SYS‐255 Apache Installation and firewall‐cmd Configuration - aljimenez28/champlain GitHub Wiki

Overview

The purpose of this section of the lab was to install and configure the Apache web server on web01, allow web traffic through the firewall, replace the default Apache test page with a custom HTML page, and validate that the server is reachable from a workstation using a browser.

Objectives

  • Install and start Apache (httpd)

  • Open HTTP and HTTPS services in firewalld

  • Verify web01 can serve webpages

  • Replace the default page with a custom index.html file

  • Install PHP and display a PHP test page

Steps Completed

1. Installed Apache (httpd)

On web01, I installed Apache using dnf:

sudo dnf install httpd -y

Enabled and started the service:

sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl start httpd

Verified Apache was running:

sudo systemctl status httpd

2. Configured the firewall

By default, firewalld blocks HTTP and HTTPS traffic. The following commands permanently opened those services:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

To verify the change, I ran:

sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

The expected output shows http and https under services.

3. Verified Apache connection from a workstation

From AD02, I opened a browser and entered the hostname or IP of web01:

http://web01-alejandra

or

http://10.0.5.10

The default Apache test page appeared, confirming that the web server was reachable.

This completed Deliverable 3.

4. Replaced the default page with a custom index.html

Apache shows a default welcome page until the file below is removed:

sudo rm -f /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf

Created a custom web page:

sudo nano /var/www/html/index.html

Inserted:

<h1>Welcome to web01-alejandra</h1>
<p>Apache is successfully running.</p>

Refreshing the browser now displays the custom HTML page instead of the default Apache test page.

This completed Deliverable 4.

5. Installed PHP and tested PHP rendering

Installed PHP:

sudo dnf install php -y
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Created a PHP test file:

sudo nano /var/www/html/info.php

Inserted:

<?php
echo "<h1>This is Deliverable 5</h1>";
echo "<p>Hostname: " . gethostname() . "</p>";
phpinfo();
?>

Viewing:

http://web01-alejandra/info.php

The browser displayed both the custom output and detailed PHP configuration, proving the PHP module was active.

Problems Encountered and Solutions

Problem Cause Solution
Could not write index.html or info.php at first File path was misspelled Corrected the spelling of /var/www/html and saved again
Browser still showed default Apache page welcome.conf was not deleted Removed /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf and refreshed page
PHP file not served initially Apache needed a restart after PHP install Ran systemctl restart httpd

Key Commands Used

sudo dnf install httpd -y
sudo systemctl enable httpd
sudo systemctl start httpd

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload


sudo rm -f /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf
nano /var/www/html/index.html


sudo dnf install php -y
sudo systemctl restart httpd
nano /var/www/html/info.php

Final Result

Apache is installed, configured, and serving custom content. Firewall rules were adjusted to allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic. PHP was installed and tested successfully. The workstation can reach the web server by hostname and IP.

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