How to Set Up Virtual Hosts for Multiple Domains

How to Set Up Virtual Hosts for Multiple Domains

Virtual hosts allow you to host multiple websites on a single dedicated server by associating each domain name with a specific directory. This guide will walk you through setting up virtual hosts for multiple domains on your dedicated server from QuickServers.net.

Step 1: Update Your Server

Before starting, ensure your server is up to date.

• For Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y  
  

• For CentOS/RHEL:

  sudo yum update -y  
  

Step 2: Install the Web Server

Virtual hosts are configured in your web server software. If Apache is not already installed, follow these steps:

• For Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo apt install apache2 -y  
  

• For CentOS/RHEL:

  sudo yum install httpd -y  
  

Start and enable Apache:

• For Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo systemctl start apache2  
  sudo systemctl enable apache2  
  

• For CentOS/RHEL:

  sudo systemctl start httpd  
  sudo systemctl enable httpd  
  

Step 3: Create Directories for Each Domain

Each domain needs its own directory to store website files.

• Create directories for your domains:

  sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example1.com  
  sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example2.com  
  

• Assign ownership of these directories to your user:

  sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example1.com  
  sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/example2.com  
  

• Set proper permissions:

  sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www  
  

• Add a test HTML file for each domain:

  echo "<h1>Welcome to example1.com!</h1>" | sudo tee /var/www/example1.com/index.html  
  echo "<h1>Welcome to example2.com!</h1>" | sudo tee /var/www/example2.com/index.html  
  

Step 4: Configure Virtual Host Files

Create a virtual host file for each domain.

• For Ubuntu/Debian:

  1. Navigate to the sites-available directory:

     cd /etc/apache2/sites-available  
     

  2. Create configuration files for each domain:

     sudo nano example1.com.conf  
     sudo nano example2.com.conf  
     

  3. Add the following content to each file (replace example1.com with your actual domain name):

     <VirtualHost *:80>  
         ServerName example1.com  
         ServerAlias www.example1.com  
         DocumentRoot /var/www/example1.com  
         ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example1_error.log  
         CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example1_access.log combined  
     </VirtualHost>  
     

  Repeat for example2.com.

• For CentOS/RHEL:

  1. Navigate to the configuration directory:

     cd /etc/httpd/conf.d  
     

  2. Create configuration files for each domain:

     sudo nano example1.com.conf  
     sudo nano example2.com.conf  
     

  3. Add the same content as above to each file.

Step 5: Enable the Virtual Hosts

• For Ubuntu/Debian:
  Enable the sites and reload Apache:

  sudo a2ensite example1.com.conf  
  sudo a2ensite example2.com.conf  
  sudo systemctl reload apache2  
  

• For CentOS/RHEL:
  Reload Apache to apply the changes:

  sudo systemctl reload httpd  
  

Step 6: Test Your Virtual Hosts

• Update your local machine's hosts file (optional for testing without DNS configuration):

  sudo nano /etc/hosts  
  

  Add the following lines:

  server-ip example1.com  
  server-ip example2.com  
  

  Replace server-ip with your dedicated server's IP address.

• Open a web browser and visit http://example1.com and http://example2.com.

You should see the corresponding test pages for each domain.

Step 7: Configure DNS Records

To make your websites accessible to the public, configure DNS records for each domain with your domain registrar.

• Create an A record for each domain, pointing to your server's IP address.
• Wait for DNS propagation (this may take a few hours).

Step 8: Enable HTTPS (Optional but Recommended)

Secure your websites with SSL certificates. Use Let's Encrypt for free SSL certificates:

• Install Certbot:

  sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y  # Ubuntu/Debian  
  sudo yum install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y  # CentOS/RHEL  
  

• Obtain certificates for your domains:

  sudo certbot --apache  
  

• Verify that HTTPS works by visiting https://example1.com and https://example2.com.

By following these steps, you can efficiently host multiple domains on your dedicated server from QuickServers.net. If you encounter any issues, contact QuickServers.net support for assistance.