Pritunl Port 443 Conflict After Installation

Pritunl VPN is installed on a server that already has Apache running on port 443, and now Pritunl won’t start properly and/or the web interface isn’t available. Here is how to fix Pritunl port 443 conflict after installation.

In the logs, you’ll see something like the following:

That’s because both Apache and Pritunl are trying to use port 443, and only one can.

Apr 15 16:17:04 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12240]: main.main()
Apr 15 16:17:04 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12240]: /go/pkg/mod/github.com/pritunl/[email protected]>
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: time=”2025-04-15T16:17:08+02:00″ level=info msg=”main: Starting HTTPS server” port=4>
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: time=”2025-04-15T16:17:08+02:00″ level=info msg=”main: Starting HTTP server” port=80
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: time=”2025-04-15T16:17:08+02:00″ level=error msg=”main: Redirect server error” error>
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: time=”2025-04-15T16:17:08+02:00″ level=error msg=”main: Server error” error=”listen >
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: panic: listen tcp 0.0.0.0:443: bind: address already in use
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: goroutine 1 [running]:
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: main.main()
Apr 15 16:17:08 userid.contaboserver.net pritunl[12350]: /go/pkg/mod/github.com/pritunl/[email protected]>

Fix Pritunl Port 443 Conflict After Installation

Change Pritunl’s Listening Port with pritunl set

Assuming the program which is already using port 443 requires it, we can change the port Pritunl is using. Since editing the Pritunl config files often doesn’t work as expected, the best way to change the Pritunl web UI port is by using the built-in CLI. Here is how to properly change the port Pritunl listens on:

1. Stop Pritunl

   sudo systemctl stop pritunl


2. Change the port (e.g. to 8443)

   sudo pritunl set app.server_port 8443


3. Start Pritunl

   sudo systemctl start pritunl


4. Access the Web UI

   https://server-ip:8443


5. (Optional) Allow the port in your firewall

   sudo ufw allow 8443/tcp


Command Summary:

Quick Notes

• Avoid editing /etc/pritunl.conf — it doesn’t always apply cleanly.

• You can confirm the port with:

  sudo pritunl get app.server_port


Done! Pritunl now runs happily on port 8443 without interfering with Apache.

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