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Setup Nginx/Apache Webserver

In this blog, we'll guide you through the installation of a NGINX and Apache webserver on a rocky based operating system.

Let's start with a step-by-step process, starting from creating virtual machines on the Alces Cloud platform, leading up to the installation of NGINX and Apache webserver.

Launch the Instance

All the steps to launch and connection to instance is provided in link.

Note

Just Make sure port 22, 80, 443 is opened as ingress rule in security group that is attached to the instance. If firewalld is enabled on the server, in order to allow external connection on your nginx web server which runs on port 80 by default we need to update the setting by running the below command 

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http

To verify that the http firewall service was added correctly, you can run: 

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --list-all

Output
------
public
target: default
icmp-block-inversion: no
interfaces: 
sources: 
services: cockpit dhcpv6-client http ssh
ports: 
protocols: 
masquerade: no
forward-ports: 
source-ports: 
icmp-blocks: 
rich rules:

To apply the changes and reload the firewalld run below command 

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Setup Nginx

Nginx is available in Rocky default repositories so you can install it with a single command. 

sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y nginx

After the installation of nginx, enable and start the nginx web server. 

sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

Verify Nginx

You can check the web server is up and running by using the below command 

systemctl status nginx

Output
------
● nginx.service - The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2024-03-18 11:44:58 UTC; 2s ago
    Process: 50672 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/rm -f /run/nginx.pid (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 50673 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 50674 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 50675 (nginx)
      Tasks: 5 (limit: 100136)
     Memory: 4.6M
        CPU: 42ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
             ├─50675 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx"
             ├─50676 "nginx: worker process"
             ├─50677 "nginx: worker process"
             ├─50678 "nginx: worker process"
             └─50679 "nginx: worker process"

You can also check the nginx is working properly or not by navigating to your server’s IP address, if it is working fine then it will open the the default Nginx landing page.

When you have your server’s IP address, enter it into your browser’s address bar: 

http://server_ip

It will open the landing page of nginx like below.

Manage Nginx server process

Various operations can be performed on the nginx process to change its state.

To stop the web server, run the below command. 

sudo systemctl stop nginx

To start the web server, run the below command. 

sudo systemctl start nginx

To stop and then start the web server, run the below command. 

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Sometimes some configuration changes are done, in order to reload the nginx without dropping the connection run below command. 

sudo systemctl reload nginx

Configure Nginx to start automatically when the server boots, run below command 

sudo systemctl enable nginx

Configure Nginx not to start automatically when the server boots, run below command 

sudo systemctl disable nginx

Troubleshooting Tips

If you encounter issues, check the Nginx error logs for clues: 

sudo journalctl -u nginx

Note

For more information, refer to nginx docs link

Setup Apache

Nginx is available in Rocky’s default repositories so you can install it with a single command. 

sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y httpd

After the installation of nginx, enable and start the nginx web server. 

sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl start httpd

Verify Apache

You can check the web server is up and running by using the below command 

systemctl status httpd

Output
------
● httpd.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/httpd.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2024-03-18 11:51:50 UTC; 6s ago
       Docs: man:httpd.service(8)
   Main PID: 51098 (httpd)
     Status: "Started, listening on: port 80"
      Tasks: 213 (limit: 100136)
     Memory: 42.0M
        CPU: 97ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/httpd.service
             ├─51098 /usr/sbin/httpd -DFOREGROUND
             ├─51099 /usr/sbin/httpd -DFOREGROUND
             ├─51100 /usr/sbin/httpd -DFOREGROUND
             ├─51101 /usr/sbin/httpd -DFOREGROUND
             └─51102 /usr/sbin/httpd -DFOREGROUND

You can also check the Apache is working properly or not by navigating to your server’s IP address, if it is working fine then it will open the the default Apache landing page.

When you have your server’s IP address, enter it into your browser’s address bar: 

http://server_ip

It will open the landing page of Apache like below.

Manage Apache server process

Various operations can be performed on the apache process to change its state.

To stop the web server, run the below command. 

sudo systemctl stop httpd

To start the web server, run the below command. 

sudo systemctl start httpd

To stop and then start the web server, run the below command. 

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Sometimes some configuration changes are done, in order to reload the Apache without dropping the connection run below command. 

sudo systemctl reload httpd

Configure Apache to start automatically when the server boots, run below command 

sudo systemctl enable httpd

Configure Apache not to start automatically when the server boots, run below command 

sudo systemctl disable httpd

Troubleshooting Tips

If you encounter issues, check the Apache error logs for clues: 

sudo journalctl -u httpd

Note

For more information, refer to Apache docs link