Apache setup problem

[ingeva]

also, if I understand what you are trying to do - ie test sites internally, I think your httpd.conf file should be empty, ports.conf should have one line "Listen 80", your virtual host files should contain something like:

Well, with all this messing around it eventually turned out that "listen 80" was in BOTH the ports.conf and the httpd.conf file. I haven't even touched the first one because I would do as few modifications as possible.

Apache must be a strange program, that doesn't accept such duplicates, and prints error messages that give no clue to what's wrong.

I haven't tested any more yet. That will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

[MJN]

Well, with all this messing around it eventually turned out that "listen 80" was in BOTH the ports.conf and the httpd.conf file. I haven't even touched the first one because I would do as few modifications as possible.

This is why you shouldn't 'fight' the modular configuration approach because to do so ends up breaking things. On this note, leave httpd.conf empty - you shouldn't be using it at all (have another read of /etc/apache2/README)

Apache must be a strange program, that doesn't accept such duplicates, and prints error messages that give no clue to what's wrong.

It is strange, and for this reason I don't think it will really catch on...

I haven't tested any more yet. That will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Good to hear it - you'll be thankful it's all been so painful as I'm sure you'll find you've learnt far more than if it had 'just worked' the first time around!

Mathew

[ingeva]

This is why you shouldn't 'fight' the modular configuration approach because to do so ends up breaking things.
...
Good to hear it - you'll be thankful it's all been so painful as I'm sure you'll find you've learnt far more than if it had 'just worked' the first time around!

Fighting the modular approach is the last thing I would do, but because of this error everything else I did was in vain. The program didn't even come so far as to read the virtualhosts files.
I've learn something allright -- what a particular program apache is -- and the documentation doesn't really tell you how to do things.

It's almost solved now. Apache even reads the correct index files. However, they are all php, and even if I have installed php, apache won't use it.

Here are my install instructions:

#php5 and apache2
apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5 php5-common php5
apt-get install libmysqlclient15off mysql-common
apt-get install apache2 apache2.2-common apache2-mpm-prefork apache2-utils apache2-doc

Did I forget something?

And I would like to ask an additional question: Except rebooting, what can I do to have the hosts-file reread?

[ingeva]

I see that the thread has been moved. That's OK. I was wondering if I should choose the server platform even if I'm using a desktop.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for helping.
However, there's one outstanding question, and I'll be going away for a few days so I hope there will be an answer here by then.

[MJN]

And I would like to ask an additional question: Except rebooting, what can I do to have the hosts-file reread?

There's no need - just save any edits and they will be available immediately. You may find some applications have their own internal cache so restarting them would be all that's required.

Mathew

[windependence]

Your box should at least have an internal static IP within your network. when you say the router assigns an addressm this means that your box is set up to pull IPs via DHCP. You don't want to do that in this case.

-Tim

[ingeva]

Your box should at least have an internal static IP within your network. when you say the router assigns an addressm this means that your box is set up to pull IPs via DHCP. You don't want to do that in this case.

-Tim

I thought so. I'm not sure how I can use static addreses on this box, but I'll check it out. As long at the address can be allocated according to the MAC address and not the physical port, it should be OK.

[windependence]

You don't need to worry about the MAC address if you set it static in the machine. Here's how you do it.

If you want to configure Static IP address you need to edit the /etc/network/interfaces and you need to enter the following lines replace eth0 with your network interface card

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.3.90
gateway 192.168.3.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.3.0
broadcast 192.168.3.255

Of course you have to replace all the network parameters with your own.

After entering all the details you need to restart networking services using the following command

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Then set up your DNS like so:

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

enter the following details

search example.com

nameserver 192.168.3.2
nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

You can use these OpenDNS servers or replace them with the ones from your ISP. Either one should work fine.

-Tim

[Iowan]

... As long at the address can be allocated according to the MAC address and not the physical port, it should be OK.

I'm guilty of not reading the entire thread, but the DHCP server should be able to issue a "static lease" based on MAC address - or you can configure a static address on the server (outside the DHCP range, but within the subnet).

[ingeva]

You don't need to worry about the MAC address if you set it static in the machine. Here's how you do it.

Thanks! Here's what I did:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 10.10.10.3
gateway 10.10.10.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 10.10.10.0
broadcast 10.10.10.255

As you see, I'm using a wireless interface on the current machine.
After restarting and re-applying the parameters with the Network Manager some more lines were added automatically, and everything works fine.