Apache 2

Requirements

Before going through this tutorial, I recommend you to setup:

• MySQL server
• SSL server
• LDAP server

Installation

Apache 2

This will install web server + PHP + Perl + all required libraries.

Apache2 core

apt-get install apache2 apache2-mpm-prefork apache2-utils ssl-cert

Additional libraries

apt-get install libapache2-mod-fcgid libruby

Doc

apt-get install apache2-doc

Perl

apt-get install libapache2-mod-perl2 libapache2-mod-perl2-doc

SNMP

Sometimes you might encounter some SNMP errors on latest Debian based distributions.

In that case you have to install a new package and run it.

apt-get install snmp-mibs-downloader
download-mibs

source: http://www.podciborski.co.uk/miscellaneous/snmp-cannot-find-module/

PHP 5

Core

apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5 php5 php5-common

Modules PHP5

apt-get install php5-curl php5-dev php5-gd php-pear php5-imagick php5-imap php5-mcrypt 
apt-get install php5-memcache php5-mhash php5-mysql php5-snmp php5-xmlrpc php5-xcache php5-curl php5-xsl

Additional libs

apt-get install php5-cli php5-cgi php-pear php-auth php5-mcrypt mcrypt

Image Magick

apt-get install php5-imagick imagemagick

Configuration

Edit PHP config file:

vim /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

Add / uncomment the following lines in Dynamic extensions area (~ line 865)

• extension=mysql.so
• extension=gd.so

!! Note this is NOT required on Ubuntu 14.04 because these modules are enabled by default !!

Firewall

You have to open the following ports:

• Port 80 = HTTP
• Port 443 = HTTPS

$IPTABLES -A INPUT -p tcp -m state -i eth0 --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
$IPTABLES -A INPUT -p tcp -m state -i eth0 --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

Restart the firewall

/etc/init.d/firewall restart

Test your installation

Restart the Apache2 server

service apache2 restart

You can now test your installation by going to 'http://localhost' or 'http://myServer'. You should see the default page.

HTTP Virtual host

Preparation

Initialize configuration

cd /etc/apache2/sites-available/

Create target directory

mkdir -p /var/www/myServer

Prepare the log files

mkdir -p /var/log/apache2/myServer
touch /var/log/apache2/myServer/access.log
touch /var/log/apache2/myServer/error.log
chmod -R 660 /var/log/apache2/myServer/*
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/log/apache2/myServer/*

Copy default index file

cp /var/www/html/index.html /var/www/myServer
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/log/apache2/myServer/*

Configuration

Init configuration

cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/myServer.conf

Edit configuration

vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/myServer

To begin the virtual host, write the following lines:

• Adjust the settings to your own configuration

<VirtualHost 192.168.0.100:80>		  → Choose the best options for your needs
<VirtualHost *:80>

	#############################
        # Server main properties
	#############################

	ServerName		myServer
	ServerAlias		www.myServer *.myServer
	ServerAdmin		webmaster@domain
	
	# Logs settings
	LogLevel		Warn
	CustomLog		${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myServer/access.log combined
	ErrorLog		${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myServer/error.log


	#############################
        # Root folder properties
	#############################
	DocumentRoot	/var/www/myServer

        # Restrict access to server root
        <Directory />
                Options FollowSymLinks
                AllowOverride None
                Order allow,deny
                deny from all
        </Directory>

        # SECURITY: forbid access to .htaccess so no outsider can ever change it
        <Files ~ "^\.ht">
            Order allow,deny
            Deny from all
        </Files>

        # Virtual host root directory
	<Directory /var/www/myServer>
                Require all granted
		Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
		AllowOverride None
		Order allow,deny
		allow from all
	</Directory>


	#############################
        # Other configuration
        # Alias, proxy redirections, CGI scripts, Directory, etc.
	#############################



</VirtualHost>

Enable / disable virtual host(s)

Virtual Host desactivation

If you're listening on *:80 then you should probably disable the default virtual host before enabling yours!

a2dissite 000-default

Virtual Host activation

To activate a Virtual Host, just type

a2ensite  myServer

Then, restart your web server

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Check your server! You should see your "index.html" page.

HTTPS (SSL) Virtual host

Create SSL certificate

First of all, you need to create a server certificate. Cf. SSL dedicated document → Create a new server certificate

>> see SSL server

Enable SSL module

You have to either copy or create symlinks for server certificate.

