How to host server on local PC(ubuntu) and set up virtual hosts

Question

I am new to Ubuntu and I wanted to host a server on it.

I googled a bit and read something about Apache and IIS and I couldn't get much out of it. Right now I am confused about how to proceed.

What I want to do is

• Host server on local PC and set up virtual hosts on same PC

• in virtual host, have “myname.com” opened in browser

Any relevant links which could serve as a tutorial?

Sorry if it has been already asked, it would be kind of you if you could redirect to that thread.

Solution

The two most common tools for this are the Apache and nginx servers.

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Notes:

• You'll need to edit a few system configuration files. If you're uncomfortable with vim, replace vim with nano, or gedit in the following commands. For example, sudo vim will become sudo -H gedit or sudo nano.
• Once you're done setting it up, have a look at How to avoid using sudo when working in /var/www?
• A more detailed guide is available from the Ubuntu LTS Server Guide.

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Apache

First, install Apache:

sudo apt-get install apache2

The Apache configuration files are located in /etc/apache2. You'll typically be interested in:

• /etc/apache2/sites-available - contains the Virtual Host definitions. Definitions are enabled and disabled using the a2ensite and a2dissite commands. The enabled site definitions are linked to /etc/apache2/sites-enabled.
• /etc/apache2/conf-available - contains custom configuration files. They are enabled and disabled using the a2enconf and a2disconf commands. The enabled site configuration files are linked to /etc/apache2/conf-enabled.
• /var/www/html - the default directory that Apache serves.

For most instructions, I'll assume we are in /etc/apache2.

VirtualHost setup

Let us create a new site. There's a default configuration available in sites-enabled/default.conf. We will make a copy of this, and work on it:

sudo cp sites-available/000-default.conf sites-available/my-name.conf
sudo vim sites-available/my-name.conf

Change the ServerName, so that it uses, for example, myname.com:

ServerName myname.com

Change the DocumentRoot, so that it uses, for example, /var/www/my-name:

DocumentRoot /var/www/my-name

Save the file, and enable it:

sudo a2ensite my-site

Now, we need to set up the directory for the site:

sudo mkdir /var/www/my-name

We'll set permissions for convenience:

sudo chown $USER:www-data /var/www/my-name
sudo chmod g+s /var/www/my-name

Add a few HTML files here.

Since the virtual host is to run locally, we need to map myname.com to a local address. To do this, we need to edit /etc/hosts:

sudo vim /etc/hosts

Add a line like so:

127.0.0.2 myname.com myname

Save, and then restart Apache:

sudo service apache2 restart

Now, you can browse to http://myname.com or http://myname, and the contents of /var/www/my-name will be displayed.

Comments

[muru]

The LTS server guide: help.ubuntu.com/lts/serverguide/httpd.html

[Tasdik Rahman]

So I have to use apache to do the things if I am not wrong?

[muru]

Depends on what you intend to do. For many things Apache is more commonly used and so you'll find more documentation. nginx is also an option. IIS is Windows-only, no help for that here.

[Tasdik Rahman]

Sorry to confuse you. What I meant was, will I be able to complete the stated tasks with apache? Sorry for my ignorance, but I am a complete newbie

[muru]

Yes. Both Apache and nginx can do that.

[Tasdik Rahman]

Can you point me to some good introductory tutorials on apache. I googled it but I am not sure on which one to go with?

[muru]

I'll write on here, but it will take a while.

[Tasdik Rahman]

Hey @muru. I think I did something wrong, I have asked another question here. Can you help me link