How to Setup Virtual Web Hosting
Apache is a Free Web Server that runs on the Linux Operating System
Nov 1, 2009
Usually each domain or web address needs it's own IP address. When a user types in a web site address into the address bar in the browser and submits the request to the Internet, a “DNS” or Domain Name Server will resolve the “human readable” name to an IP address.
The IP address, in turn, is linked to a network card on a web server. The web server will server the default web page residing on the server to the browser requesting the web site. Under normal circumstances this would mean one web site per IP address. Virtual hosting allows multiple web sites to exist on one web server and share one IP address between them.
How the Virtual host Server Knows Which Website the Browser is Requesting
When a browsers request is relayed on to the web server by means of the DNS resolution to the IP address of the hosting server, it includes the desired web site address in the headers of that request. The web server reads these headers and can tell which web site is being requested, even though there are multiple web sites behind the one network card.
How to Setup Virtual web Hosting on an Apache Server
Setting up virtual web hosting on an apache server is fairly easy. The following step by step guide assumes the Linux and Apache are already installed and running correctly.
Step 1 – Create a directory per web site.
Create a folder or directory for each web site to be hosted on the web server. This should be done in the web servers default directory that apaches uses for web sites. For example, SuSE keeps web sites in the /srv/www directory, so one could create folders as follows, /srv/www/website_a/ and /srv/www/website_b/
Copy the content of each web site into their respective folders.
Step 2 – Create a config file for each virtual web site.
This can be done by copying the template “vhost.template” found in the /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/ and renaming it to the nameofwebsite.conf
Edit this file to suit the requirements of the web site. A sample of this file is shown below:
<VirtualHost website_a.com:80>
ServerName website_a.com
DocumentRoot /srv/www/website_a
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/website_a_error_log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/website_a_access_log combined
UseCanonicalName On
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ “/srv/www/cgi-bin”
<Directory “/srv/www/cgi-bin”>
AllowOverride None
Options +ExecCGI –Includes
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
<Directory “/srv/www/website_a/”>
AllowOverride None
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
One file needs to be created for each virtual web site
Step 3 – Edit the /etc/apache2/listen.conf file
edit /etc/apache2/listen.conf and add a line in for each virtual web site as the following example shows:
NameVirtualHost website_a.com:80
Step 4 – Test and restart apache
Test the configuration by typing the following at the command prompt:
apache2ctl configtest
If no errors are reported, restart apache and test the apache virtual host by typing the addresses for the added sites in a browser.
Linux provides a stable and robust platform for hosting a company's web site. As can be seen from this and other articles, it is easy to set up an Apache web server without needing advanced Linux knowledge.
An added benefit is that Apache supports virtual web hosting. This means that a small IT support company can host their clients web sites at a reasonable cost.
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