nginx error log was huge, so I deleted and created a new one, now nginx won't start

I deleted the /var/log/nginx/error.log file, and then created a new one using:

sudo nano error.log

Doinga ls -la shows that the error.log and access.log have the same permissions.

When I try and start nginx I get the error:

alert: could not open error log file: open() "/var/log/nginx/error.log" failed permission denited.

Update WHen trying to start nginx, I am also seeing:

emerg: /var/run/nginx.pid failed 13: permission denied.

From serverfault Blankman

• Delete the error.log file and nginx will create it itself.

  Blankman : i deleted it, then when I try and start nginx is gives me the same permission denied error on the file /var/log/nginx/error.log
  From Martin F

• First try deleting the file, if that doesn't work check that the nobody user has the right permissions:
  http://derekneely.com/2009/06/nginx-failed-13-permission-denied-while-reading-upstream/

  From emmanuel

• have a look in the nginx config, check who the server is running as - at a guess the user will be nginx

  so :

  chown nginx: /var/run/nginx.pid chown -R nginx: /var/log/nginx

  Should do the trick.

  Blankman : but why was it working before?

  c10k Consulting : I suspect because you tried to run it as root, and then tried starting it with its init script.

  Blankman : well I always start it like that, hmm....

  Blankman : nginx.conf says: "user www-data"
  From c10k Consulting

• This doesn't solve your problem, but in the future, if you do

  cat /dev/null > /file/you/want/to/wipe-out

  you will copy over the contents of the file with nothing, and keep all permissions in tact.

  Not nginx-speicific, but Additionally, make sure you are running the application as the user it is supposed to run as. If you ever ran it as root, all the permissions are going to be owned by root, so other users won't be able to run it.

  Blankman : great tip thanks.
  From Alex

• The usual way to rotate the logs with NginX is to rename the file, and then /etc/init.d/nginx reload. The server starts a new file, and you can do what you wish with the old.

  You may also find it useful to edit the configuration to not log as much....

  From Alister Bulman