Apache 2 on Ubuntu

There are two methods for setting up Drupal 5.x/6.x with Apache on Ubuntu. The first (preferred) method edits the 'Virtual Host configuration, which is the default setup on Ubuntu (even for a single-site webserver). The second edits the main apache2.conf, which is typical for an older setup.

Method 1: 'Virtual Host' setup

First, from the linux command line, enable the rewrite module for apache with this command:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

Next, use an editor (such as nano) to edit the appropriate Apache configuration file for your Drupal site in the /etc/apache2/sites-available/ directory. For a single site, the file is /etc/apache2/sites-available/default; if you have multiple sites, the file names should reflect the names of the sites to which they refer. Thus, to edit the default site configuration, use

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/default

Look for the Directory section referring to the folder where your Drupal site lives (in /etc/apache2/sites-available/default, this is typically <Directory /var/www>), and change the line:

AllowOverride None

to

AllowOverride All

(See a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnablingUseOfApacheHtaccessFiles">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnablingUseOfApacheHtaccessFiles for more information).

Save this file and then reload apache.

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Sub Domain Setup

An alternative to multiple virtual hosts files is to use subdomains. This allows you to use a wild-card in the Server Alias. This allows for both a simple multi-site Drupal setup, as well as multi Drupal versions. Instead of multiple virtual hosts files, you define a subdomain for each drupal profile.

Consider the following and modify your configuration file to fit your needs.

1. http://myproject.dr5.example/
2. http://myproject.dr6.example/
3. http://myproject2.dr6.example/

Here is an example of a partial listing of a virtual host configuration file that would support the last two lines in the above example. Note this is not intended to be a COMPLETE configuration file, but rather provide guidance for your development setup.

Edit & save your config file to suit your development needs. Assuming the site is already enabled, then reload Apache.

Method 2: apache2.conf

Then you have to enabled the rewrite module(mod_rewrite). You no longer have to do the:
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so
AddModule mod_rewrite.c

It's now as easy as:
sudo a2enmod rewrite

To disable this module it's just:
sudo a2dismod rewrite

with Apache version 2, the httpd.conf has been deprecated and the new file is located at:
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf

in this file you need to add your directory and the allow override to give access to your drupal site.
so look for a section in your apache2.conf that has Directory tags and just add another section:

*keep in mind that my website is in a subdirectory (drupal_website_install) and so you may need to edit the above to reflect this. By this I mean if i go into my webbrowser I need to go to http://localhost/drupal_website_install/

After you edit you apache2.conf as listed above you need to restart the server by:
/etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Problems with Rewrite

If you are having problems with getting your rewrite to work you can always use logging. To do that add this to the end of /etc/apache2/apache2.conf:

Level 0 is no logging
Level 9 is log everything
You can pick the level to determine the amount of output you need.
***Security Warning: Make sure to take the log code out, disable it, or put the log file in a directory that can't be read by normal users (as shown above) otherwise it can result in a security breach.***
hopefully this helps some people and saves them the time that I spent trying to get it working.

Finish - Enable Clean URLs

Now browse to your site, login, click administer, find "Clean URLs" and browse to that page, run the test for "Clean URLs" (In Drupal 4.6 - 5.x this is buried in the paragraph explaining "clean Urls").

If your setup is like mine, you should now have Clean URLs in drupal.