Apache Virtual Host Ignored – Troubleshooting ServerName Issues

apache-2.2virtualhost

I'm trying to add a second virtual host to my apache configuration, but cannot seem to get the new virtual host to be used.

My httpd.conf just contains the following line:

ServerName radiofreebrighton.org.uk

I also have a ports.conf file, which contains the following:

NameVirtualHost *:80
Listen 80

<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
    Listen 443
</IfModule>

I have two files in sites-available which were symlinked to sites-enabled by a2ensite:

  • radiofreebrighton.org.uk
  • trafalgararches.co.uk

The contents of the first is:

<VirtualHost _default_:80>
    DocumentRoot /home/tom/www

    ServerAdmin tom@radiofreebrighton.org.uk
    ServerName radiofreebrighton.org.uk
    ServerAlias www.radiofreebrighton.org.uk

    <Directory /home/tom/www/>
            Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
            AllowOverride All
            Order allow,deny
            allow from all
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log
    LogLevel error
    CustomLog /var/log/apache2/access.log combined

    Alias /wiki /home/tom/www/mediawiki/index.php
</VirtualHost>

The contents of the latter is:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot /home/tom/tata-www

    ServerAdmin admin@trafalgararches.co.uk
    ServerName trafalgararches.co.uk
    ServerAlias www.trafalgararches.co.uk

    <Directory /home/tom/tata-www/>
            Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
            AllowOverride All
            Order allow,deny
            allow from all
    </Directory>

    logLevel error
    ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log
</VirtualHost>

But any time I request a page from trafalgararches.co.uk, I am given a page from radiofreebrighton.org.uk. Why might this be happening? How can I fix it?

Edit:

Virtual host configuration as understood by apache:

tom@rfb:/usr/local$ apache2ctl -S
VirtualHost configuration:
wildcard NameVirtualHosts and _default_ servers:
*:80                   is a NameVirtualHost
         default server radiofreebrighton.org.uk (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/radiofreebrighton.org.uk:1)
         port 80 namevhost radiofreebrighton.org.uk (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/radiofreebrighton.org.uk:1)
         port 80 namevhost trafalgararches.co.uk (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/trafalgararches.co.uk:1)
Syntax OK

(Gleaned via apache2ctl -S aka httpd -S.)

Best Answer

This may be obvious, but don't forget to restart the apache service after enabling additional virtual host.

After executing a2ensite for the second virtual host, the output of apache2ctl -S reflects that both sites are configured (and one of them is the default), but it won't be live until you reload apache.

Let's say you have two virtual hosts - site1 and site2. You run a2ensite site1 and then reload apache service. Now you can access http://site1 and it is the default. Now you run a2ensite site2, but forget to restart apache. The output of apache2ctl -S will be:

VirtualHost configuration:
wildcard NameVirtualHosts and _default_ servers:
*:80                   is a NameVirtualHost
         default server site1 (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/site1:1)
         port 80 namevhost site1 (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/site1:1)
         port 80 namevhost site2 (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/site2:1)
Syntax OK

But when you try to load http://site2, it will actually load the default site (site1), since the configuration isn't loaded.

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