How to Install and Customize Apache on Ubuntu or Debian?

Last Updated : 21 Jun, 2024

One of the most dominant forces in web server software is the Apache HTTP Server, often shortened to Apache. This free and open-source project, overseen by the Apache Software Foundation, has been a major player in shaping the Internet since its launch in 1995. Installing an Apache web server on Ubuntu or Debian is a straightforward process, but the specific commands might differ slightly depending on your Linux distribution. In this article, we will install Apache Web Server on various Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, etc.

Steps to Install Apache Web Server in Linux (Debian)

Step 1: Check your Linux distribution.

Use the following command to check which Linux distribution you are using.

grep -E '^(VERSION|NAME)=' /etc/os-release

bd6ebecf-6730-4e44-8094-4061e4526b56 — Checking linux distribution (Linux Mint Debian OS)

Step 2: Update Your System.

 sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 3: Install Apache Web Server

 sudo apt install apache2 -y

Step 4: Enable the Services

 sudo systemctl enable apache2

Step 5: Test the Server by Hosting Simple Website

First, we will create a directory for our test website using following command.

 sudo mkdir /var/www/html/test_website

Now we will add index.html for our test website along with some testing code using following command

 echo ' <html>
              <head>
              <title>Example</title>
              </head>
              <body>
                  <h1 style="color:green">GFG</h1>
                  <p>This is a Apache Test Server for Ubuntu and Debian</p>
                  </body>
             </html>' | sudo tee /var/www/html/test_website/index.html

Now we will add configuration file using following command

   sudo echo '<VirtualHost *:80> 
   ServerName web.testingserver.com
   DocumentRoot /var/www/html/website
   DirectoryIndex index.html
   ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/example.com_error.log
   CustomLog /var/log/httpd/example.com_requests.log combined
   </VirtualHost>' >
   /etc/httpd/conf.d/web.conf

Once we created the required config file and test website, we will need to own the Apache website directory for permissions.
We will use chown and chmod command as follows