Setting up apache vhost for Icinga

Question

It's been a while since I've worked with Apache so please be kind - I'm also aware of this question but it hasn't been much help to me.

I'd like to set up a simple vHost w/ Apache for my Icinga instance. Icinga is up and running and I can access it from x.x.x.x/icinga, however would like to be able to access it externally as well as internally.

I have set up the /etc/hosts file and the following is my barebones vhost statement in httpd.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin [email protected]
    DocumentRoot /usr/share/icinga
    ServerName icinga.domain.com
    ErrorLog logs/icinga.com-error_log
    CustomLog logs/dummy-host.example.com-access_log common
</VirtualHost>

I also have the following in my .htaccess file

<Directory>
        Allow From All
        Satisfy Any
</Directory>

An entry has been made for the instance in the Windows DNS server on my network, however when I try to access the site by URL I am greeted with Internal Server Error.

Reviewing the /var/log/icinga.com-error_log I see the following entry.

[Thu Dec 13 16:04:39 2012] [alert] [client 10.0.0.1] /usr/share/icinga/.htaccess: <Directory not allowed here

Can someone help me spot the error of my ways?

Answer 1

Just remove the <Directory> stuff in the .htaccess file.

Apache knows to what directory it applies to - hence, it's the directory the .htaccess file is in! You can't override configuration of other directories in .htaccess files (security feature). Besides, your <Directory> start tag misses the directory itself if you would put it in the main configuration; it should be e.g. <Directory /path/to/dir>.

Answer 2

Apache is telling you exactly what's wrong: <Directory> is not allowed here (in your .htaccess file).

If you look at the Apache documentation you'll see that <Directory> is only allowed in two contexts: server config and virtual host.

(The contents of a .htaccess file are implicitly applied to the filesystem directory containing it, so you don't need the <Directory> directive.)

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You will also find a tutorial on how to write .htaccess files in the Apache documentation which may be helpful.