To avoid rights collision I'm using a copy operation. However I know from past experience that symLinks work very well if you set the correct rights.

-Note-

You MUST use the NON-ENCRYPTED private key if you want to start Apache2 automatically on each reboot.

Copy certificates

cp /srv/ssl/certs/myServer.cert.pem /etc/apache2/webServer.pem
cp /srv/ssl/private/myServer.nopass.key /etc/apache2/webServer.key

Alternative: Symlinks to /srv/ssl/

ln -s /srv/ssl/certs/myServer.cert.pem /etc/apache2/webServer.pem
ln -s /srv/ssl/private/myServer.nopass.key /etc/apache2/webServer.key

Activate the SSL module

a2enmod ssl

Prepare virtual host (optional)

Create virtual host folder

mkdir -p /var/www/myServer-ssl
cp /var/www/index.html /var/www/myServer-ssl
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myServer-ssl

Prepare the log files (optional)

# That should already exists from before
mkdir -p /var/log/apache2/myServer

# Create *-ssl.log
touch /var/log/apache2/myServer/error-ssl.log
touch /var/log/apache2/myServer/access-ssl.log
chmod -R 660 /var/log/apache2/myServer/*
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/log/apache2/myServer/*

Create a default "/var/www/myServer-ssl/index.html" to check your virtual host.

If you'd like you can use this ultra-simple file [1]

cd /var/www/myServer-ssl/
wget http://daxiongmao.eu/wiki_upload_files/apache2/index.html
chown www-data:www-data index.html

Virtual host declaration

You have 2 possibilities:

• Update your current virtual host (recommended)
• Create a new one, only for the SSL virtual host

Update non-ssl V.Host configuration

vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/myServer

!! Adjust the settings to your own configuration !!

# Secure web server
<VirtualHost _default_:443>
<VirtualHost 192.168.0.100:443>		   → Choose the best options for your needs
<VirtualHost *:443>

	#############################
        # Server main properties
	#############################

	ServerName		myServer
	ServerAlias		www.myServer *.myServer
	ServerAdmin		webmaster@domain
	
	# Logs settings
	LogLevel		Warn
	CustomLog		${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myServer/access-ssl.log combined
	ErrorLog		${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/myServer/error-ssl.log

        # Enable SSL
        SSLEngine               	On
        SSLCertificateFile      	/etc/apache2/webServer.pem
        SSLCertificateKeyFile   	/etc/apache2/webServer.key

	#############################
        # Root folder properties
	#############################
	DocumentRoot	/var/www/myServer-ssl

        # Restrict access to server root
        <Directory />
                Options FollowSymLinks
                AllowOverride None
                Order allow,deny
                deny from all
        </Directory>

        # SECURITY: forbid access to .htaccess so no outsider can ever change it
        <Files ~ "^\.ht">
            Order allow,deny
            Deny from all
        </Files>

        # Virtual host root directory
	<Directory /var/www/myServer-ssl>
                Require all granted
		Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
		AllowOverride None
		Order allow,deny
		allow from all
	</Directory>


	#############################
        # Other configuration
        # Alias, proxy redirections, CGI scripts, Directory, etc.
	#############################

</VirtualHost>

Restart the web server

service apache2 restart

Now you can test your server https://myServer

If you've use a self-signed certificate you might see some alert. Just discarded it and process anyway!

Redirections

Principle

Just a little reminder...

• Redirections are not transparent
• Redirections are performed by the client. The server only serves the new URL to use
• Redirections can also be used as a security tool to filter HTTP requests and only allow some of them.

As you can see on the previous picture, redirection can be declared:

• As Apache 2 module configuration. This will apply to all virtual hosts and web-sites
• In a Virtual Host configuration
  • Default setting - ex: HTTP to HTTPS
  • For a specific alias |or| directory
• In a web page
• In a .htaccess to protect a specific directory

Enable redirections

Module "rewrite" allows you to redirect source URL to another one.

a2enmod rewrite

Virtual host: redirect all HTTP to HTTPS

The safer way to redirect HTTP to HTTPS is use to adjust the virtual host configuration.

