Topic: Every path is forbidden after enabling wildcard vhost

[crantok]

I've been developing websites using Apache on various Ubuntu laptops over the years. I just set up a new laptop with Apache and it worked fine. If I went to localhost in my browser then it showed the default page. So far, so good.

I then added a file to sites-available to add wildcard virtual hosts. This lets me use convenient urls while developing sites on my laptop. Once I enabled this site, every url that resolved to localhost became 403 Forbidden, including urls that should return 404. Here is an example entry from other_vhosts_access.log...

[crantok]

It's been about two days since I posted my original message and I've not heard anything yet. I'm guessing that this is because either:

- I've not supplied enough information to define the problem properly, or
- this is not a problem that other people have experienced, or
- this is such an obvious problem that everyone thinks someone else will answer.

I'd be grateful for any insight in to which of these it is. Thanks in advance for any help.

[admin]

This forum is a user-to-user community forum. So it depends all if an other user understands/has time/have experienced the issue/willing to help/.

Please note that the forum is primarily for Windows environments. But it is also about Apache in general, so your Apache on Ubuntu issue fits, although our experience is that it prevents other to respond. Our talented moderator James Blond mostly responds on Linux questions. So wait when he comes along.

When you are an "commercial user", see then also the note at the bottom of the forum rules.

[James Blond]

Did you take a look at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/vhosts/mass.html ?

[crantok]

Thanks for both the responses.

I read some forum rules on registering but the notes on commercial users look like they're from a longer document. I shall seek it out.

James, I had not seen the Apache docs on Dynamically configured mass virtual hosting. I shall read that and see if solves my problem.

Thanks again.

[crantok]

I did 3 things before the problem stopped:

1) Upgraded my OS distro, which also upgraded Apache from 2.2.22 to 2.4.7

2) Changed my home directory permissions and Apache's group membership as per
http://shiplu.mokadd.im/161/permission-denied-homeusername-htaccess-pcfg_openfile-unable-check-htaccess-file-ensure-readable/

3) Made config changes (in my catchall virtual host file) that are required when moving from Apache 2.2 to 2.4, i.e. I changed