Nginx on Plesk server fails to start: 99: Cannot assign requested address

Symptoms

• nginx fails to start with the following error:

  Cannot assign requested address

• The error below may appear in the Home page in Plesk:

  New configuration files for the Apache web server were not created due to the errors in configuration templates: nginx: [emerg] bind() to 203.0.113.3:443 failed (99: Cannot assign requested address) nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed. Detailed error descriptions were sent to you by email. To fix the issue, follow the instructions described in KB: https://support.plesk.com/hc/articles/213933865 Please resolve the issues and click here to generate broken configuration files once again or here to generate all configuration files. See the details in Configuration Troubleshooter

• A website may show outdated/old SSL certificate.

• The number of IPs registered in Plesk is higher than the actual number of IPs on the server:

  • IP addresses in Plesk:

    # plesk bin ipmanage -l
    ...203.0.113.2...
    ...203.0.113.3...

  • IP addresses on the server:

    # ip a
    <...>
    inet 203.0.113.2/32

Cause

Unsynced IP address between Plesk and OS or IP address was removed/changed manually directly on the server.

Resolution

Sync IP addresses between Plesk and OS:

• Solution for Plesk Obsidian 18.0.35 and later:
  1. Log into Plesk.
  2. Go to Tools & Settings > IP Addresses.
  3. Press the Repair button near the IP address that is marked as broken:
     

  Note: If the IP address that was removed from the server is not required anymore, re-assign domains to a new IP address in accordance with the following article.