Introduction and Requirements
In this article, we will learn how to host multiple virtual websites with Apache on Ubuntu 16.04. I am assuming that you already have Apache server up and running but if you don’t, just run sudo apt-get install apache2 to install it on Ubuntu. A running Apache web server is all you need for this tutorial, but if you want actually build something in it (i.e, a nice website), then you might want to check out “LAMP stack” on Google. I also have an Ansible playbook for installing LAMP stack and can be seen in here. Now, let’s get down to business!
1) Create Vhost Configuration file for Apache
In order to host your website (in local or not), you have to create configuration files for Apache in related directories. To do that, create a file with the name you desired, example1.com.conf in this example, in /etc/apache2/sites-available and add the following lines;
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin root@localhost
ServerName example1.localhost
DocumentRoot "/home/$USER/Desktop/example1.com/public_html"
<Directory "/home/$USER/Desktop/example1.com/public_html">
Order allow,deny
Require all granted
Allow from 127.0.0.1
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example1.com_error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example1.com_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
In here,
ServerAdmin= contact info of the admin.ServerName= name of your locally hosted website.DocumentRoot= is the root directory for your webiste.Directory= is used to enclose a group of directives that will apply.ErrorLog= is where error logs are stored.CustomLog= is where access logs are stored.$USER= is your username, change it with your actual username.
You can modify this configuration file as you wish, but just make sure that the file is owned by the root user and group.
2) Make Your Site Available with a2ensite
We have to copy our new configuration file to /etc/apache2/sites-enabled directory to enable it but in Apache, we have tool for that called a2ensite. While you making your site available with a2ensite, you might want to disable default Apache web page and configuration with a2dissite and reload the Apache configuration. So in summary;
sudo a2ensite example1.com.confto enable your site.- Disable default Apache web page and configuration with
sudo a2dissite 000-default sudo service apache2 reload(orsudo systemctl reload apache2.service) to reload Apache Web Server
to proceed.
3) Edit Your /etc/hosts File
To view your website in your favorite web browser, just edit your /etc/hosts file and add example1.localhost in it. After that, just create an helloworld file as your index (for example; index.html) in your website directory, open your browser and go to http://example1.localhost. You should see the helloworld page that you created.
Example /etc/hosts file;
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 example1.localhost
Example helloworld index.html file;
<html>
<header><title>This is title</title></header>
<body>
Hello world
</body>
</html>
And you are ready to go! Just repeat these steps to host multiple local websites with Apache.
