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Home > Linux Knowledge > How to setup a new site in Apache (Ubuntu)

published 2021-01-18, updated 2024-01-05

Here are the basic steps to create a new virtual host in Apache on Ubuntu Server. This includes HTTPS setup with LetsEncrypt certbot. apache2 and certbot (and dependencies) need to be installed first.

create sitename.tld.conf in /etc/apache2/sites-available
- e.g. touch /etc/apache2/sites-available/bragger.xyz.conf
basic config for sitename.tld.conf:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@sitename.tld
    ServerName  sitename.tld
    ServerAlias www.sitename.tld
    DocumentRoot /var/www/sitename.tld
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/sitename.tld-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/sitename.tld-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Now put some static HTML content in DocumentRoot directory
sudo a2enmod headers
sudo a2ensite sitename.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2
certbot --apache -d sitename www.sitename
- when certbot asks please enable rewrite from http 80 to https 443
modify /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-apache.conf
- SSLProtocol -all +TLSv1.2
test your ssl config via SSLLabs
systemctl reload apache2
TODO: Enable gzip compression
TODO: harden Apache with mod_security
TODO: https://ssl-config.mozilla.org/

It is possible to add multiple sites to the same Apache server in the same manner. Just point your DNS A-Records to the correct server ip adress and Apache will do the rest.