Apache 2.0 web hosting on a personal desktop

[madelinesaxen]

I'm trying to run an Apache 2.0 server on my desktop PC, and I'm wondering how I can use MySQL or another service to run a personal website. What way can I run the server on my domain using this method?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[axrusar]

Hello madelinesaxen.
Could you please post the specs of your desktop where you want to run the server?

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inxi -Fzxx

I run a small Mint "server" at home with Nexcloud in it. I can give you a few pointers/recommendations/opinions.

If that is your main computer, IMO it is a good idea to containerize the server and keep it separate from your stuff as you will be exposing it to the world.
You could use a virtual machine for example and run the web server from there. This will allow you to play with it and revert back if you mess up anything using snapshots while not affecting your main system at all.
Consider your network / internet speed. specially your Upload speed. If the site is meant to be visited by the occasional family member and friend it should be fine, but as you get some traffic and depending on what you are planning to host (pictures/videos?), you can bring your network to a crawl.
Do you have a static IP?... using a dynamic IP that frequently changes will require extra steps to setup the domain.
Remember to keep the server always up to date, and use a firewall on your main system just in case.

To setup the Apache server and SQL, look for LAMP and follow an updated tutorial.
If i were a beginner, i would use wordpress. And read/watch a few tutorials on setting up stuff with Docker. Here is a script you can use with Docker to setup the whole thing in one shot:

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sudo docker run -d \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=mydb \
  -e MYSQL_USER=myuser \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=mypassword \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootpassword \
  --name mymysql \
  mysql:latest

sudo docker run -d \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=mymysql \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=mydb \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_USER=myuser \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=mypassword \
  --name mywordpress \
  --link mymysql:mysql \
  -p 80:80 \
  wordpress:latest

You just need to change the names and passwords in there and you will be set.
Learn how to manage docker containers, or just take the snapshots in the VM before setting this up,

Otherwise use any cheap web hosting, or setup your own EC2 cloud server with Amazon, it is free the first year (look for their t3.micro).
Good luck with the site!

[madelinesaxen]

I have started the Docker mySQL database, and it had finished successfully, though I don't think I need wordpress becase I have used HTML5 before, though I am rusty. I setup the server on a separate drive and ZFS partition and user for security purposes.

Consider your network / internet speed. specially your Upload speed. If the site is meant to be visited by the occasional family member and friend it should be fine, but as you get some traffic and depending on what you are planning to host (pictures/videos?), you can bring your network to a crawl.

I am running it as a server for only a few occasional people to visit, and I don't need many resources to run it. I have a high speed router and ISP connection so it should run well for my needs.


Is there other steps can I take to set it up?


Here are the specs of my computer:

