Install Apache and PHP

These instructions are good for installing on Ubuntu or Raspberry Pi OS.

Ensure all packages are updated before you start

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Install apache2

sudo apt install apache2

Install PHP

sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mbstring php-curl

Test the web server

Get the server IP address using:

hostname -I

Type it into a browser, you should see the default Apache webpage (use http, not https!)

Web files location

By default: /var/www/html/

Config

Apache 2 config etc

See the ubuntu documentation here.

PHP config etc

See the ubuntu documentation here.

Apache Virtual Host

Apache uses virtual host files so that it knows how to handle each individual site. In each of the following steps, replace “mydomain.com” with the domain name you will use for the virtual host you are setting up.

Create the config file for it:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/mydomain.com.conf

Paste in the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
      ServerName mydomain.com
      ServerAlias www.mydomain.com
      DocumentRoot /var/www/mydomain.com/public_html
      ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/mydomain.com_error.log
      CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/mydomain.com_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Save it using CTRL+X > Y > Enter

Create the folder for the sites files
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mydomain.com/public_html
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mydomain.com/public_html
sudo chmod -R 770 /var/www/mydomain.com/public_html
Activate it
sudo a2ensite mydomain.com.conf

Have Apache reload its configuration:

sudo systemctl reload apache2