RHEL7: Configure an Apache virtual host.

Note: This is an RHCE 7 exam objective.

Prerequisites

First, follow the instructions to install an Apache web server.

Note: Don’t forget to install the httpd-manual package. This could help you a lot with any syntax issue.

Configuration Procedure

Let’s assume your website is called dummy-host.example.com.

Create the /var/www/html/dummy-host.example.com directory:

# cd /var/www/html
# mkdir dummy-host.example.com

Create an index.html file and assign the correct SELinux context:

# echo "This is a test." > dummy-host.example.com/index.html
# restorecon -R dummy-host.example.com

Create the /etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf file and paste the following lines:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@dummy-host.example.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/dummy-host.example.com
ServerName dummy-host.example.com
ErrorLog logs/dummy-host.example.com-error_log
CustomLog logs/dummy-host.example.com-access_log common
</VirtualHost>

Optionaly, rename the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf file, otherwise you get an additional non-working https virtual host displayed in the configuration.

# cd /etc/httpd/conf.d; mv ssl.conf ssl.conf2

Check the validity of the configuration:

# apachectl configtest
Syntax OK

Note: You can also type: # httpd -t

Restart the httpd service:

# apachectl restart

Note1: You can also type: # systemctl restart httpd Note2: For minor configuration changes, it is also possible to restart the Apache daemon without losing the current connections: # apachectl graceful

Check the virtual host(s) configuration:

# httpd -D DUMP_VHOSTS
VirtualHost configuration:
*:80                   is a NameVirtualHost
         default server dummy-host.example.com (/etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf:1)
         port 80 namevhost dummy-host.example.com (/etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf:1)
         port 80 namevhost dummy-host.example.com (/etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf:1)

Testing Time

Check the configuration:

# yum install -y elinks
# elinks http://dummy-host.example.com