Setting Up a Web Server in Linux – Apache & Nginx

🔹 Introduction

Whether you’re a Linux enthusiast, a sysadmin, or a web developer, setting up a web server is a foundational skill. Apache and Nginx are the two most widely used web servers in the world, powering millions of websites. This guide walks you through:

• Installing and configuring Apache and Nginx
• Hosting multiple websites (virtual hosts)
• Enabling SSL with Let’s Encrypt
• Optimizing performance and hardening security
• Choosing between Apache, Nginx, or both together

By the end of this guide, you’ll be fully capable of deploying and managing production-ready web servers.

📝Table Of Content:

🧰 1. What is a Web Server?

A web server is software that serves web content (like HTML, CSS, and images) to users who access it via their browser. It receives HTTP/HTTPS requests and returns the appropriate response.

Popular Linux-based web servers include:

• Apache (httpd) – Flexible, module-rich, widely used.
• Nginx (engine-x) – Fast, lightweight, and optimized for handling many concurrent connections.

🖥️ 2. Pre-requisites for Setting Up a Web Server

Before diving in, ensure:

• You have a Linux system (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, or similar).
• You have root/sudo access.
• Basic knowledge of terminal commands.
• A domain name (optional for now but useful for SSL).

📥 3. Installing Apache on Linux

🔧 3.1 Apache Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

🔧 3.2 Apache Installation (CentOS/RHEL)

sudo yum install httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl start httpd

🧪 3.3 Verify Installation

Visit your server’s IP in a browser:
http://your-server-ip
You should see the Apache welcome page.

⚙️ 4. Configuring Apache

🗂️ 4.1 Apache Directory Structure

📝 4.2 Creating a Virtual Host (example.com)

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/public_html
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf

Add:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@example.com
    ServerName example.com
    ServerAlias www.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com/public_html
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

✅ 4.3 Enable and Restart

sudo a2ensite example.com.conf
sudo systemctl reload apache2

🌐 5. Installing Nginx on Linux

🔧 5.1 Nginx Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

🔧 5.2 Nginx Installation (CentOS/RHEL)

sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

🧪 5.3 Verify Nginx

Visit your server IP:
http://your-server-ip
You should see the Nginx welcome page.

⚙️ 6. Configuring Nginx

🗂️ 6.1 Nginx Directory Overview

📝 6.2 Creating a Server Block

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Enable:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

🛡️ 7. Enabling HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt

🔧 7.1 Install Certbot

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx  # For Nginx
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache  # For Apache

🔒 7.2 Generate SSL Certificate

Apache:

sudo certbot --apache

Nginx:

sudo certbot --nginx

Certificates are auto-renewed via cron.

🧪 8. Apache vs Nginx – When to Use What?

📝 Tip: You can also use Apache + Nginx together, where Nginx acts as a reverse proxy in front of Apache.

🚀 9. Bonus: Nginx as a Reverse Proxy for Apache

Install both Apache and Nginx, and configure Nginx to forward traffic to Apache (running on a different port, like 8080).

🔁 Nginx Reverse Proxy Example

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8080;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

🚀 10. Performance Optimization Tips

• Enable Gzip compression
• Use Browser caching
• Enable HTTP/2
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Limit resource-heavy modules
• Use load balancing (via Nginx or HAProxy)

🔐 11. Web Server Security Hardening

• Disable directory listing
• Disable unnecessary modules
• Limit file upload size
• Set strong permissions: chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/
• Use firewalls like ufw or iptables

🧠 12. Monitoring and Logs

🔎 Apache Logs:

• /var/log/apache2/access.log
• /var/log/apache2/error.log

🔎 Nginx Logs:

• /var/log/nginx/access.log
• /var/log/nginx/error.log

Use tail -f to watch logs live:

tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log

📦 13. Hosting Multiple Websites (Virtual Hosts / Server Blocks)

Both Apache and Nginx support multiple websites on the same server using virtual hosts (Apache) or server blocks (Nginx).

Repeat the same structure for:

• site1.com
• site2.com
• site3.com

🙋‍♂️ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

sudo systemctl status apache2   # For Apache on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo systemctl status httpd     # For Apache on CentOS/RHEL
sudo systemctl status nginx     # For Nginx

sudo certbot renew

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

🔚 14. Conclusion: You’re Now a Linux Web Server Ninja!

By now you’ve learned:

✅ How to install, configure, and secure both Apache and Nginx
✅ Host multiple domains with virtual hosts/server blocks
✅ Set up SSL, reverse proxy, and optimize performance
✅ Choose the right web server based on your project’s needs

💬 Next Steps

• Try hosting your first live project!
• Set up a free domain with tools like Freenom.
• Explore PHP-FPM or Node.js with Nginx next!

📚 Learn More:

DevOps

Incident Management

Linux

SQL

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