How To Install the Apache Web Server on Debian 11?

Last Updated : 12 Jun, 2024

Apache is an open-source web server that’s available for Linux servers free of charge. Installing an Apache web server on Linux is a straightforward process. In this article, we will install Apache Web Server Debian 11 (Bullseye).

Steps to Install Apache Web Server in Linux

Step 1: Update Your System

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

updating_system — Updating system to latest packages

Step 2: Install Apache Web Server

sudo apt install apache2 -y

installing_apache — installing Apache Web Server

Step 3: Enable the Services

sudo systemctl enable apache2

enabling_system_services_for_apache — enabling system services for Apache Web Server

Step 4: 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>GFG</h1>
     <p>This is a test working on Debian</p>
  </body>
 </html>' | sudo tee /var/www/html//index.html

Now we will add configuration file using following command

sudo gedit /etc/apache2/sites-available/test_website.conf

and paste following config to text editor window and save it.

<VirtualHost *:80>
  DocumentRoot /var/www/html/test_website
  DirectoryIndex index.html
  ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/test_website_error.log
  CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/test_website_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

saving_configuratino — saving configuration

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

sudo chmod a+wr /var/www/html/ -R

Step 5: Enable the site

After creating config file, we need to enable the site. We use the a2ensite command followed by the name of site configuration file. This creates a symbolic link from the sites-available directory to the sites-enabled directory, effectively enabling the site.

syntax:

 sudo a2ensite <site_config>

sudo a2ensite test_website.conf

Now we will need to restart apache2 using systemctl reload command.

sudo systemctl reload apache2

Now you can see locally hosted website on localhost.

http://localhost

If the above mentioned steps performed correctly, Apache Web Server will run successfully! However, If it didn’t work, then you can uninstall Apache Web Sever and can start installation again.

Steps to Uninstall Apache Web Server

You can completely remove Apache Web Server using apt purge command as follows

sudo apt purge apache2 -y

Hence we have successfully uninstalled Apache Web Server in Debian 11!

uninstalling_Apache — Uninstalling Apache Web Server

Conclusion

In this article, we have installed and configured the Apache Web Server on Debian 11. We have outlined the fundamental steps, encompassing updating package lists, installing the software, verifying its operation, and hosting test website. So install Apache Web Server on your Linux now!