So the reason is different than an Apache is running prior the database as the database runs always, right? According to this I assume there is a database connection error. I also assume you have set in RT_SiteConfig.{pm|d} the connection config:
Set($DatabaseUser , 'rt_database_user');
Set($DatabasePassword , 'rt_database_user_password');
Set($DatabaseName , 'rt_database');
So any firewalls in the path?