HTTPS Port error in XAMPP running on Windows Server 2019

Question

Hello,

We have installed a fresh Windows Server 2019 Standard on a Lenovo server.

Disk1: 500Gb SSD : C:\ (OS Partition)

Disk2: 8TB HDD : D:\ (Data Partition)

XAMPP is installed on D:. When we run XAMPP after starting/re-starting the server, it runs properly.

But after some hours, we face an error stating that "Problem detected. Port 443 in use by "Unable to get info" with PID 5912 (Any random PID)..! Apache will not start without the configured ports free! You need to uninstall/diable/reconfigure the blocking application or reconfigure Apache and the control panel to listen on a different port" and Apache process stops.

When We try to check PID in Task Manager, we could not find any process with that PID.

After getting this error, we try to start the Apache services with numbers of attempts and it starts after some attempts. It runs for some hours again this happens.

We have installed FRESH Windows OS and no additional application/services (NO IIS) have been installed on this server.

Please guide and help as due to this error last week, We format and re-install the Windows OS.

We reinstalled the Windows OS but we are facing the same issue. This error occurs in random amount of time.

Answer 1

Hello,

If your computer has no other applications, I suspect that the system service is occupying port 443. I suggest you try to modify the registry to prevent the system service from occupying the port. Please refer to the following steps:

1. Enter the registry editor in the search bar in the lower right corner of the computer and open it.
2. Locate the location: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HTTP
3. Find the Start key in the right window and change its key value to 0.

Note If you modify the registry incorrectly, you can cause serious problems. Therefore, follow these steps carefully. For additional protection, back up the registry before you modify it. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

Best Regards

Zunhui

Answer 2

Hello,

We tried this solution suggested by you but the issue has not been resolved.

During last 10 days, we also have noticed that this happens at some particular time slots, like 11-11:30AM, 2-2:3PM & 5-5:30PM.

With regards,

Sagar Patel

Answer 3

Hi，

Thank you for your reply, if the problem reappears you can try to terminate the PID process using the following command

taskkill /f /pid 5912

However, if you want to find out the specific reason why the service occupies the port, you still need to find the service corresponding to pid. I suggest you download porcess explorer for analysis.

Process Explorer - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards

ZUnhui

Answer 4

Hello,

We can see the PID of process in XAMPP control panel at time of the error, but when we check it in the task manager, it disappears.

So, I think that process runs for some seconds and disappears..! So we are not able to get its name, path, and not able to kill it.

We have enabled "Process Auditing" from Group Policy, but in Event Viewer, it shows duplicate httpd.exe process in the logs.

Regards,

Sagar Patel

Answer 5

Hi,

If you are sure that the problem will recur at a specific time, I suggest you open Process Monitor, press "Ctrl+E" to pause, and "Ctrl+X" to clear the current information. Press "Ctrl+E" again to start process monitor, and then run the program. Note the time point, press "Ctrl+E" in Process Monitor to pause, and press (Ctrl+S) to save the current log.

Best Regards

ZUnhui