How to Setup Apache httpd on CentOS Dedicated Server

The Apache HTTP Server is a free or open source Web server developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/). This post describes the basic steps to setup Apache httpd on CentOS 6.4 64 bit dedicated server to host the website and blog. Having dedicated web server, you will get more control and flexibility on the configuration and you does not share its resources with anyone else. With at least 2GB RAM, you will get fairly consistent load times and better speed if compared to shared hosting and virtual private server (VPS). Bloggers or webmasters can get reasonable dedicated server price starting at $139 at very reputable companies such as hostgator.

1. How to Install httpd :

[root@centos64 ~]# yum install httpd -y

2. How to Check Apache server version :

[root@centos64 ~]# httpd -V
Server version: Apache/2.2.15 (Unix)
Server built:   Feb 22 2013 11:19:58
Server's Module Magic Number: 20051115:25
Server loaded:  APR 1.3.9, APR-Util 1.3.9
Compiled using: APR 1.3.9, APR-Util 1.3.9
Architecture:   64-bit
Server MPM:     Prefork
  threaded:     no
    forked:     yes (variable process count)
Server compiled with....
 -D APACHE_MPM_DIR="server/mpm/prefork"
 -D APR_HAS_SENDFILE
 -D APR_HAS_MMAP
 -D APR_HAVE_IPV6 (IPv4-mapped addresses enabled)
 -D APR_USE_SYSVSEM_SERIALIZE
 -D APR_USE_PTHREAD_SERIALIZE
 -D SINGLE_LISTEN_UNSERIALIZED_ACCEPT
 -D APR_HAS_OTHER_CHILD
 -D AP_HAVE_RELIABLE_PIPED_LOGS
 -D DYNAMIC_MODULE_LIMIT=128
 -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd"
 -D SUEXEC_BIN="/usr/sbin/suexec"
 -D DEFAULT_PIDLOG="run/httpd.pid"
 -D DEFAULT_SCOREBOARD="logs/apache_runtime_status"
 -D DEFAULT_LOCKFILE="logs/accept.lock"
 -D DEFAULT_ERRORLOG="logs/error_log"
 -D AP_TYPES_CONFIG_FILE="conf/mime.types"
 -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf"

3. Change /etc/hosts file :

[root@centos64 ~]# vi /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1   localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4
::1         localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6

192.168.2.62 centos64.ehowstuff.local

4. Always backup the original configuration file before doing any changes :

[root@centos64 ~]# cp -p /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf.backup.01042013

Note : -p mean preserve the specified attributes (default: mode,ownership,timestamps)

5. How to Configure httpd Apache service :

[root@centos64 ~]# vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

ServerTokens Prod
KeepAlive On
ServerAdmin root@ehowstuff.local
ServerName www.ehowstuff.local:80
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks ExecCGI
AllowOverride All
DirectoryIndex index.html index.cgi index.php
ServerSignature Off
#AddDefaultCharset UTF-8
AddHandler cgi-script .cgi .pl

6. Restart Apache httpd :

[root@centos64 ~]# /sbin/service httpd restart
Stopping httpd:                                            [  OK  ]
Starting httpd:                                            [  OK  ]

7. How to configure Apache httpd auto start at boot :

[root@centos64 ~]# chkconfig httpd on

8. How to check the apache access log :

[root@centos64 ~]# tail -f /var/log/httpd/access_log
192.168.2.52 - - [01/Apr/2013:23:14:35 +0800] "GET /index.php?=PHPE9568F34-D428-11d2-A769-00AA001ACF42 HTTP/1.1" 200 2524 "http://192.168.2.62/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0"
192.168.2.52 - - [01/Apr/2013:23:14:35 +0800] "GET /index.php?=PHPE9568F35-D428-11d2-A769-00AA001ACF42 HTTP/1.1" 200 2146 "http://192.168.2.62/" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0"
192.168.2.52 - - [01/Apr/2013:23:14:35 +0800] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 71412 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0"
192.168.2.52 - - [01/Apr/2013:23:14:36 +0800] "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1" 404 209 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0"
192.168.2.52 - - [01/Apr/2013:23:14:36 +0800] "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1" 404 209 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0"