Configuring virtual hosts in httpd.conf..

[kidzer]

....is this the correct way to do it?

I've been reading a number of guides, and they all seem to say different things - but I've been experimenting, and setting virtual hosts for subdomains seems to work when putting them in httpd.conf, so I'm happy with that.

But I really know nothing of apache, so have I done it in a poor way, or is this an alright way to go about it?

Also, is there (probably a bit of a mental request - we'll see!) a tool I can run either locally or remotley that will try and find exploits in my current setup, so I can patch any holes in it ASAP?

Cheers,
David

[directhex]

Most distros have their own take on how to best admin things in a modular way - e.g. having a per-site config and per-module config so you don't "pollute" your main httpd.conf

Make sure you read guides for your distro, preferably from the official docs

[kidzer]

Good shout, I've just done some reading on how Debian/Ubuntu have modularised Apache given the expansion they expect in the future.

Virtual Host entries have been moved to my dedicated configuration files for each service I run (torrentflux/gallery2/wordpress/etc) and added to the aliases that are currently in those files - which are linked to in the conf.d folder - I think I'm on the right track now - according to this.

I'm back to a nice blank httpd.conf again, yay!

Cheers Hex, this way is nicer I guess - takes a bit longer to do, but I'd rather do it correctly!

[directhex]

Torrentflux even has packages (which use that modularization to JustWork), so you can use those

[kidzer]

Yeah, I installed Torrentflux from the repos, but it defaults to http://HOST/torrentflux - I've got my DynDNS pointing at my WAN IP address and NAT'ed to my router, so I've had to modify the tf one to work with torrentflux.mydnydns.dyndns.com instead of mydyndnds.dyndns.com/torrentflux.

Just 'cause I think it looks nicer though!

I did have tf-b4rt installed, but it complained I had the wrong version of the transmission client installed, even though I compiled/installed a version with their modded files - the regular Torrentflux works fine for me though, so no big loss there I don't think!

[peterb]

Apache themselves have modularised the hrttpd.conf file (you don't have to - you can but all the directives in one file, but it can make things easier to break them out).

there are several ways of doing virtual hosts - you can separate them by IP address (if you have multiple IP addresses) or just by domain names 9I think you can do it by port number too) but domain name is easier.

If you want a good generic book on Apache, "Apache, The Definitive Guide" published by O'Reilly is very good, but all the info you need is on the Apache web site (although not always easy to understand for a noob - (I speak from inexperience!)

[kidzer]

If you want a good generic book on Apache, "Apache, The Definitive Guide" published by O'Reilly is very good, but all the info you need is on the Apache web site (although not always easy to understand for a noob - (I speak from inexperience!)

I was looking at that book, O'Reilly seem to publish quite a few good books - Network Warrior is excellent.

I did have a wander through the Apache Website Docs, they're full of info as you've said - but some of it doesn't seem brilliantly written - perhaps that is noob-ness making it seem that way though!