How to use a2ensite and a2dissite with rpm based apache systems

One thing this author prefers, it is the Debian (apt-get) style use of a2ensite and a2dissite to enable and disable hosted domains. This guide will show you how to set up a similar system in rpm based (Redhat, Fedora, CentOS, etc) systems.

Set up instructions

To setup a similar system on your rpm based server, simply follow the steps outlined below.

Create the folder structure

As root, run the following commands:

mkdir /etc/httpd/sites-available
mkdir /etc/httpd/sites-enabled

Edit httpd.conf

The first step is to include the sites-enabled folder in your httpd.conf file.

nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Now add the following line at the bottom of the file and save the file.

Include sites-enabled/*.*

Restart apache to use the new setting

service httpd restart

Create the a2ensite and a2dissite commands

Create the following files and add the content displayed.

a2ensite

nano /usr/local/bin/a2ensite

#! /bin/bash

# bash script to use debian style vhosts
# vhost file must be in /etc/httpd/sites-available
# script will make a softlink to /etc/httpd/site-enabled
# and restart httpd
# use a2dissite to remove the link

AVAILABLE="/etc/httpd/sites-available"
ENABLED="/etc/httpd/sites-enabled"
FILE="$1"

if [ -f $AVAILABLE/$FILE ]
then
    	if [ -s $AVAILABLE/$FILE ]
        then
            	ln -s $AVAILABLE/$FILE $ENABLED/$FILE
                service httpd restart
        else
            	echo "File $FILE is empty. No action taken"
        fi
else
    	echo "File $FILE does not exist. No action taken"
fi

a2dissite

nano /usr/local/bin/a2dissite

#! /bin/bash

# bash script to use debian style vhosts
# vhost file must be in /etc/httpd/sites-available
# script will delete a softlink from /etc/httpd/site-enabled
# and restart httpd
# use a2ensite to restore the link

AVAILABLE="/etc/httpd/sites-available"
ENABLED="/etc/httpd/sites-enabled"
FILE="$1"

if [ -f $ENABLED/$FILE ]
then
    	rm -f $ENABLED/$FILE
        service httpd restart
else
    	echo "File $FILE does not exist. No action taken"
fi

Set the files as executable

chmod 744 /usr/local/bin/a2ensite
chmod 744 /usr/local/bin/a2dissite

How to use

The examples below assume you named the domain virtual configuration files after the domain name.

Create the virtual host configuration file

This can be used as a very basic, yet functioning virtual host configuration file:

nano /etc/httpd/sites-available/domain.com

<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerAdmin     admin@domain.com
        ServerName	domain.com
        ServerAlias     www.domain.com
        DocumentRoot    /var/www/vhosts/domain.com/httpdocs/
        ErrorLog        /var/www/vhosts/log/error_log
        TransferLog     /var/www/vhosts/log/access_log
        LogLevel warn
</VirtualHost>

Enable a site

a2ensite domain.com

Disable a site

a2dissite domain.com