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerName dev.daxiongmao.eu
	ServerAlias www.dev.daxiongmao.eu *.dev.daxiongmao.eu
	ServerAdmin guillaume@qin-diaz.com

	### LOG ###
	LogLevel warn
	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/dev.daxiongmao.eu/error.log
	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/dev.daxiongmao.eu/access.log combined
	

	############################################
	## Redirect all traffic to HTTPS website
        ############################################
        RewriteEngine On
        # This checks to make sure the connection is not already HTTPS
        RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off        
        # This rule will redirect users from their original location, to the same location but using HTTPS.
        RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} 
	# Alternate (fail-over) solution 
	redirect permanent / https://myServer/


        ########
	# No need of a document root anymore as everything is redirect to HTTPS
        ########
	
</VirtualHost>

-Note-

As you can see you don't need a DocumentRoot anymore for the *:80 virtual host.

Take changes into account

You have to restart the server to use this settings

service apache2 restart

Test your configuration

Virtual host: Alias redirection

The following example will redirect a "/phpsecinfo" from HTTP to HTTPS.

Edit your virtual-host configuration and use that example to redirect to another server too by adjusting the rewrite rule.

<VirtualHost *:80>
...
        # PHPSecInfo
	RewriteRule ^/phpsecinfo(/.*|$)    https://%{HTTP_HOST}/phpsecinfo$1 [L,R]
	<Location /phpsecinfo>
		order deny,allow
		deny from all
                # Only allow specific IP@
                # allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.1.0/24	
                allow from all
	</Location>
...
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:443>
...
	# PHPSecInfo
	Alias 	/phpsecinfo /var/www/phpsecinfo
	<Location /phpsecinfo>
		order deny,allow
		deny from all
                # Only allow specific IP@
                # allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.1.0/24	
                allow from all
        </Location>
...
</VirtualHost>

Reload your configuration

/etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Apache 2 Module configuration

This configuration will apply to all virtual-hosts.

Create the module configuration file

vim /etc/apache2/mods-available/rewrite.conf

Copy / paste this configuration (adjust to your own settings!)

   RewriteEngine On
   # --------------------- SECURITY RULES (JOOMLA) ------------------------ #
   ## End of deny access to extension xml files
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|\%3D) [OR]
   # Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*\(.*\) [OR]
   # Block out any script that includes a <script> tag in URL
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*script.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
   # Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
   # Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
   # Send all blocked request to homepage with 403 Forbidden error!
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L]

   # --------------------- SECURITY RULES (PERSONAL) ------------------------ #
   ## DENY REQUEST BASED ON REQUEST METHOD ###
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} ^(TRACE|TRACK|OPTIONS|HEAD)$ [NC]
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} (GET|POST) [NC]
   RewriteRule ^.*$ - [F]
   # Avoid common security flows
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)http(\:|\%3A)(.*)$
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)(%3C|<)/?script(.*)$ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)(%3D|=)?javascript(%3A|:)(.*)$ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)document\.location\.href(.*)$ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)base64_encode(.*)$ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)GLOBALS(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})(.*)$ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)_REQUEST(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})(.*)$ [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)(SELECT|INSERT|DELETE|CHAR\(|UPDATE|REPLACE|LIMIT)(.*)$
   # Avoid common security mistakes
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} \.\.\/    [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} boot\.ini [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} tag\=     [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ftp\:     [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} http\:    [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} https\:   [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(\(|\)|<|>|'|"|\?|\*).* [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(%22|%27|%3C|%3D|%3E|%7B|%7C).* [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(%0|%A|%B|%C|%D|%F|127\.0).* [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(globals|encode|localhost|loopback).* [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(select|insert|union|declare|drop).* [NC]
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ - [F,L]

   # Ban Typical Vulnerability Scanners and others
   # Kick out Script Kiddies
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^(java|curl|wget).* [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(libwww-perl|curl|wget|python|nikto|wkito|pikto|scan|acunetix).* [NC,OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(winhttp|HTTrack|clshttp|archiver|loader|email|harvest|extract|grab|miner).* [NC,OR]
   # Avoid zombies software
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Anarchie [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ASPSeek [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^attach [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^autoemailspider [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xaldon\ WebSpider [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Xenu [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus.*Webster [OR]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Zeus
   RewriteRule ^.* - [F,L]

   # Allow the robots to reference our website
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !^Googlebot [NC]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !^Googlebot-Image [NC]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !^Googlebot-Mobile [NC]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !^Msnbot [NC]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !^Mediapartners-Google [NC]

   # Keep request without referer
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$

   # To allow your pictures to be displayed on Google
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://.*google\.(comŠ(co\.)?[a-z]{2})/
   # To forbid the copy of your pictures to anyone else : display an other image !
   RewriteRule .*\.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ /images/hotlinkis.jpg [L]

Update your Apache2 configuration:

a2enmod rewrite

Restart your server:

service apache2 restart

Proxy

Special thanks to Julien Rialland for his insight regarding this part!

