How to Install Apache with Virtual Hosts on Debian 10

Apache, popularly referred to as the Apache HTTP server, is a free and open-source cross-platform web server maintained by the Apache Foundation. It is the leading web server commanding a 35% market share on the internet with Nginx coming second with 24% .

Apache is highly reliable, flexible, easy to install and ships numerous features which make it popular amongst developers and Linux enthusiasts. Additionally, it is regularly maintained and updated by Apache foundation and this helps in fixing software bugs and improving its overall efficiency. By the time of penning down this article, the latest version of Apache is 2.4.39.

In this guide, we will walk you through the steps on how to install Apache web server on Debian 10.

Prerequisites

Before we get started, ensure the following requirements are met:

An instance of Debian 10.
A Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) pointing to the server.
In this guide, we use the domain tecmint.com pointing to a Debian 10 system with an IP address 192.168.0.104.
A good internet connection.

With our pre-flight check done, let’s get started

Step 1: Update the Debian 10 System Repository

The first step in installing Apache on Debian 10 is updating the system repositories. To achieve this, log in as a regular user and using sudo privileges run the command.

$ sudo apt update -y

Step 2: Install Apache on Debian 10

Installing Apache is a piece of cake and pretty straightforward. Once you have successfully updated the system repositories, run the command below to install Apache on Debian 10.

$ sudo apt install apache2 -y

Step 3: Checking the Status of Apache Webserver

After successful installation of Apache web server, it’s always recommended to check if the service is running. Most systemd Linux systems will start the service automatically upon installation.

To check the status of Apache webserver execute the command.

$ sudo systemctl status apache2

If the service is not running, start the service using the command.

$ sudo systemctl start apache2

To enable Apache Web server on boot execute the command.

$ sudo systemctl enable apache2

To restart Apache run.

$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 4: Configure the Firewall to Allow HTTP Port

If UFW firewall is already configured, we need to allow the Apache service across the firewall so that external users can have access to the web server.

To achieve this, we need to allow traffic on port 80 on the firewall.

$ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp

To verify that the port has been allowed on the firewall, run.

$ sudo ufw status

Additionally, you can use the netstat command to verify the port as shown.

$ sudo netstat -pnltu

Step 5: Verify Apache HTTP Web Server

With all the settings in place, open your favorite web browser and browse your server’s IP address or FQDN as shown.

http://server-IP-address 
OR  
http://server-domain-name

Step 6: Configuring Apache Web Server

With Apache web server already set up, its time to host a sample website.

The default Apache webpage file index.html is found at /var/www/html/ which is the webroot directory. You can host a single site or create virtual host files to host multiple sites.

To host a single site, you can modify the index.html file located on the webroot directory.

But first, make a backup of the file as shown.

$ sudo mv /var/www/html/index.html /var/www/html/index.html.bak

Now let’s create a new index.html file.

$ sudo nano /var/www/html/index.html

Let’s add some HTML sample content as shown.

<html>
    <head>
        <title>Welcome to crazytechgeek</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Howdy Geeks! Apache web server is up & running</h1>
    </body>
</html>

Exit the text editor and restart the web server.

$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Now reload your web browser and notice the changes to your new site.

Step 7: Creating Virtual Hosts on Apache

If you want your web server to host multiple sites, the best way to go around this is to create virtual hosts in Apache web server. Virtual hosts come in handy when you want to host multiple domains in a single server

First, we need to create a webroot directory for the domain tecmint.com.

$ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/tecmint.com/

Next, we shall assign the necessary permissions to the directory using the $USER variable.

$ sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/html/tecmint.com/

Next, assign the necessary permissions of the webroot directory for the domain.

$ sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/tecmint.com

Now using your favorite text editor, head out and create sample index.html file.

$ sudo nano /var/www/html/tecmint.com/index.html

Let’s add some HTML sample content as shown.

<html>
    <head>
        <title>Welcome to TecMint.com</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Howdy Geeks!</h1>
    </body>
</html>

Save and exit the text editor.

Now, create a virtual host file for the domain using the command shown below.

$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/tecmint.com.conf

Now copy and paste the content below and replace the domain tecmint.com with your own domain.

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin [email protected]
    ServerName tecmint.com
    ServerAlias www.tecmint.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/tecmint.com/
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Save and exit.

At this point, enable the virtual host file as shown.

$ sudo a2ensite tecmint.com.conf

Now let’s disable the default site

$ sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

To effect the changes, reload the apache webserver.

$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Now reload your web server and notice the changes for your domain.

If you want to enable HTTPS on your website, read this article: How to Setup Free SSL Certificate for Apache on Debian 10.

Conclusion

We have come to the end of the tutorial. In this guide, you learned how to install Apache on Debian 10 and also configure virtual hosts to host other domains. Feel welcome to get back to us with your feedback.

12 thoughts on “How to Install Apache with Virtual Hosts on Debian 10”

Joseph

September 10, 2021 at 11:16 pm

Hello,

Thank you for your guide.

But if you want to have an email for your domain f.e. [email protected], how are you going to create and configure the email address?

Thanks,
jo
- James Kiarie
  
  September 13, 2021 at 3:58 pm
  
  Hey Joseph. You first need to purchase a domain name. From the Control Panel, you can create or specify your own custom email addresses e.d [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc.
Marcin

November 11, 2020 at 6:28 pm

Hello, Thanks for writing this guide.

Can you help me with opening port 80, while I am using Debian on a laptop with internet access via hotspot running from a smartphone?
- Marcin
  
  November 11, 2020 at 6:32 pm
  
  command-line look’s like these:
- Marcin
  
  November 11, 2020 at 6:33 pm
  
  [code]sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
  Adding existing rule
  Adding existing rule (v6)
  sudo ufw status
  Status: inactive[/code]
Dougie Nisbet

June 18, 2020 at 6:38 pm
Thanks – very useful step by step guide. I think that’s a typo in Step 4:
```
$ sudo allow 80/tcp
```
should be
```
$ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
```
- Ravi Saive
  
  June 19, 2020 at 10:25 am
  
  @Dougie,
  
  Thanks, corrected the command in the article…
RedAiluridae

December 6, 2019 at 3:05 pm

Thank you very much for this guide!

I was able to test this in a VM and now I’m running it on my OMV Home Server :)
- James Kiarie
  
  June 19, 2020 at 1:06 pm
  
  You’re welcome @ RedAiluridae. I’m glad the tutorial was of much assistance to you.
James Kiarie

November 11, 2019 at 2:10 pm

Thank you so much, Rick, for the positive feedback. We always strive to give insightful information to our readers.
Rick

November 8, 2019 at 7:08 pm

Thank you for taking the time to write and post the article. It is a great and valuable resource. My respect to you.
- James Kiarie
  
  December 9, 2019 at 1:48 pm
  
  Thank you Rick, I’m glad the guide was beneficial to you.