How to Set Up a Virtual Host on Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04

Introduction 👋

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the process of establishing a virtual host on Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04, enabling you to host multiple websites on a single server. We’ll cover both Apache and Nginx web servers, ensuring you have the flexibility to choose the one that best suits your needs.

Prerequisites 📜

• A running Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04 server

• Administrative privileges (root or sudo access)

• Basic understanding of web servers and virtual hosts

Step-by-Step Guide (Apache) 👣

1. Choose and Install Your Web Server: 🖥 🖥️

• For Apache: sudo apt install apache2

• For Nginx: sudo apt install nginx

2. Create the Website Directory: 📂

sudo mkdir /var/www/yourdomain.com

• Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name.

3. Create the Index File: 📃

• Create an index.html file within the website directory using a text editor (e.g., nano or vim) and add your website content.

4. Configure the Virtual Host File:

Apache:

sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf

Nginx:

sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf

• Paste the appropriate configuration snippet based on your chosen web server:

Apache:

<VirtualHost *:80>


ServerName yourdomain.com
ServerAlias www.yourdomain.com
ServerAdmin webmaster@yourdomain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/yourdomain.com

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

<Directory /var/www/yourdomain.com>
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>


</VirtualHost>

Nginx:

server {

listen 80;
server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

root /var/www/yourdomain.com;
index index.html index.htm;

access_log /var/log/nginx/yourdomain.com.access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/yourdomain.com.error.log;

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
}

}

5. Enable the Virtual Host: 🧗🏿

Apache:

sudo a2ensite yourdomain.com.conf

Nginx:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/yourdomain.com.conf

6. Test Your Virtual Host:

• Open your web browser and visit http://yourdomain.com or http://localhost (if accessing from the server itself). You should see your website content displayed.

7. Set Up SSL (HTTPS)

Recommended:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot

sudo apt update

sudo apt install python3-certbot-apache

sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Alternative (Nginx):

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

8. Automate SSL Renewal Apache(Optional): 🔒

• For automatic renewal every 3 months:

sudo crontab -e

• Add the following line:

0 6 1 */3 * root certbot renew >> /var/log/certbot-renewal.log

9. Automate SSL Renewal Nginx(Optional): 🔒 🎡

• For check autorenewal in on

sudo certbot renew --dry-run