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9321814,"msg":"adapted config to JSON","adapter":"caddyfile"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9326262,"logger":"admin.api","msg":"received request","method":"POST","host":"localhost:2019","uri":"/load","remote_ip":"127.0.0.1","remote_port":"41890","headers":{"Accept-Encoding":["gzip"],"Cache-Control":["must-revalidate"],"Content-Length":["895"],"Content-Type":["application/json"],"Origin":["http://localhost:2019"],"User-Agent":["Go-http-client/1.1"]}}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9331326,"logger":"admin","msg":"admin endpoint started","address":"localhost:2019","enforce_origin":false,"origins":["//127.0.0.1:2019","//localhost:2019","//[::1]:2019"]}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737684725.9332042,"logger":"http.auto_https","msg":"server is listening only on the HTTP port, so no automatic HTTPS will be applied to this server","server_name":"srv0","http_port":80}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737684725.9334998,"logger":"http","msg":"HTTP/2 skipped because it requires TLS","network":"tcp","addr":":80"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"warn","ts":1737684725.933508,"logger":"http","msg":"HTTP/3 skipped because it requires TLS","network":"tcp","addr":":80"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9335098,"logger":"http.log","msg":"server running","name":"srv0","protocols":["h1","h2","h3"]}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9335175,"logger":"http","msg":"servers shutting down with eternal grace period"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"error","ts":1737684725.9335856,"msg":"unable to create folder for config autosave","dir":"/var/lib/caddy/.config/caddy","error":"mkdir /var/lib/caddy/.config: permission denied"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9336333,"logger":"admin.api","msg":"load complete"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 caddy[147371]: {"level":"info","ts":1737684725.9346943,"logger":"admin","msg":"stopped previous server","address":"localhost:2019"}
Jan 24 13:12:05 systemd[1]: Reloaded caddy.service - Caddy.
When I check the user of caddy, it seems to be fine?:
systemctl show -pUser,UID caddy
UID=999
User=caddy