[apache] Apache VirtualHost and localhost

I'm working with XAMPP on Mac OS X.

I'm trying to run a Symfony website properly for a client, and I really don't know Symfony (yet). I just want to install and launch it.

I've changed my /etc/hosts file this way:

127.0.0.1 www.mysite.local

And the httpd.conf file this way:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName www.mysite.local
  DocumentRoot /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mysite/web
  DirectoryIndex index.php
  <Directory /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mysite/web>
    AllowOverride All
    Allow from All
  </Directory>
  Alias /sf /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mysite/lib/vendor/symfony/data/web/sf
  <Directory "/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mysite/lib/vendor/symfony/data/web/sf">
    AllowOverride All
    Allow from All
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Now, the site is working (yay!), but I can't access any more any of my other local sites because localhost is rendered as www.mysite.local.

Where am I wrong? Thank you!

According to this documentation: Name-based Virtual Host Support

You may be missing the following directive:

NameVirtualHost *:80

Additional description for John Smith's answer from the official documentation. To understand why it is.

Main host goes away

If you are adding virtual hosts to an existing web server, you must also create a block for the existing host. The ServerName and DocumentRoot included in this virtual host should be the same as the global ServerName and DocumentRoot. List this virtual host first in the configuration file so that it will act as the default host.

For example, to work properly with XAMPP, to prevent VirtualHost overriding the main host, add the follow lines into file httpd-vhosts.conf:

# Main host
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName localhost
    DocumentRoot "/xampp/htdocs"
</VirtualHost>

# Additional host
<VirtualHost *:80>
    # Over directives there
</VirtualHost>

This worked for me!

To run projects like http://localhost/projectName

<VirtualHost localhost:80>
   ServerAdmin localhost
    DocumentRoot path/to/htdocs/
    ServerName localhost
</VirtualHost>

To run projects like http://somewebsite.com locally

<VirtualHost somewebsite.com:80>
     ServerAdmin [email protected]
     DocumentRoot /path/to/htdocs/somewebsiteFolder
     ServerName www.somewebsite.com
     ServerAlias somewebsite.com
</VirtualHost>

Same for other websites

<VirtualHost anothersite.local:80>
     ServerAdmin [email protected]
     DocumentRoot /path/to/htdocs/anotherSiteFolder
     ServerName www.anothersite.local
     ServerAlias anothersite.com
</VirtualHost>

I had the same issue of accessing localhost while working with virtualHost. I resolved it by adding the name in the virtualHost listen code like below:

In my hosts file, I have added the below code (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) -

127.0.0.1   main_live

And in my httpd.conf I have added the below code:

<VirtualHost main_live:80>
    DocumentRoot H:/wamp/www/raj/main_live/
    ServerName main_live
</VirtualHost>

That's it. It works, and I can use both localhost, phpmyadmin, as well as main_live (my virtual project) simultaneously.

For someone doing everything described here and still can't access:

XAMPP with Apache HTTP Server 2.4:

In file httpd-vhost.conf:

<VirtualHost *>
    DocumentRoot "D:/xampp/htdocs/dir"
    ServerName something.dev
   <Directory "D:/xampp/htdocs/dir">
    Require all granted #apache v 2.4.4 uses just this
   </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

There isn't any need for a port, or an IP address here. Apache configures it on its own files. There isn't any need for NameVirtualHost *:80; it's deprecated. You can use it, but it doesn't make any difference.

Then to edit hosts, you must run Notepad as administrator (described bellow). If you were editing the file without doing this, you are editing a pseudo file, not the original (yes, it saves, etc., but it's not the real file)

In Windows:

Find the Notepad icon, right click, run as administrator, open file, go to C:/WINDOWS/system32/driver/etc/hosts, check "See all files", and open hosts.

If you where editing it before, probably you will see it's not the file you were previously editing when not running as administrator.

Then to check if Apache is reading your httpd-vhost.conf, go to folder xampFolder/apache/bin, Shift + right click, open a terminal command here, open XAMPP (as you usually do), start Apache, and then on the command line, type httpd -S. You will see a list of the virtual hosts. Just check if your something.dev is there.

I am running Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus). This is what worked for me:

1. Open up a terminal and cd to /etc/apache2/sites-available. There you will find a file called 000-default.conf.
2. Copy that file: cp 000-default.conf example.local.conf
3. Open that new file (I use Nano; use what you are comfortable with).
4. You will see a lot of commented lines, which you can delete.
5. Change <VirtualHost *:80> to <VirtualHost example.local:80>
6. Change the document root to reflect the location of your files.
7. Add the following line: ServerName example.local And if you need to, add this line: ServerAlias www.example.local
8. Save the file and restart Apache: service Apache2 restart

Open a browser and navigate to example.local. You should see your website.

localhost will always redirect to 127.0.0.1. You can trick this by naming your other VirtualHost to other local loop-back address, such as 127.0.0.2. Make sure you also change the corresponding hosts file to implement this.

For example, my httpd-vhosts.conf looks like this:

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.2:80>
    DocumentRoot "D:/6. App Data/XAMPP Shared/htdocs/intranet"
    ServerName intranet.dev
    ServerAlias www.intranet.dev
    ErrorLog "logs/intranet.dev-error.log"
    CustomLog "logs/intranet.dec-access.log" combined

    <Directory "D:/6. App Data/XAMPP Shared/htdocs/intranet">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks ExecCGI Includes
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

(Notice that in <VirtualHost> section I typed 127.0.0.2:80. It means that this block of VirtualHost will only affects requests to IP address 127.0.0.2 port 80, which is the default port for HTTP.

To route the name intranet.dev properly, my hosts entry line is like this:

127.0.0.2 intranet.dev

This way, it will prevent you from creating another VirtualHost block for localhost, which is unnecessary.

It may be because your web folder (as mentioned "/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mysite/web") is empty.

My suggestion is first to make your project and then work on making the virtual host.

I went with a similar situation. I was using an empty folder in the DocumentRoot in httpd-vhosts.confiz and I couldn't access my shahg101.com site.

Just change <VirtualHost *:80> to <VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80>.

Then the default DocumentRoot will serve for all domains or IP addresses that point to your server and specified VirtualHost will work.

You may want to use this:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "somepath\Apache2.2\htdocs"
    ServerName localhost
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>

as your first virtual host (place it before another virtual hosts).