apache2 error: Forbidden

shams · 10-21-2013, 09:02 PM

I just installed the kubuntu 13.10 and did the full dist upgrade, apache2 was working normal in kubuntu 13.04, in the 13.10 i see some changes like the example.net is changed to the example.net.conf in apache2 configurations, now want to open the exmaple.net with apache2 server get this error:

Quote:

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access / on this server.
Apache/2.4.6 (Ubuntu) Server at example.net Port 80

The doument root /home/www permission is set to 755, this is the /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/example.net.conf:

Quote:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin user@example.net

DocumentRoot /home/www/example.net/htdocs
ServerName example.net
ServerAlias www.example.net
<Directory />
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
<Directory "/home/www/example.net/cgi-bin">
AllowOverride None
Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log

# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
# alert, emerg.
LogLevel warn

CustomLog /var/log/apache2/access.log combined

Alias /doc/ "/usr/share/doc/"
<Directory "/usr/share/doc/">
Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ::1/128
</Directory>

</VirtualHost>

The host from /var/www is working fine, the problem is with the virtualhosts.

yancek · 10-21-2013, 11:14 PM

Check the owner:group on /home/www. The group at least needs to be apache or www-data, whatever Ubuntu uses.

shams · 10-22-2013, 12:35 AM

I changed the ownership of /home/www to www-data:www-data but still the same problem.

bathory · 10-22-2013, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shams

I changed the ownership of /home/www to www-data:www-data but still the same problem.

You docroot is outside of the default docroot (/var/www), so you need to add:

Code:

<Directory /home/www/example.net/htdocs>
Allow from all
</Directory>

passinthru · 10-22-2013, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bathory

You docroot is outside of the default docroot (/var/www), so you need to add:

Code:

<Directory /home/www/example.net/htdocs>
Allow from all
</Directory>

Not to hijack this thread, but I am apparently having the same issue, though the default file the op shows is not the same as the one I have. What version of apache2 does kubuntu include?

The apache2 sites-available directory, part of the tasksel LAMP install under Xubuntu 13.10:

Code:

/etc/apache2/sites-available/
├── 000-default.conf
├── 000-mysite.conf
├── default-ssl.conf
└── mysite (my copy of 000-default.conf)

The 000-default.conf file:

Code:

<VirtualHost *:80>
	# The ServerName directive sets the request scheme, hostname and port that
	# the server uses to identify itself. This is used when creating
	# redirection URLs. In the context of virtual hosts, the ServerName
	# specifies what hostname must appear in the request's Host: header to
	# match this virtual host. For the default virtual host (this file) this
	# value is not decisive as it is used as a last resort host regardless.
	# However, you must set it for any further virtual host explicitly.
	#ServerName www.example.com

	ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
	DocumentRoot /var/www

	# Available loglevels: trace8, ..., trace1, debug, info, notice, warn,
	# error, crit, alert, emerg.
	# It is also possible to configure the loglevel for particular
	# modules, e.g.
	#LogLevel info ssl:warn

	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

	# For most configuration files from conf-available/, which are
	# enabled or disabled at a global level, it is possible to
	# include a line for only one particular virtual host. For example the
	# following line enables the CGI configuration for this host only
	# after it has been globally disabled with "a2disconf".
	#Include conf-available/serve-cgi-bin.conf
</VirtualHost>

All that I have been able to determine comes from the Apache2 site documentation, and it says that a2dissite and a2ensaite have been deprecated. I can not find how to enable a virtual host.

a2dissite and a2ensite are still present but will not enable the virutal site with any configuration of 000-<mysite>.conf.

Where do I put the docroot, and then what do I do?

How do I make /home/<user>/www the virtual site in Apache2.4.6 as I was able to do up to Apache2.2.22(Ubuntu) - up to and including xubuntu 13.04?

passinthru · 10-22-2013, 01:16 PM

I may have run across a solution to my probleem (and hopefully yours) at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2182652. I have not tried it yet... hope it works.

passinthru · 10-22-2013, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by passinthru

I may have run across a solution to my probleem (and hopefully yours) at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2182652. I have not tried it yet... hope it works.

Having already checked the owner/group and permissions, I tried the above and am still getting the "Forbidden" error on my virtual site. It is now enabling the site, which it would not do before, but I still can not access it. (Can you wear out a service reloading it? Just kidding.)

shams · 10-23-2013, 08:58 PM

I added the lines below to the /etc/apache2/apache2.conf:

Quote:

<Directory /home/www/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Require all granted
</Directory>

and changed the 000-default.conf to my virtual host:

Quote:

<VirtualHost *:80>

ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
DocumentRoot /home/www/example.net/htdocs
ServerName example.net

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

and changed the permissions of /home/www to 644, all virtual hosts working now. to enable the site run the command a2ensite from the sites-available directory.

bathory · 10-24-2013, 03:10 AM

Quote:

and changed the permissions of /home/www to 644, all virtual hosts working now

Huh? Directory permissions should be 755 for apache to work.
You can set 644 the files accessible by apache.

passinthru · 10-24-2013, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shams

I added the lines below to the /etc/apache2/apache2.conf:

and changed the 000-default.conf to my virtual host:

and changed the permissions of /home/www to 644, all virtual hosts working now. to enable the site run the command a2ensite from the sites-available directory.

Following these recommendations has not made it work for me.

The user is in the www-data group (xubuntu 13.10), and I've tried both 644 and 755 permissions.

I tried using a duplication of the virtual site configuration file which works under 13.04/apache2.2.22(Ubuntu), and various changes of the file variables.

With everything I have done I get either "Forbidden" or "Not found". I am retracing my steps to learn under what configuration I get which, hoping that something will "click".

At present, the only way I can access the files which were my virtual site is by putting a symlink in /var/www which points to them.

(My need for a local server is simply to have a mirror of several remote websites which I maintain. So I do not think that security is a real concern for me, is it?)

TenTenths · 10-24-2013, 06:16 AM

Try it with SELINUX disabled.

passinthru · 10-24-2013, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenTenths

Try it with SELINUX disabled.

Can you tell me specifically how to disable SELINUX? (If this is not the place to ask such a stupid question, then I must either dismiss the suggestion or go elsewhere to learn how to follow it. At this point I am not primarily interested in knowing what it is and what it does; I simply want a properly functioning local web server with my chosen os.)

TenTenths · 10-24-2013, 06:54 AM

To permanently disable SElinux you need to edit SElinux's config file /etc/selinux/config and add/alter line disable it:

Code:

SELINUX=disabled

and then reboot the server.

bathory · 10-24-2013, 06:57 AM

@passinthru
Take a look here to see what you have to change in your apache configuration when upgrading from 13.04 to 13.10

@TenTenths
Ubuntu does not use SELinux

TenTenths · 10-24-2013, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bathory

@TenTenths
Ubuntu does not use SELinux

Ooops!

Well there ya go, that's my "learn something new today"

Maybe I should get my head out of RHEL/CentOS land