Mac OS

Setup Apache web server on Mac OS X

1. An Apache 2.2 web server is already installed on the Mac OS X, but by default not enabled.
   To determine which version is installed, open the Terminal application and type: httpd -v
   
   You should see:
   Server version: Apache/2.2.20 (Unix)
   Server built: Sep 8 2011 18:13:15
   
   
2. Click the apple icon (top left corner) and select "System Preferences..."
   
   
   
   
3. Click icon "Sharing"
   
   
   
   
4. Enable "Web Sharing".
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Two default websites are setup
   • Your personal website: http://<computer_name>/~<accountname>
     The docroot is located at: /Users/<accountname>/Sites
     
     
   • Your computers website: http://<computer_name>/
     The docroot is located at: /Library/WebServer/Documents
     
     
   Note: The apache documentation can be accessed by http://<computer_name>/manual/
   
   
6. Enter the URLs in your web browser to check if the webserver is running.
   
   Example 1: http://mac/~robertlie
   
   
   
   Example 2: http://mac/
   
   
   
   
   If the default index.html pages are not displayed, the URL http://<computer_name> can not be resolved.
   • Open the Terminal application
   • Type: cd /private/etc
   • Edit the hosts file, type: sudo vi hosts
   • Add the following line: 127.0.0.1    mac
   • Save the file
   
   
7. If you want to use a fully qualified domain name (e.g. mac.mobilefish.intranet) instead of a computer name, do the following:
   
   
   • Open the Terminal application.
   • To check what your current hostname is, type: hostname
   • Change your hostname:
     • sudo scutil --set HostName <new_hostname>>
     • Enter your password to make the change.
     
     For example:
     sudo scutil --set HostName mac.mobilefish.intranet
   • Edit the hosts file, add the following line:
     127.0.0.1    mac.mobilefish.intranet
   • Edit /etc/apache2/httpd.conf and change line:
     ServerName mac.mobilefish.intranet:80
   • Restart apache web server:
     sudo apachectl restart
   • Your website can now be accessed by the fully qualified domain name.
     For example:
     
     http://mac.mobilefish.intranet/~robertlie
     http://mac.mobilefish.intranet/
   
   
8. The Apache web server configuration files can be found at:
   /etc/apache2
   
   The Apache web server log files can be found at:
   /var/log/apache2
   
   The stop, start or restart Apache web server from the Terminal application, type:
   sudo apachectl stop
   sudo apachectl start
   sudo apachectl restart