Knowledgebase

On RHEL-family distributions, Apache is packaged as httpd rather than apache2 — a naming difference that trips up administrators coming from Ubuntu/Debian. This guide covers the full installation and configuration.

Prerequisites

• AlmaLinux 9 or Rocky Linux 9 VPS
• Root or sudo access

Step 1 — Install httpd

sudo dnf install httpd -y

Step 2 — Enable and Start

sudo systemctl enable --now httpd

Step 3 — Allow HTTP/HTTPS Through firewalld

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

Step 4 — Test in a Browser

http://YOUR_SERVER_IP

Key File Locations

Creating a Virtual Host

sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/example.com.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com/html

    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/example.com-error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/example.com-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

sudo apachectl configtest
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Handling SELinux for Custom Web Roots

sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/var/www/example.com/html(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /var/www/example.com/html

Enabling mod_rewrite (Often Needed for PHP Apps)

Unlike Ubuntu/Debian's a2enmod, RHEL-family httpd typically has mod_rewrite compiled in and loaded via the main config already — verify:

httpd -M | grep rewrite

Adding PHP Support

sudo dnf install php php-mysqlnd -y
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Allowing httpd Network Connections (For Proxy Configurations)

sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1

Adding SSL with Certbot

sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
sudo certbot --apache -d example.com

Quick Reference: apache2 vs httpd

Common Errors

403 Forbidden despite correct permissions — SELinux context issue; apply the semanage fcontext/restorecon commands above.

"Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name" — harmless warning; set ServerName in the main config to silence it.

Continue Reading

• Understanding SELinux Basics on AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux
• How to Install PHP on AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux
• How to Set Up Let's Encrypt SSL on AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux

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