How to host a website with Apache

Introduction

Building a web server on Linux can be a great way to repurpose an old computer and host your own websites or applications. In this tutorial, I will guide you through the process of building this web server using an old computer running Linux, including which operating system to install, which packages to install, and how to host it for the internet.

Don’t panic! There’s nothing really hard in the process of getting it done, but there are some requirements you should have before hand.

Requirements

An old computer you have in your house.
A little knowledge of the Linux OS.
A basic knowledge about Networks.

Let’s get started

First, you need to install an operating system on your computer. Popular choices for web servers include Ubuntu Server, CentOS, and Debian. For this tutorial, we will use Ubuntu Server. I chose Linux, why Linux ? Because Linux is best suited for servers.

I’m not gonna go through the process of installing Linux on your computer, you can find plenty of videos on YouTube that explains the process step-by-step.

After installation is complete and you have logged in, open a terminal window by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T (or search for “Terminal” in the Applications menu).

Update your system by running these commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install tools

To build our web server, we need to install several packages:

Apache HTTP Server - A popular open-source web server.
MySQL or MariaDB - A relational database management system (optional).
PHP - A programming language used for dynamic content generation.
phpMyAdmin (optional) - A web-based interface for managing MySQL databases.

Install these packages by running:

sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql phpmyadmin

During installation of MySQL/MariaDB and phpMyAdmin, you will be prompted to set a password for the root user.

Configure Apache

Apache is now installed, but we need to configure it properly. Open the Apache configuration file in a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Add the following line at the end of the file:

ServerName your_domain_or_IP_address

Save and exit the file by pressing Ctrl+X, followed by Y and Enter.

Next, enable necessary modules with these commands:

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Type this command to get the IP address of your server:

ip addr

After getting the IP of your server you can connect to the same network where your server is connected with your laptop or your phone, go to your browser then type your IP address.

Generally it’s 192.168.X.X and then you’ll get a page like this

Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page

Configure MySQL/MariaDB (optional)

If you installed MySQL or MariaDB earlier and want to use it with your web server:

Configure MySQL/MariaDB for secure installation by running this command:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set up security options such as removing anonymous users and disallowing remote root login.

Install PHPMyAdmin (optional)

If you want to install phpMyAdmin for managing databases through a graphical interface:

During installation of phpMyAdmin, choose “apache2” when asked which web server should be configured automatically.

After installation, open phpmyadmin.conf using this command:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/conf-available/phpmyadmin.conf

Within this file, find <Directory /usr/share/phpmyadmin> section and add AllowOverride All just below Require all granted.

Save and exit the file by pressing Ctrl+X, followed by Y and Enter.

Enable the changes by running:

sudo a2enconf phpmyadmin
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Host Your Web Server for the Internet

To make your web server accessible from the internet, you will need to configure port forwarding on your router. Consult your router’s manual or search online for instructions specific to your router model.

Forward incoming traffic on port 80 (HTTP) and/or port 443 (HTTPS) to the local IP address of your web server.

You may also want to consider obtaining a domain name and pointing it to your public IP address using DNS services like Cloudflare or No-IP.

Configure Firewall (optional)

It is recommended to configure a firewall on your web server for added security. Ubuntu Server comes with UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) installed by default.

To enable UFW, run these commands:

sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow http/tcp   # if not already allowed during installation of Apache
sudo ufw allow https/tcp  # if not already allowed during installation of Apache

# Allow other necessary ports depending on additional services you plan to use.

Make sure you understand how firewalls work before making any changes. Incorrect configurations can lock you out of your own system.

Congratulations! You have successfully built a Linux-based web server using an old computer. Now you can start hosting websites or applications on it. Remember to keep the system updated with security patches regularly and follow best practices for securing a web server.