Installing and Configuring Apache

Apache is the world's most widely deployed web server, known for its flexibility and .htaccess support.

Install Apache

Ubuntu/Debian:

apt update
apt install apache2 -y
systemctl enable apache2
systemctl start apache2

CentOS/AlmaLinux/Rocky:

dnf install httpd -y
systemctl enable httpd
systemctl start httpd

Enable Important Modules (Ubuntu)

a2enmod rewrite     # Required for WordPress, Laravel, etc.
a2enmod ssl
a2enmod headers
systemctl restart apache2

Create a Virtual Host

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/yourdomain.com

    <Directory /var/www/yourdomain.com>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/yourdomain_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/yourdomain_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site:

a2ensite yourdomain.com.conf
apache2ctl configtest
systemctl reload apache2

Set Correct File Permissions

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/yourdomain.com
find /var/www/yourdomain.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /var/www/yourdomain.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;