How To Install Apache on openSUSE

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Apache on openSUSE. Apache HTTP Server, a free and open-source web server software, is renowned for its power, flexibility, and robustness. It serves as the backbone of many modern web applications, making it a crucial tool for developers and system administrators.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Apache web server on openSUSE.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: openSUSE.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• You will need access to the terminal to execute commands. openSUSE provides the Terminal application for this purpose. It can be found in your Applications menu.
• You’ll need an active internet connection to download Apache and its dependencies.
• A user account with sudo privileges.

Install Apache on openSUSE

Step 1. Firstly, we need to ensure that our openSUSE system is up-to-date. Open the terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or by searching for ‘terminal’ in the application menu. Once the terminal is open, execute the following command to update the system:

sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update

Step 2. Installing Apache on openSUSE.

Once your system is updated, you can proceed with the Apache installation. Use the following command to install Apache:

sudo zypper install apache2

Verify that Apache was installed correctly:

apache2 -v

Now that Apache is installed and configured, we can enable and start the service. Use the following commands to do so:

sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2

To check the status of the Apache service, use the following command:

sudo systemctl status apache2

If the service is running, you should see an “active (running)” status. To confirm that Apache is serving web pages, open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost or http://your_server_IP. You should see the default Apache test page.

Step 3. Configuring Apache HTTP Server.

Apache’s main configuration file is httpd.conf, located in /etc/apache2/. Additional configuration files can be found in the conf.d and vhosts.d directories.

Configuring the Apache HTTP Server

Open the main configuration file with a text editor, such as nano:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

Modify the configuration parameters as needed. Some key parameters include:

• Listen: Specifies the IP address and port on which Apache listens for incoming connections.
• ServerName: Defines the server’s fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
• DocumentRoot: Sets the directory where Apache looks for website files.

Setting up a Virtual Host

Virtual hosts allow you to host multiple websites on a single server. To set up a virtual host:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/example.com.conf

Add the following configuration, replacing example.com with your domain name and /var/www/example.com with the desired document root:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com
    ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/example.com-error_log
    CustomLog /var/log/apache2/example.com-access_log combined
</VirtualHost>

Save and close the file.

Step 4. Configuring a Firewall.

openSUSE uses Firewalld to manage firewall rules. To configure the firewall for Apache:

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

Reload the firewall configuration:

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 5. Troubleshooting Common Issues.

If you encounter any issues during the installation or configuration process, consider the following troubleshooting tips:

• Check error logs: Apache logs errors and events in the /var/log/apache2/ directory. Review the error_log file for any issues or error messages.
• Restart the service: If you made changes to the configuration file, restart the Apache service with sudo systemctl restart apache2 to apply the changes.
• Check firewall settings: Ensure that your firewall allows incoming connections on the port specified in the Listen directive (default is 80). For openSUSE, use the firewall-cmd command to manage firewall rules.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Apache. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Apache web server on your openSUSE system. For additional or useful information, we recommend you check the official Apache website.