Squid no longer starts

[ProfessorFate]

I've got Squid 6.7 on my OpenWRT installation (system version 23.05 / kernel version 5.15.150). After I had to shut it down, it no longer starts! Even harder: I get the message that it's running:

mixtile@ClusterBox:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/squid start
mixtile@ClusterBox:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/squid status
running

But: There is no squid process running!

mixtile@ClusterBox:~$ ps | grep squid
 3614 mixtile   1404 S    grep squid

I don't even get a trace of Squid starting in its logfile /opt/squid/log/cache.log:

mixtile@ClusterBox:~$ sudo tail /opt/squid/log/cache.log
CPU Usage: 2.232 seconds = 2.002 user + 0.230 sys
Maximum Resident Size: 67264 KB
Page faults with physical i/o: 3
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Logfile: closing log stdio:/opt/squid/log/cache_store.log
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Logfile: closing log stdio:/opt/squid/log/access.log
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Open FD UNSTARTED     0 stdin
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Open FD UNSTARTED     1 stdout
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Open FD UNSTARTED     2 stderr
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Squid Cache (Version 6.7): Exiting normally.
2026/04/07 17:59:21| Removing PID file (/var/run/squid.pid)

Nor does a try to start Squid leave a trace in the syslog. Even stranger: I've just found out that the squid.conf file has been overwritten without my consent:

mixtile@ClusterBox:/etc/squid$ ls -al squid.conf*
-rw-------    1 root     root           114 Apr  7 18:28 squid.conf
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root          3049 Oct  1  2025 squid.conf.default
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root        359278 Oct  1  2025 squid.conf.documented
-rw-------    1 root     root          2887 Jan 15 15:38 squid.conf~

The new config file is much smaller than the old one:

mixtile@ClusterBox:~$ sudo cat /etc/squid/squid.conf
http_port 3128
coredump_dir /tmp/squid
visible_hostname OpenWrt
pinger_enable off
mime_table /tmp/squid/mime.conf

What's wrong here? Particularly: Why doesn't Squid start without even one single message?

[egc]

23.05 is no longer supported and EOL.

Consider upgrading, 25.12.2 is the current stable build

[ProfessorFate]

That's the problem: The manufacturer of my HW simply does not offer a newer version.

[frollic]

Same reply as the one you got when you posted back in Nov.

---

It appears you are using firmware that is not from the official OpenWrt project.

When using forks/offshoots/vendor-specific builds that are "based on OpenWrt", there may be many differences compared to the official versions (hosted by OpenWrt.org). Some of these customizations may fundamentally change the way that OpenWrt works. You might need help from people with specific/specialized knowledge about the firmware you are using, so it is possible that advice you get here may not be useful.

You may find that the best options are:

1. Install an official version of OpenWrt, if your device is supported (see https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org).
2. Ask for help from the maintainer(s) or user community of the specific firmware that you are using.
3. Provide the source code for the firmware so that users on this forum can understand how your firmware works (OpenWrt forum users are volunteers, so somebody might look at the code if they have time and are interested in your issue).

If you believe that this specific issue is common to generic/official OpenWrt and/or the maintainers of your build have indicated as such, please feel free to clarify.

[ProfessorFate]

Yes, but why does Squid simply stop working in the middle of the workday?

[reinerotto]

Looks like squid.conf is corrupted. No cache_dir. You should re-install squid. And re-build cache_dir.

Default location of squids log files is /var/log/squid. You will not find log output in /opt/squid …as running squid now uses broken squid.conf, and defaults.