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System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-56-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.3.0
    Desktop: Cinnamon 5.6.8 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin dm: LightDM
    Distro: Linux Mint 21.1 Vera base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: B550I AORUS PRO AX v: x.x
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: F15
    date: 01/04/2022
CPU:
  Info: 8-core model: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2
    rev: 0 cache: L1: 512 KiB L2: 4 MiB L3: 32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3192 high: 3205 min/max: 2200/3934 boost: enabled
    cores: 1: 3180 2: 3194 3: 3193 4: 3192 5: 3193 6: 3193 7: 3191 8: 3194
    9: 3194 10: 3193 11: 3191 12: 3205 13: 3194 14: 3193 15: 3192 16: 3192
    bogomips: 102208
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU116 [GeForce GTX 1660 Ti] vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: nouveau v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports:
    active: DP-1 empty: DP-2,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 0b:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:2182
  Device-2: Logitech Webcam C270 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 5-1:2 chip-ID: 046d:0825
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: nouveau display-ID: :1 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: AOC 24G1WG4 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 94
    diag: 598mm (23.5")
  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 22.2.5
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU116 High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0b:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:1aeb
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Gigabyte
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487
  Device-3: Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless Gaming Receiver type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 1-5:7 chip-ID: 1b1c:0a73
  Device-4: Logitech Webcam C270 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 5-1:2 chip-ID: 046d:0825
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-56-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Gigabyte driver: r8169 v: kernel
    pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 09:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125
  IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: MEDIATEK driver: mt7921e v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: N/A bus-ID: 0a:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:0608
  IF: wlp10s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: docker0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-8:5 chip-ID: 0e8d:0608
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
    bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.2 sub-v: 2202
RAID:
  Device-1: bpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 1.88 GiB
    free: 1.61 GiB zfs-fs: size: 1.75 GiB free: 1.48 GiB
  Components: Online: N/A
  Device-2: rpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 920 GiB
    free: 895 GiB zfs-fs: size: 891.5 GiB free: 866.35 GiB
  Components: Online: N/A
  Device-3: zserver type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw:
    size: 476 GiB free: 476 GiB zfs-fs: size: 461.25 GiB free: 461.25 GiB
  Components: Online: 1:
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: raw: 1.43 TiB usable: 3.22 TiB used: 47.02 GiB (1.4%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WD BLACK SN770 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 54.9 C
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKNW512G8 size: 476.94 GiB
    speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 44.9 C
  ID-3: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: Generic model: N/A size: 58 GiB
    serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 887.43 GiB used: 21.08 GiB (2.4%) fs: zfs
    logical: rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_2yhufy
  ID-2: /boot size: 1.75 GiB used: 270.8 MiB (15.1%) fs: zfs
    logical: bpool/BOOT/ubuntu_2yhufy
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 512 MiB used: 15.9 MiB (3.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-4: /var/log size: 866.37 GiB used: 18 MiB (0.0%) fs: zfs
    logical: rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_2yhufy/var/log
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/dm-1 mapped: cryptoswap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: 45.0 C gpu: nouveau temp: 32.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nouveau fan: 1040
Info:
  Processes: 731 Uptime: 1d 16h 32m Memory: 31.25 GiB used: 20.21 GiB (64.7%)
  Init: systemd v: 249 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.3.0 alt: 11/12
  clang: 14.0.0-1ubuntu1 Packages: 2485 apt: 2481 snap: 4 Shell: Bash
  v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.13
  

[axrusar]

I have started the Docker mySQL database, and it had finished successfully,

Nevermind about docker... it will be too messy for a beginner. I did some tests today in a VM trying to set up this, you may stop the container and purge it from the system.

Is there other steps can I take to set it up?

Here is a script that will set your system with apache, php, mysql and phpadmin: (AGAIN, i suggest you do this in a VM, but you can do it in your main mint 21 system if you want)
Replace (your_password_here) with a secure password for the database.
If you dont know how to run a script:

Copy the code in a text file to your desktop and save it as myscript.sh
Right click the text file, go to the permissions tab and tick the "Allow executing file as a program" checkbox. Close
Now right click in an empty space on your desktop and click "open in terminal". so you will launch a terminal inside the Desktop folder.
Type ./myscript.sh (it starts with he period) and hit enter.

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#!/bin/bash

# Update your system APT
sudo apt update

# Install Apache2
sudo apt install apache2 -y

# Install PHP
sudo apt install -y php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql

# setup MySQL (set your PASSWORD in the line below)
password="your_password_here"

sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "mysql-server mysql-server/root_password password $password"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "mysql-server mysql-server/root_password_again password $password"
sudo apt install -y mysql-server

# Install phpMyAdmin
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/dbconfig-install boolean true"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/app-password-confirm password $password"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/mysql/admin-pass password $password"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/mysql/app-pass password $password"
sudo debconf-set-selections <<< "phpmyadmin phpmyadmin/reconfigure-webserver multiselect apache2"
sudo apt install -y phpmyadmin

# Enable needed apache modules
sudo a2enmod php
sudo phpenmod mbstring

# Restart apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# start MySQL
sudo systemctl start mysql

Open a web browser and type localhost to access the website, or http://localhost/phpmyadmin to open the mysql admin panel.
User is root, password whatever you set up in the script.

It will work.
Then your next step will be pointing your domain to your IP address. Open port 80 and 443 on your router and forward it to the server.
Then look for "certbot" instructions. Install it and get free SSL for your website once everything is running.

Your root folder for the pages is in /var/www/html
You will need to use php and sql coding if you want to do anything with the website and database. HTML5 alone will not be enough

This is the bare bones... you should secure the server, use the firewall.
Good luck