Israel Science and Technology Directory

2. Configure Apache2 server on Ubuntu

Updated on March 28, 2026.

The configuration of a virtual host described here follows the installation of Apache2 software, as described in Installing Apache2 and PHP. The instructions described here should be executed in a terminal window by a user with sudo authorization. The text editor used here is nano within a terminal window.

If you do not enter a domain name, it will be shown as "example.com"

First, update and upgrade your repositories by running the following commands in a terminal window:

2.1. Set up a virtual host directory

The computer on which a website resides is referred to as the website’s “host.” In practice, a single physical computer can host multiple websites, each functioning as a separate entity with its own operating environment and configuration rules. The term “virtual” reflects the fact that each website appears to run on its own dedicated computer, even though it actually resides on a shared physical machine that may host other websites.

Virtual hosts can be "IP-based", where the website is accessed by a specific IP address, or "name-based", where the website is accessed by its name among a group of websites hosted on the same IP address.

The following steps describe the configuration for hosting a website with the address example.com.

2.1.1. Create a directory for the website

In Linux, the recommended directory to establish a virtual host is: /var/www/html

To initiate the website, make a directory under the /var/www/ directory as follows:

2.1.2. Edit the configuration file

The default Apache2 server configuration is located in file:
/etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Switch to this directory:

Copy the default file to generate a working copy for your website:

Open the newly created file to edit it using nano:

Initially, this file includes the following lines − excluding comments starting with #.

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
	DocumentRoot /var/www/html
	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Edit the file to generate the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
	ServerName example.com
	ServerAlias www.example.com
	DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com/html
	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
	DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php
</VirtualHost>
Copy

NOTE: The line that starts with DirectoryIndex specifies the names of Default index files that you may wish to change.

Then press ^O, to save the file.

2.1.3. Enable the configuration file

After creating a new configuration file for example.com, this configuration has to be "enabled". To enable the new site type the command:

This command will add a new file to the directory /etc/apache2/sites-enabled.
To see the content of the directory type:

The result should have: example.com.conf

Next, disable the default file by typing the command:

After these operations check the configuration by typing:

If the configuration is OK, then the Output should be:

Syntax OK

Then restart Apache2 server by typing

3. Local DNS configuration

Map your local machine's IP address (127.0.0.1) in the /etc/hosts file.
Open the hosts file with nano:

Add the following line to the end of the file:

4. First view of the website

After configuring the virtual host, entering the domain name, http://www.example.com or the domain IP should show the default page. The default page for Apache2 is index.html.

Next step: Set up directory permissions and ownership