How to create an Apache installation for local testing

This article describes how to create an Apache web server installation that you can use for local testing.

Installing Apache

Apache is a popular open-source web server. It is used on many A2 Hosting servers, and is a good choice for your own testing environments.

To install Apache on your virtual machine, follow these steps:

1. Start the virtual machine, if you haven't already.
2. Log in to the virtual machine as the root user.
3. At the command prompt, type the following command to install Apache:

   yum install httpd
   

   httpd is short for “HTTP daemon”—don't worry, you are installing Apache.
4. At the Is this ok prompt, type y and then press Enter. The installation process begins.

5. After installation completes, type the following command to start Apache:
   

   systemctl start httpd

6. To confirm Apache is running, type the following command:
   

   systemctl status httpd

   You should see Active: active (running) in the output.

7. To make Apache start automatically on system boot, type the following command:
   

   systemctl enable httpd

8. You are now ready to configure the web server. For information about how to do this, you can view the official online Apache documentation at https://httpd.apache.org/docs.