Having problems getting started with apache

kegobeer · 08 Nov 2009

No, the guide he wrote is just for setting up the Apache application. You must pay for a domain, and pay for it to either be hosted or be redirected to your IP address. If you have a dynamic IP address (most home ISP providers don't give you a static IP address) then you'll probably have to use a utility on your home PC that will automatically update your domain so that it will always point to your home IP address.

You'll also have to open up port 80 on your router and use port forwarding to point all traffic on port 80 towards your webserver. Be warned - exposing your home computer to the internet can spell trouble. An unsecured webserver is an easy target.

I think you should do a little googling and find a forum/website that caters to webserver development. You'll get expert advice on that type of a forum. Most people who set up a webserver do it because they are developing web applications (PHP, .NET, etc) and need it to do local testing. That's what I did, back when I was actively developing web applications. I could work from any of my local computers (edit the hosts file on each computer - you can add an entry that will redirect local traffic to a certain computer) and not have to waste time uploading changes to my hosted website.

pparks1 · 08 Nov 2009

cesm23 said:

Ok then... what is necessary then to make the domain work ? I mean, i tought apache would already setup the domain and associate to my ip, but if just assumes it's already set up, then what i have to do to make that work ? is this on the guide that logic earth indicated ? I don't seem to find that part. After all, this is the main problem i have here when i posted the topic.

Apache sets up and binds itself to one of the IP addresses that is on your computer. So, lets say that you are the typical home user who has a router and a PC connected to the router. Let's also assume that your local workstation IP Address is 192.168.1.10. With apache setup on that machine, you can likely hit your webpage with http://localhost/index.html as well as http://192.168.1.10/index.html.

Now, from another computer on your local network, you would have to ensure that the firewall on your workstation allows traffic on port 80 (which is http). So, if port 80 is open, from another machine (let's say 192.168.1.11)....you should be able to hit http://192.168.1.10/index.html.

Now, from the outside world..your ISP has assigned an IP address to you (lets say it's 69.10.10.1). So, on your router, you would have to set up TCP forwarding to listen to traffic coming inbound on 69.10.10.1 on port 80 and then redirect that traffic to your internal network machine 192.168.1.10. That way, when somebody hits: http://69.10.10.1/index.html...it will hit your router and then go to your machine and show them the page at http://192.168.1.10/index.html.

Finally, most people want to associate an IP address with a domain name. So, you could go to something like dyndns..and register a domain name for free...so somebody like me could go to http://mywebsite.domain.com/index.html and see your webpage.

Oh...and the reason that apache showed nothing in the logs when you tried to hit from another machine is MOST LIKELY because the traffic NEVER made it to apache to log in the first place. I'm about 99.9% sure the firewall on the local computer stopped you.

cesm23 · 09 Nov 2009

hum... well that's another story, maybe i wont' use this thing of the domain after all, thanks for the help anyway i will see what i decide later.