Reproducing the Issue

sudo systemctl status apache2

Output

apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sat 2025-01-11 19:43:20 CET; 11s ago
       Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
    Process: 1607 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/apachectl start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
        CPU: 30ms

Solution

Fix missing /var/log/apache2/ directory. Apache cannot access its log directory because it is missing.

Recreate the directory

sudo mkdir -p /var/log/apache2

Set the correct permissions (optional)

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/log/apache2