Installing Apache webserver

Intro

The steps below will configure a working Apache web-server. The steps assume that you have a (fresh) CentOS 7 server running.

Apache installation

• sudo yum install httpd --> install httpd (Apache)
• systemctl start httpd --> start Apache
• systemctl enable httpd --> enable Apache at boot

Apache vhost configuration (optional)

• mkdir /etc/httpd/sites-available --> create the folder where the vhost files will be saved
• mkdir /etc/httpd/sites-enabled --> create the folder where the vhost files will be linked to make them active
• sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf --> change the Apache configuration

add IncludeOptional sites-enabled/*.conf to end of file

repeat the steps below for each vhost that you want to create:

• sudo nano /etc/httpd/sites-available/<host>.<domain>.<tld>.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName <host>.<domain>.<tld>
    ServerAlias <domain>.<tld>  
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/<subfolder>
</VirtualHost>

• sudo ln -s /etc/httpd/sites-available/<host>.<domain>.<tld>.conf /etc/httpd/sites-enabled/<host>.<domain>.<tld>.conf --> make a symbolic link to activate a site.

Splitting Apache's "access_log" and "errorlog" for each vhost (optional)

• sudo nano /etc/httpd/sites-enabled/<site>.conf --> edit vhost-file

 <VirtualHost *:80>
   ServerName <host>.<domain>.<tld>
   ServerAlias <domain>.<tld>
   DocumentRoot /var/www/html/<subfolder>
   add this line: ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/<sitename>_error.log
   add this line: CustomLog /var/log/httpd/<sitename>_access_log combined
 </VirtualHost>

Repeat this step for each vhost. This way you will get seperate logs for each site.

• apachectl configtest --> test new Apache configuration
• sudo systemctl restart httpd --> restart the Apache webserver

Securing your sites with certificates (optional)

You can secure your sites with certficates for free. I like Let's Encrypt. there's a wiki here: Let's Encrypt configuration