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Configuring Subhosts

Basic Configuration
For each Virtual Subhost you manually configure on your Virtual Server you will need to create a new directory for the subhosted domain files and make an addition to your web server configuration file (~/www/conf/httpd.conf). It is probably best to create the new subhosted domain directory in your Virtual Server ~/www/vhosts directory, like this:

% mkdir ~/www/httpd/vhosts/hostname

After you have created the directory where the content for the subhosted domain name will reside, open up your ~/www/conf/httpd.conf file and add the following lines in the <VirtualHost> section of the httpd.conf configuration file.

NOTE: Make sure you add the VirtualHost definitions in the correct place in your httpd.conf file. If the VirtualHost definitions are not placed in the VirtualHost section, then you may encounter some compatibility problems with the latest version of Microsoft FrontPage Extensions. If your Virtual Server was setup with a single config file, the VirtualHost section of the httpd.conf file is found in the middle of the file. If your Virtual Server was setup with triple config files (httpd.conf, srm.conf, and access.conf), then the VirtualHost section is found at the bottom of the httpd.conf file.

(add the following lines to your httpd.conf)

# point www.church.org and church.org
# to subdirectory church
<VirtualHost www.church.org church.org>
ServerName www.church.org
ServerAdmin webmaster@church.org
DocumentRoot /www/httpd/vhosts/church
</VirtualHost>

NOTE: It is important that the first domain name you list in the <VirtualHost ...> directive matches the domain name you specify as the ServerName. This will insure that problems do not occur if you install the latest version of Microsoft FrontPage Extensions.

You will need to 1) substitute the subhosted domain name in the place of the church.org occurrences in the example above; and 2) replace the name of the subdirectory you choose for the subhosted domain name in the place of church above. After you have completed these simple steps, web requests for the subhosted domain name will be directed to the directory you designated and web content will be served from that directory.

You may also want to offer FTP access and Mail accounts for your Virtual Subhosts by using the vadduser utility. When prompted for the "home" directory for the FTP account, you will want to specify the same value that you use for the DocumentRoot definition. This will allow your subhosted client to publish web content to the directory which the web server recognizes as the home directory for the subhosted domain name. Multi-user FTP and Mail capability is only available on the Fully Functional Virtual Server (Server B) and Enhanced Fully Functional Virtual Server (Server C).

Configuring CGI-bin Directories
Many of your potential Virtual Subhosting clientele will want cgi-bin access.... this can easily be configured for a Virtual Subhost using the ScriptAlias directive in the ~/www/conf/httpd.conf file on your Virtual Server using the "ScriptAlias" directive as show below:

 # point www.churchnews.org and churchnews.org 
 # to subdirectory churchnw
 <VirtualHost www.churchnews.org churchnews.org>
 ServerName www.churchnews.org
 ServerAdmin webmaster@churchnews.org
 DocumentRoot /www/httpd/vhosts/churchnw
 ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /www/httpd/vhosts/churchnw/cgi-bin/
 </VirtualHost>

You will need to create the cgi-bin directory that you define using the ScriptAlias directive. You can create the directory by connecting to your Virtual Server and issuing the command:

mkdir ~/www/httpd/vhosts/churchnw/cgi-bin

NOTE: It is important to understand that giving cgi-bin access to your Virtual Subhosted clients is a potential security risk. This is because the CGI scripts your customers upload and execute have all of the rights and privileges of the CGI scripts you execute. Therefore, it is possible for a Virtual Subhosted client, which has been granted CGI privileges, to read or remove any file in your directory hierarchy. Moreover, it is possible for a malicious subhosted client to crack weak passwords and gain shell access to your Virtual Server. See our document, Virtual Subhosting security issues for more information.

SEE ALSO:

Configuring Miva for Subhosts

Configuring FrontPage Extensions for Subhosts

Virtual Server Basics

Server Configuration

Server Add-ons

Using Telnet/SSH

Admin Utilities

Microsoft FrontPage Extensions

Recommended Security Books

Recommended Server Books

BOOKS TO HELP YOU:

Apache Server For Dummies
$23.99

Apache: Web Server Directives Guidebook
$15.95

Administering Web Servers, Security and Maintenance
$40.00