Apache HTTP Server 2.x

Preparation: Updates and Upgrades

	apt-get update

	apt-get upgrade

These commands update your apt system with what is available in the repositories, and upgrade any packages already installed to which upgrades are available. This seems like a good thing to do on a regular basis, or at least before any software installations.

 

Installing Apache

	apt-get install apache2

Simple. This installs the latest version of Apache HTTP Server 2.x. At the time of this writing, that is version 2.2.14. When the process is complete the server will be started, and you should be able to test it by visiting http://<Elastic IP Address>. You should see a message "It Works!".

 

Starting and Stopping the Server

The commands are simple:

	/etc/init.d/apache2 start

	/etc/init.d/apache2 stop

	/etc/init.d/apache2 reload

These commands should be run as root. This might sound like a security hole, but it isn't... From the  Apache Documentation:

If the   Listen   specified in the configuration file is default of 80 (or any other port below 1024), then it is necessary to have root privileges in order to start apache, so that it can bind to this privileged port. Once the server has started and performed a few preliminary activities such as opening its log files, it will launch several child processes which do the work of listening for and answering requests from clients. The main httpd process continues to run as the root user, but the child processes run as a less privileged user.

From another page of the Apache Documentation : 

In typical operation, Apache is started by the root user, and it switches to the user defined by the   User   directive to serve hits.

If you take a look at /etc/apache2/apache2.conf you'll find

	# These need to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
	User ${APACHE_RUN_USER}
	Group ${APACHE_RUN_GROUP}
And sure enough, if you look at /etc/apache2/envars you'll find
	export APACHE_RUN_USER=www-data
	export APACHE_RUN_GROUP=www-data

Without you even realizing it, apt created this new user www-data and set up Apache to use it for child processes.

 

Setup A Website

  1. Copy /etc/apache2/default to /etc/apache2/usgin. Open the copied file for editing and make the following changes:
    1. ServerAdmin from webmaster@localhost.com to ryan.clark@azgs.az.gov.
    2. DocumentRoot from /var/sites/usgin/www to /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/www. 
    3. Change <Directory /var/www/>  to <Directory /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/www>.
    4. Change ErrorLog to /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/logs/error.log
    5. Change CustomLog to /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/logs/access.log
    6. Add Line ServerName vm2.usgin.org
  2. Create the folders that the site will point to and assign appropriate permissions. 
    3. 	mkdir /mnt/data-store/sites
	mkdir /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin
	mkdir /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/logs
	mkdir /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/www
	chown root:adm /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/logs
	chmod 0750 /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/logs
	chmod 0755 /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/www
  3. Copy the generic .html file from the default site into the new location
    4. 	cp /var/www/index.html /mnt/data-store/sites/usgin/www
  4. Enable the new website, disable the default one, and restart Apache
    5. 	a2ensite usgin
	a2dissite default
	/etc/init.d/apache2 reload