How to Create Virtual Hosts on Debian & Ubuntu

This guide will walk you through creating Apache virtual hosts on Debian and Ubuntu Linux. Virtual hosts allow you to host multiple websites on a single server.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 10+
• Apache installed
• Root or sudo access
• Domain name pointing to your server

Step 1: Install Apache

If Apache is not already installed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

Step 2: Create Document Root Directory

Create the directory for your website files:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/example.com/public_html
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/mywebsite.com/public_html

Set Permissions

Allow Apache to read the files:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/example.com
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/mywebsite.com
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html

Step 3: Create Virtual Host Configuration

Create the configuration file for your site:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf

Add this configuration:

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

    <Directory /var/www/html/example.com/public_html>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example.com-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example.com-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Step 4: Enable the Virtual Host

Enable your new site and disable the default:

sudo a2ensite example.com
sudo a2dissite 000-default

Step 5: Test Configuration & Restart Apache

Test the configuration for syntax errors:

sudo apache2ctl configtest

If no errors, restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

HTTPS (SSL/TLS) Configuration

To enable HTTPS, install Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
sudo certbot --apache -d example.com -d www.example.com

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete SSL setup.

Useful Commands

• List enabled sites: apache2ctl -S
• Test config: sudo apache2ctl configtest
• Restart: sudo systemctl restart apache2
• Reload: sudo systemctl reload apache2
• Check status: sudo systemctl status apache2

Troubleshooting

Site Not Loading

• Check DNS is pointing to your server IP
• Verify the site is enabled: ls /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/
• Check Apache error logs: tail -f /var/log/apache2/example.com-error.log

Permission Denied Errors

Ensure document root has correct ownership:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/example.com

Port Already in Use

Check what’s using port 80:

sudo netstat -tulpn | grep :80

Conclusion

You have successfully created Apache virtual hosts on your Debian/Ubuntu server. You can now:

• Host multiple domains on one server
• Configure separate document roots
• Enable SSL/HTTPS for secure connections
• Access individual error and access logs