httpd Could not reliably determine the server’s fully qualified domain name

# service httpd start

Starting httpd: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server’s fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.3 for ServerName

 

I got the below messsage while trying to restart the apache service on my Centos Server.
 

[root@server httpd]# service httpd restart
Stopping httpd: [ OK ]
Starting httpd: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server’s fully qualified domain name, using 172.17.0.3 for ServerName

 
Follow the below steps if you got the above error on your CentOS/RHEL server.

Please take a backup of the server and the apache installation directory and follow the below steps to fix this message.

1. Open the Apache configuration file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf using vi editor

2. Scroll down to the line “#ServerName www.example.com:80”

3. Uncomment the line by removing # and change it to ServerName localhost

4. Type :wq! to save the changes you have made and to exit the vi editor

5. Run the command ‘service apache restart’ to restart apache service for changes to take effect
 
# vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

# service httpd restart
Stopping httpd: [ OK ]
Starting httpd: [ OK ]
 

Httpd Could not reliably determine the server’s fully qualified domain name