Install Apache Web Server on Ubuntu

This step-by-step howto shows a basic setup for Apache 2 web server. Apache is installed on Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Dapper, but instructions will probably work on any Ubuntu. This document is a work in progress, initially only required commands are listed without troughout explanations.

© 2006 Tero Karvinen. GNU General Public License, version 2.

$ sudo apt-get install apache2

Surf to your own server on your own local computer:

$ firefox "http://localhost"

Find out how your server is found on the net. Anyone can use your IP address or DNS name to connect to your server:

$ ip addr

Use your own IP address (eth0, first IP number, does not end .255)

$ firefox "http://1.2.3.4"

If DNS is working on your network, you can see your fully qualified domain name with:

$ host 1.2.3.4

With user homepages, anything you put in public_html in your home directory is published on the web.

For newer Ubuntu such as 8.04 Hardy, you have to explicitly enable userdir module. On older ones such as 6.06 LTS Dapper, userdir is enabled by default.

$ sudo a2enmod userdir
$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Go to your home directory

$ cd

Create a folder for public html files, note the underscore ‘_’

$ mkdir public_html

Check your name

$ whoami

Surf to ~yourname:

$ firefox "http://localhost/~tkarvine/"

You should see a directory listing of an empty directory. You can also try it using your IP address and a different machine.

If you see your homepage, well done. You have successfully installed a server with user homepages. You can create some web pages with OpenOffice and save them to your public_html directory.