OPS335 Web Server Lab

Basic Apache (Web Server) Setup

This lab will show you how to set up the Apache Web server using a Fedora 16 installed PC.

Prerequisites

Your hard drive should have Fedora 16, 64 bit Live edition already installed.
You should have at least one VM installed: also Fedora 16, 64 bit Live edition.
Both your host and guest should have default firewalls enabled.
Both your host and guest should have SELinux enabled.
Both host and guest should have all software updated.

Ensure the clocks on both machines are set to the correct date and time.

Testing your network

Start Firefox on your host and authenticate yourself on Sene2net with your LEARN account.
Ensure you can surf the web on your host machine.

Install and test Apache

Login to vm02 and install the following packages:

 yum install httpd httpd-tools

Still on vm02 you can now start your web server with this command and enable the service to start at boot.

systemctl start httpd.service
systemctl enable httpd.service

Flush your existing iptables rules on vm02.
- Add a rule to allow NEW connections to your ssh server and httpd.
- Add a rule to allow all RELATED and ESTABLISHED connections.
- Change the default policy on the INPUT chain to DROP.
Using Firefox on the host go to address for vm02 "192.168.X.3" (your ip addressing may differ). You should get the "Fedora Test Page" which indicates your web server is running. Do not continue until this step works.
You should also be able to open the webpage using the hostname.
Now create your own test page named index.html and put it into directory /var/www/html/. Reload the web page on the host - you should see your own test page now.
Repeat the above steps for vm03.
Now, as root on f16 (the gateway/host), try to forward incoming http connections to our server on vm02. Use an iptables command something like this

iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to 192.168.X.3

You will also need to create a rule in the FORWARD chain in the default table to accept connections to port 80.
To test this setup you'll need to ask a classmate on another PC to try to use Firefox to view your web page. S/he'll have to enter your external interface IP number (142.204.141.yyy) in Firefox's address window.
As root edit the Apache configuration file and change the port your webserver is listening for incoming connections on.

vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Change your rules to allow connections to this port, and remove the previous rule to allow connections to port 80.
Go back to f16 and redo your iptables command to forward connections to port 80 to the new port 8080 on vm02, removing previous rule for port 80.
Verify that other students on other PCs can still view your web page.

Load balancing using iptables

Iptables can be used for load balancing connections. On your host machine add a rule(s) to the PREROUTING chain that will alternate connections bound for port 80 on your host machine to vm02 and vm03.

iptables -t nat -I PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 80 -m state --state NEW -m statistic --mode nth --every 2 --packet 1 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.70.4:8080
iptables -t nat -I PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 80 -m state --state NEW -m statistic --mode nth --every 2 --packet 0 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.70.3:8080

Again ask another student to test that load balancing is indeed working.

Add missing DNS resource records

Edit your forward look-up zone file and add the following resource records.
- A mail record that points to vm01.
- Aliases as follows:
  - f16 - alias router
  - vm01 - alias mail
  - vm02 - alias www1
  - vm03 - alias www2
- Add text records that identify the roles on each of these machines and a text record for the domain "This is < your full name here>'s OPS335 Domain".
- Once these records have been added, be sure to increment your Serial number for the zone file. While not crucial for the lab as we do not yet have a slave DNS server, getting into the habit ensures good practice on production machines.

Completing the Lab

Answer the following questions and and email them to your teacher in ASCII text format

Give the full path names of the Apache log files.
What directory is the default server root? Give the full path name.
What directory is the default document root? Give the full path name.
What is the default configuration file for the Apache web server on Fedora 16? Give the full path name.
What is the default maximum number of connections allowed on the server by default?
What user/group does Apache run under on Fedora 16?
What exact command did you use to allow requests to port 80 to be forwarded to 8080 on your VM?
What specific command (give full details) would you need to use on f16 to forward ssh connections to vm01?
What is the web site for Apache?
What is Apache's current version number? Note: this may be different from the version running on Fedora 16.

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