[users@httpd] Apachectl configtest did not warn on a configuration error

["Scott A. Wozny" <sa...@hotmail.com>]

While progressively disabling modules I don't need for my application, I found an issue with apachectl configtest returning Syntax OK, but the restart of httpd failing.

When I comment out:

LoadModule slotmem_shm_module modules/mod_slotmem_shm.so

And do a sudo apachectl configtest I get back "Syntax OK" but when I do a sudo apachectl restart I get back "Job for httpd.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status httpd.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details."

Now, neither of those locations gave me anything useful, but when I look at /var/log/httpd/error_log, I get back:

[Mon Sep 23 00:16:52.992948 2019] [core:notice] [pid 1467] SELinux policy enabled; httpd running as context system_u:system_r:httpd_t:s0
[Mon Sep 23 00:16:52.994536 2019] [suexec:notice] [pid 1467] AH01232: suEXEC mechanism enabled (wrapper: /usr/sbin/suexec)
[Mon Sep 23 00:16:53.008462 2019] [lbmethod_heartbeat:notice] [pid 1467] AH02281: Failed to lookup provider 'shm' for 'slotmem'. Maybe you need to load mod_slotmem_shm?
[Mon Sep 23 00:16:53.008478 2019] [proxy_balancer:emerg] [pid 1467] AH01177: Failed to lookup provider 'shm' for 'slotmem': is mod_slotmem_shm loaded??
[Mon Sep 23 00:16:53.008485 2019] [:emerg] [pid 1467] AH00020: Configuration Failed, exiting

Now I am running (and will need to for my application) proxy_balancer and lbmethod_heartbeat and when I look at the Apache documentation for lbmethod_heartbeat I see the HeartbeatStorage directive offers an alternate location for heartbeat data, SHOULD mod_slotmem_shm not be loaded.

So my question is, should apachectl configtest have returned a syntax error in that mod_slotmem_shm wasn't loaded but there was no HearbeatStorage directive to make up for it or is that out of scope for configtest and I'm missing something super obvious?  I'm reticent to cry 'Bug!" without fully understanding the situation, but this feels like one to me and I don't see it mentioned in Bugzilla.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Scott