I've had a similar problem, and it was a software that had a custom version of gdbm library and set LD_LIBRARY_PATH in profile to make sure that version would be used.
Do you have LD_LIBRARY_PATH set? What does this command say:
# echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH
If you do, try unsetting it before starting httpd:
# LD_LIBRARY_PATH= service httpd start
thanks for the thought but LD_LIBRARY_PATH was not set - just for kicks i unset it anyhow and tried again - no dice
# export LD_LIBRARY_PATH= # /etc/init.d/httpd start Starting httpd: /usr/sbin/httpd: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/libaprutil-0.so.0: undefined symbol: gdbm_errno [FAILED]
i am stumped! i wish i could rebuild the box but i cant....