help hosting website from home.

[TheNSS]

Hi

I have a pc at home running apache web server. I have a static ip address and i have a netgear router. I have the no ip stuff installed on my pc with the webserver, but i don't know to make it so that people on the internet can see it. computers on my network can see this site but not people outside. what can i do?

also, how do i edit my index page? i can't find the file any where in my computer at home so what can i do there?

thanks in advance.

[knsljo]

It sounds like your router needs configuring. You need to port forward all incoming traffic to your server.

[TheNSS]

how do i do that?

[dhundee]

I am not sure how the netgear router is configured but you need to point your netgears port 80 requests to the webserver where your site is located. If there is a port forwarding facility on your netgear you might as well do that...

:)

so everytime a visitor visits your ip address, like this http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is your statid ip, your negear should forward this request to the internal ip address in your home netword. for example if your webserver is configured at 192.168.1.100 then forward all requests to port 80 to 192.168.1.100

i hope i made sense a bit hehe

[TheNNS]

yes, that makes a ton of sense thank you. now i just need to install windows server, or apche i'm not sure.

[dhundee]

the fastest test is using the default IIS (Internet Information Serices) provided with several windows product. If not installed I think you can use windows components and re-install that easily from there.

Windows XP Professional, Windows 2K, Windows 2K3 all have these. I'm not sure if Windows XP Home Edition supports this. If you have a windows 2000 box, it would be easier. This way you can easily play around the IIS yourself, ad several pages etc.

You may also install PHP over IIS and make IIS able to read php scripts. :)

[John A]

I would recommend using Apache. Being the hoster of 90% of the servers, it's probably pretty good. It's also really easy to setup. Install it, follow the documentation of course, and then edit the httpd.conf file to point it to the directory where you website resides.

And then mess with the router to make it do what you want with Virtual Servers.

[TheNNS]

and then edit the httpd.conf file to point it to the directory where you website resides.

Okay, where is this file at? I've tried and tried to look for it everywhere but I can't seem to find it.

[John A]

Okay, where is this file at? I've tried and tried to look for it everywhere but I can't seem to find it.

On Linux file systems, this file is usually located in /etc/apache. I'm not so sure about Windows filesystems. If the Find command doesn't show up with anything, I would say you need to reinstall Apache. (Maybe there's a special option you need to include the httpd.conf file)

[jbennet]

uh i dunno if this is the same for netgear buty on my linksys i can go into "port forwarding" and route all HTTP (port 80) traffic to my web servers I.P.

[dhundee]

Hmmm I suppose the httpd.conf in windows systems can be edit directly from a few clicks of the mouse on the programs menu, Look for Apache HTTP Server Menu group, and Locate Configure Apache Server then Edit Apache httpd.conf Configuration file.

I would assume that is the easiest way to go. If you wrote down the configuration setting while you installed apache. I believe the Installer asked you where you wanted to place the Apache Files. If you did, you should find the httpd.conf in the conf folder under Apache2 (if you are using httpd 2 server).

Just like what i've told said initially, before going any further in installing Apache, you should try IIS first, that will lessen your trouble. Once you are sure the forwarding works. then you can proceed on installing Apache or any web Server you liked.

Trouble shoot one problem at a time, installing Apache while resolving the portforwarding issue might simply give you a headache.

cheers

[TheNNS]

I resolved the port forwarding problem, HTTP traffic is now forwarded to the server. I can't try IIS as I don't have xp pro, or 2000, actually I have windows server software, so I'll give it a try.

alos, I've heard something about virtual servers, so you can host more than one site on a server, how does this work?

[dhundee]

Yes you can host multiple websites on a single server, or IP.

What webserver are you currently using? Apache?

your virtual host on Apache should look something like these

ServerAdmin [EMAIL="[e-mail]"][e-mail][/EMAIL]
DocumentRoot /path/to/document/root
ServerName www.yoursite.com
.....
.....
...

Notice that i didn't include the ErrorLog and CustomLog arguments...

You can duplicate that entry to satisfy multiple virtual hosted domains... just change the DocumentRoot under that with your site location, and the ServerName with the sites address... e.g. www.yoursite.com

btw, if you are using a windows server... you can replace the /path/to/document/root with a windows filepath... e.g. C:/domains/www.yoursite.com/wwwroot/

or C:/www.mysite.com

although I often suggest you put all your sites in one folder e.g. domains... for easy management...

you may also replace the asterisk at the with your domain name, although i like it that way for simplicity.

I think If you check on your httpd.conf there is a sample at the bottom of the page.

good luck!

[TheNNS]

Wow, that is a lot of info, maybe more than what I can handle, thanks for the help though. I'll check back if I have anymore questions.

[John A]

Wow, that is a lot of info, maybe more than what I can handle, thanks for the help though. I'll check back if I have anymore questions.

You should've googled it first; there's lots more on it out there. First hit: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/vhosts/

[TheNNS]

You should've googled it first

The reason why I don't google first is because it takes me to forums like these, so I get to ask smart people like you, and then I actually get the answear that I was looking for.

[dhundee]

I Agree. I do that sometimes too. google tend to send too many sources and sometimes It takes longer reading all these documents and you end up reading a not working example. lol. anyway what ever applies to you. it's all okay as long as you find what you need.

[John A]

The reason why I don't google first is because it takes me to forums like these

Oh, really?
so I get to ask smart people like you
Who said I was smart? I just use Google lots :P
(Well, actually it's alittle bit more than that)

[TheNNS]

Who said I was smart?

Ok, fine, you're not smart, you're just gifted and talented at googleing.

Status report(I just had to copy proliant_fan from his post.
I am installing windows 2003 server as I type this.
Next I'll go ahead and install apache and have a friend try to access the index.hmtl file.

[TheNNS]

Status Report:

I've successfully instaleld windows 2003 server, and apache 2. I tested to see if I could see the page and it works. Now I just need to edit that file and make a real website.