{"id":13040,"date":"2018-02-07T10:16:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T10:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.process.st\/templates\/linux-apache-server-setup-checklist\/"},"modified":"2024-02-28T20:46:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T20:46:37","slug":"linux-apache-server-setup-checklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.process.st\/templates\/linux-apache-server-setup-checklist\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux Apache Server Setup Checklist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Introduction:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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If you want to host content on the web \u2014 or just want to serve html files internally \u2014 there's little more reliable, better documented, and wholly supported than Apache<\/a>. Its strengths justify its ubiquity: Apache serves 46%<\/a> of all active websites.<\/p>\n

In this checklist, we'll walk through a basic Apache setup that lets you serve HTML content to clients connected to the same network as the server (locally). This involves configuring SSH, installing a firewall, installing Apache, testing the server, and adding content to serve. It doesn't include instructions on serving content to the web, because that is a much more involved process with many moving parts.<\/p>\n

This checklist is for Linux, the OS running 92%<\/a> of Apache servers. For a Windows setup process, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Record server and user name<\/h2>\n
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Throughout this checklist, you'll refer back to your server and user names. This checklist will auto-fill these variables into commands, making it easier to run through the checklist.<\/p>\n

Use the form fields below:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/a>
Use ifconfig to see your server's host name or IP address.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Install firewall:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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When running a server, you always need to be careful to protect your data from being intercepted.<\/p>\n

Either:<\/p>\n

Log into the machine you're going to install Apache on and open Terminal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or:<\/p>\n

Join the same network as the server from another machine, find the hostname of the server, and use SSH to access the server like this:<\/strong><\/p>\n

$ ssh {{form.Root_username}}<\/a>@{{form.Server_IP}}<\/pre>\n
This will give you control over the server, and allow you to install the firewall and Apache.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Update package list<\/h2>\n
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Before installing anything afresh, you should update the package list to get information on the newest versions of packages and their dependencies.<\/p>\n
$ sudo apt-get update<\/pre>\n
It's also advisable to run the below command right after, to prevent any errors later on down the line:<\/p>\n
$ sudo apt-get upgrade<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Install UFW<\/h2>\n
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UncomplicatedFirewall<\/a>, or UFW, provides a command line interface for manipulating the firewall. It simplifies iptable commands so it's simple to enable SSH and specific ports.<\/p>\n
$ sudo apt-get install ufw<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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  <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Allow SSH connections through the firewall<\/h2>\n
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If you're accessing the server through SSH, you'll need to allow SSH connections to avoid cutting yourself off.<\/p>\n
First, confirm SSH exists:<\/p>\n
$ sudo ufw app list<\/pre>\n
You should see OpenSSH as a list item. Before we turn the firewall on, we want to make sure OpenSSH connections are allowed.<\/p>\n
$ sudo ufw allow OpenSSH<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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  <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Enable UFW<\/h2>\n
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Turn the firewall on with:<\/p>\n
$ sudo ufw enable<\/pre>\n
And now check its status with:<\/p>\n
$ sudo ufw status<\/pre>\n
You'll see \"Firewall loaded\" if it's working properly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Install web server software:<\/h2>\n
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  <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Installing Apache is extremely simple, and it works right out of the box.<\/p>\n
As soon as the server is installed, you can see the test page by visiting your host name (or by typing localhost) in your browser.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Install Apache<\/h2>\n
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Simply type:<\/p>\n
$ sudo apt-get install apache2<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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  <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Test server:<\/h2>\n
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Before going any further, you should confirm your server is working by checking the system status, and then trying to access the server as an end user.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Check Apache system status<\/h2>\n
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Check whether the Apache service is running with systemctl:<\/p>\n
$ sudo systemctl status apache2<\/pre>\n
You should see a line like this:<\/p>\n
systemd[1]: Started The Apache HTTP Server.<\/pre>\n
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If the status of the server is inactive, try the following:<\/p>\n
$ sudo systemctl start apache2<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Enter server IP in browser<\/h2>\n
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To confirm the Apache server is running, enter the IP address ({{form.Server_IP}}) in your browser. You should see the Apache start page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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  <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Add content:<\/h2>\n
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By default, your Apache server will show the index.html page located at \/var\/www\/html<\/p>\n
You can easily add content to your server by transferring files from another machine, as we'll cover next.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Go to the server's html directory<\/h2>\n
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Apache comes with a folder directory for public HTML files, located at:<\/p>\n
\/var\/www\/html<\/pre>\n
Navigate there with:<\/p>\n
$ cd\n$ cd \/var\/www\/html<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Add content to the html folder<\/h2>\n
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If you have your server content available through a URL on your network, you can use wget to download it. To demonstrate with a dummy URL:<\/p>\n
$ wget -p var\/www\/html https:\/\/yourserver.com\/files-for-server.zip<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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Alternatively, transfer your server files via SSH with scp:<\/p>\n
$ scp \/path\/to\/local\/file {{form.Root_username}}@{{form.Server_IP}} \/var\/www\/html<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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An html file uploaded in \/var\/www\/html is accessible in your browser by appending the html file name to the server IP after a forward slash, like this:<\/p>\n
192.168.1.9\/test-file.html<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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  <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Sources:<\/h2>\n
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