Installing Apache 2.4 on Mac - rajivkanaujia/alphaworks GitHub Wiki
Applicable for MacOS Sierra (version 10.12). MacOS comes with its own out of the box installation of Apache HTTP Server. There are several pros and cons on using that installation. As you continue developing some serious code for Web Development, the need to further tweak the HTTP Server will become stronger and at that point This wiki lets users install Apache 2.4 via Homebrew
- You have reviewed and configured out of the box installation of Apache HTTP Server
- See Configure Apache for Web Development
- Learn about LaunchDaemons - which are processes managed by the launchd service in OS X that are loaded when the system boots
$ brew tap homebrew/dupes
$ brew tap homebrew/versions
$ brew tap homebrew/php
$ brew tap homebrew/apache
$ brew update
- After installation, configure it to run on the standard ports (80/443)
- Stop Apache and unload the launch agent / daemon
$ sudo apachectl stop
$ sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist 2>/dev/null
$ brew install httpd24 --with-privileged-ports --with-http2
Apache Portable Runtime (APR) message about the path -->
==> Pouring apr-util-1.5.4_4.sierra.bottle.2.tar.gz
==> Caveats
This formula is keg-only, which means it was not symlinked into /usr/local,
because Apple's CLT package contains apr.
If you need to have this software first in your PATH run:
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/apr-util/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile
Another message is for Apache; we will ignore this for now
To have launchd start homebrew/apache/httpd24 now and restart at startup:
sudo brew services start homebrew/apache/httpd24
Or, if you don't want/need a background service you can just run:
apachectl start
Important: Summary of installation is important, as it gives the path to the installed folder/directory
==> Summary
🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/httpd24/2.4.25: 214 files, 4.5MB, built in 2 minutes 49 seconds
LaunchDaemons are processes managed by the launchd service in OS X that are loaded when the system boots. Find the associated plist
$ ls -l /usr/local/Cellar/httpd24/2.4.25/homebrew.mxcl.httpd24.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 rajiv admin 451 May 21 21:17
/usr/local/Cellar/httpd24/2.4.25/homebrew.mxcl.httpd24.plist
Change permissions so that OS-X can launch Apache at startup using standard ports
$ sudo chown -v root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.httpd24.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.httpd24.plist
$ sudo chmod -v 644 /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.httpd24.plist
$ sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.httpd24.plist
Check for server running by the command below. Observe the location of the folder
$ ps -aef | grep httpd
0 30053 1 0 10:05PM ?? 0:00.09 /usr/local/opt/httpd24/bin/httpd -D FOREGROUND
Check: Is Apache listening to port 80?
$ cat /usr/local/etc/apache2/2.4/httpd.conf | grep Listen
# Listen: Allows you to bind Apache to specific IP addresses and/or
# Change this to Listen on specific IP addresses as shown below to
#Listen 12.34.56.78:80
Listen 80
Check Go to browser and type http://localhost
Find the success message
Needed for any PHP / Web Development
Assuming you already have the ~/Sites/ as a location for root
Create a directory under User Root called Sites where all web development artifacts will be deployed. This step will create a User Root and Sites under it.
Goal is to create a folder /Users/<login name>/Sites
If the login name is "rajiv" then the folder will be /Users/rajiv/Sites
Note that System Root is at /Library/WebServer/Documents/
Create a folder "Sites" under ~/ (or user root)
$ cd ~/
$ mkdir Sites
Or use Mac's Finder to create the folder /Users/rajiv/Sites
Under the install directory, create a folder user and a file username.conf /usr/local/etc/apache2/2.4/users/username.conf
Edit the file to add following lines -
$ sudo nano username.conf
<Directory "/Users/rajiv/Sites">
AllowOverride All
Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks
Require all granted
</Directory>
Check the permission of the file
$ ls -lh username.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 138B Oct 4 14:47 username.conf
Needed permission for the file is "644" --> I can change it, everyone else can read it. Fix it if the above permission by chmod if needed
$ sudo chmod 644 username.conf
Make changes to httpd.conf and httpd-userdir.conf. Don't forget to keep a copy of original file
$ cd /usr/local/etc/apache2/2.4
$ cp httpd.conf.original httpd.conf
$ cd extra/
$ sudo cp httpd-userdir.conf httpd-userdir.conf.original
I have Brackets installed on my Mac, so I will use Brackets to edit the files. You can use any other editor to accomplish that
$ open -a Brackets /usr/local/etc/apache2/2.4/httpd.conf
Out-of the-box, the lines below should already be uncommented
LoadModule authz_core_module libexec/apache2/mod_authz_core.so
LoadModule authz_host_module libexec/apache2/mod_authz_host.so
Uncomment following lines
LoadModule userdir_module libexec/apache2/mod_userdir.so
Include /usr/local/etc/apache2/2.4/extra/httpd-userdir.conf
NOTE: PHP configs like one mentioned below will be added later
LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so
$ open -a Brackets /usr/local/etc/apache2/2.4/extra/httpd-userdir.conf
# UserDir public_html
UserDir Sites
# <Directory "/home/*/public_html">
<Directory "/Users/rajiv/Sites">
$ sudo apachectl restart
TEST using inprivate mode or inprivate browsing, assuming your login user name as rajiv. Visit http://localhost/~rajiv/. You should see
TEST if PHP is working via browser. Create a file name it “phpinfo.php” and file it in your document root with the contents below, then view it in a browser.
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
Use terminal to verify the version too
$ php -version
PHP 5.5.36 (cli) (built: May 29 2016 01:07:06)
Copyright (c) 1997-2015 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.5.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2015 Zend Technologies
Note: If you like the instructions here, please refer it on your posts/documentation. Contact me if there are corrections needed.