Fix Virtual Host Not Working on Cloud Server Running Ubuntu

Abhishek Ghosh

By Abhishek Ghosh May 24, 2014 5:13 am Updated on May 24, 2014

Fix Virtual Host Not Working on Cloud Server Running Ubuntu

Fix Virtual Host Not Working on Cloud Server Running Ubuntu and Apache2 Web Server with only few easy steps. If you follow our guide to Install WordPress or any Web Software on Ubuntu on Rackspace Cloud or Digital Ocean and try to modify the default one server one domain settings – which is actually enabling virtual hosts; you might end up serving wrong directory content for particular named website. This basically happens due to a very small mistake.

Virtual Host Not Working on Cloud Server Running Ubuntu : Why You Did?

Practically all will perform the exact steps to enable name based virtual host. which is written in our guide to host Multiple Websites on Ubuntu 13.10 on Rackspace Cloud Server. We basically perform few steps :

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# we copy the config file
sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf
# we edit the newly created site's config file to point to proper directory
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf
# we activate the config
sudo a2ensite example.com
# we restart apache
sudo service apache2 restart

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# we copy the config file

sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf

# we edit the newly created site's config file to point to proper directory

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/example.com.conf

# we activate the config

sudo a2ensite example.com

# we restart apache

sudo service apache2 restart

At this point, pointing the domain from cloud dns or any dns service towards the server IP with A record should work. But, it is also important to disable the default site :

# this disables the default
sudo a2dissite 000-default
# restart apache
sudo service apache2 restart

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# this disables the default

sudo a2dissite 000-default

# restart apache

sudo service apache2 restart

These are correct steps. However, if you want to add 3 or more websites, usually the problem starts.