How to Install and configure Apache on Red Hat/Centos 6.x

How to Install and configure Apache on Red Hat/Centos 6.x

Apache is the most used web server on the Internet. It is reliable, fast, easy to set up, relatively secure and the Apache Foundation is on top of patches.

I thought you might want to see how easy and nice it is to work with it, so I decided to write a post.

I’ll show you how to get it installed, configured and set up a Name Based Virtual Host.

Packages Dependencies

·         httpd.x86_64

·         apr.x86_64                                   

·         apr-util.x86_64                                                      

·         apr-util-ldap.x86_64

·         httpd-tools.x86_64                      

·         mailcap.noarch

Install all packages

[root@centos63 dhcp]# yum install httpd.x86_64 apr.x86_64 apr-util.x86_64 apr-util-ldap.x86_64 httpd-tools.x86_64 mailcap.noarch –y

Once all the packages above have been installed, we can start configuring Apache.

Apache Configuration File

Apache main configuration files, reside on /etc/httpd/conf.

On Red Hat based distributions, Apache is named ‘httpd’, and its configuration files are located on /etc/httpd, its logs are stored on /var/log/httpd and the actual content or the root directory is located on /var/www/html.

Let’s explore it

[root@centos63 dhcp]# cd /etc/httpd/conf

[root@centos63 conf]# ls -l

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 34418 Dec  5 08:59 httpd.conf

[root@centos63 conf]# vi httpd.conf

 

Note: Apache config file is very extensive; it has directives for many things. I’ll show you how to get it up and running quickly. I’ll show you more complex things on other posts i.e. mod proxy and mod rewrite which are quite useful, I think.

 

Directives to set

Email

ServerAdmin root@localhost

Change it to your email address, for example:

ServerAdmin linux-up@ntlworld.com

Server Name

#ServerName www.example.com:80

Uncomment the line above and change it to your Server’s name. For example:

ServerName www.renpippa.co.uk

That is how easy it is to get it up and running.

Setting up a virtual host

If you have multiple websites being hosted on the same server and the server only has a single public IP address, virtual hosts will help you immensely. This is also called ‘Named-Based Virtual Hosts’

 

[root@centos63]# cd /etc

[root@centos63 etc]# vi /etc/hosts
192.168.1.34  centos63 centos63.adlinux.int www.centos63.co.uk www.renpippa.co.uk

[root@centos63]# mkdir /var/www/www.centos63.co.uk

[root@centos63]# touch /var/www/www.centos63.co.uk/index.html

[root@centos63]# echo “Welcome to WWW.CENTOS63.CO.UK”
> /var/www/www.centos63.co.uk/index.html

Note: Replace the names above with your Virtual Hosts Names, the name of the domains you with to host.

[root@centos63 conf]# vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Add the lines below to the bottom of the httpd.conf file, save and quit.

# Virtual Hosts Configuration

NameVirtualHost *:80

<VirtualHost *:80>

    ServerAdmin webmaster@www.centos63.co.uk
    DocumentRoot /var/www/www.centos63.co.uk
    ServerName www.centos63.co.uk
    ErrorLog logs/www.centos63.co.uk-error_log
    CustomLog logs/www.centos63.co.uk-access_log common
</VirtualHost>

Restart Apache

[root@centos63]# service httpd restart

Open your browser and test teh configuration. If you are using a different PC, you need to add the Domain name to your DNS, or edit your hosts file. If your PC is Linux, all you need is to edit /etc/hosts. If your PC is Windows based, you need to edit c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

 

I hope you enjoy it.

 

By Renato de Oliveira