On Ubuntu or Debian you install Apache with sudo apt install apache2, write a site file in /etc/apache2/sites-available/ holding a VirtualHost that points at your folder, enable it with sudo a2ensite, check it with sudo apache2ctl configtest and reload. On AlmaLinux or Rocky the package is called httpd. On an unmanaged VPS the installation and upkeep are yours.
A virtual host is how Apache serves different sites depending on the name in the request. With a single site it is still worth creating one: it keeps the configuration tidy for when the second site arrives.
Step by step on Debian and Ubuntu
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Install it. sudo apt update and sudo apt install apache2. Open ports 80 and 443 in the firewall, if you have one (ports and firewall on a VPS).
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| 2 |
Create the site folder and a test file: sudo mkdir -p /var/www/yourdomain.tld/public.
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Write the virtual host in sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/yourdomain.tld.conf<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName yourdomain.tld
ServerAlias www.yourdomain.tld
DocumentRoot /var/www/yourdomain.tld/public
<Directory /var/www/yourdomain.tld/public>
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/yourdomain.tld-error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/yourdomain.tld-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
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Enable the site and disable the welcome one. sudo a2ensite yourdomain.tld.conf and sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf.
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Switch on the rewrite module if the application uses pretty addresses (WordPress, Laravel): sudo a2enmod rewrite.
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Test and reload. sudo apache2ctl configtest should answer “Syntax OK”; then sudo systemctl reload apache2.
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What changes on AlmaLinux and Rocky
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Debian and Ubuntu |
AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux |
| Package and service |
apache2 |
httpd (systemctl enable --now httpd) |
| Where the site goes |
sites-available + a2ensite |
a .conf file in /etc/httpd/conf.d/ |
| Test the configuration |
apache2ctl configtest |
apachectl configtest |
| Logs |
/var/log/apache2/ |
/var/log/httpd/ |
| Service user |
www-data |
apache |
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“AllowOverride All” lets .htaccess rule the site. It is what WordPress and most PHP applications expect, but every request now looks for that file in every folder. If you control the server configuration you can put the rules in the virtual host itself and leave AllowOverride None. For the rewrite rules themselves, see .htaccess for PHP projects.
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Changed just a site file? reload is enough and drops nobody. Keep restart for when you add or remove modules.
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Installed it and the server stopped answering on the network? Tell us what you changed and we will check our side.
Open a support ticket
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