Principle

The proxy module allow you to expose a resource that is not directly accessible.

For instance it can redirect remote user to a specific server that can be host on a different machine or port through a simple URL.

Proxy VS redirection

Header text	Proxy	Redirection
Main usage	Expose a resource that is not directly accessible Provide a nicer URL through standard HTTP port instead of http://server:port/service	Signal a change or redirect to the HTTPS web-site
Action	Hidden to the user. From user point of view this is just a standard URL / service It's the server that performs the proxy actin	Explicit The server just serve the new URL It's the client that will create a new connection - See Apache_2#Principle

Internet limits: why do we need a proxy?

Some application are not available from outside…

• For security reasons [default URL is not allowed]

• Due to network issues

How does Apache2 mod_proxy work?

The Apache2 proxy module allow you to provide access through transparent redirection.

It relies on:

• Already open port (80 or 443)
• Redirection rule
• Each service URL must be unique
• The target service must be reachable by the web server

As you can see on the previous example, the services will be accessible using some dedicated URL. Remote “http://myServer/myService” will redirect to “http://localhost:8081”

→ The mod_proxy is none intrusive. You don’t have to change anything in the original service configuration. Apache2 will handle all the transformations.

Proxy / redirect / rewrite - HTTP request processing

When Apache2 receive a request it will be process in the following order:

The evaluation order is:

1. Mod_proxy
2. Mod_rewrite
3. Other modules
4. Serve requested resources if no rule should apply

So, even if you enable a full redirection to HTTPS you can still use some HTTP service through mod_proxy (because mod_proxy is the 1st to be evaluate).

Enable proxy module

a2enmod proxy proxy_http proxy_ajp

Configure proxy redirections

You can configure the redirections in 2 ways:

• Through your virtual host configuration
• Through the module configuration file

Module configuration file

You have to edit / create the configuration file.

vim /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/proxy.conf

Virtual host

Just edit again your previous V.Host:

vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/myServer.conf

V.Host proxy declaration

Adjust your V.Host configuration to:

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerName dev.daxiongmao.eu
	ServerAlias www.dev.daxiongmao.eu *.dev.daxiongmao.eu
	ServerAdmin guillaume@qin-diaz.com

	### LOG
	LogLevel warn
	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/dev.daxiongmao.eu/error.log
	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/dev.daxiongmao.eu/access.log combined
	
        ### Redirect all traffic to HTTPS website
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off        
        RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} 
	redirect permanent / https://myServer/

	### No proxy here because I only want to use HTTPS
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
...

        #############################
        # Proxy configuration
        #############################
	ProxyVia On
        ProxyPreserveHost On
        <Proxy *>
             AddDefaultCharset off
             Order deny,allow
             Allow from all
             Satisfy Any
        </Proxy> 

	########################
	# Standard Web application - No proxy required
	########################

        #### Direct access without further configuration
	ProxyPass /menu !
	ProxyPass /maintenance !

        #### URL filter example
	# PhpMyAdmin
	<Location /phpmyadmin>
		Order allow,deny
		Allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.1.0/24
		Require all granted 
		ProxyPass !
	</Location>

	########################
	# Proxy redirections
	########################

	# Proxy to a Java application running over Tomcat
	ProxyPass /webdav ajp://localhost:8009/webdav/
	ProxyPassReverse /webdav ajp://localhost:8009/webdav 	

	# Proxy to a Java application running over Tomcat, with IP filter
	<Location /manager>
		Order allow,deny
		Allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.1.0/24 193.12.118.196
		ProxyPass ajp://localhost:8009/manager/
		ProxyPassReverse ajp://localhost:8009/manager/
	</Location>

        # Proxy to another server
        ProxyPass /jira http://192.168.1.12:8080/jira
        ProxyPassReverse /jira http://192.168.1.12:8080/jira
</VirtualHost>

Some notes:

• Do NOT put a / after the target URL
• Do NOT use / as ProxyPass source, use the previous redirect permanent instead

Apply changes and test result

service apache2 restart

For example, Navigate to http://myServer/jira

Advanced configuration

Ports number

You can change the Apache2 server ports

vim /etc/apache2/ports.conf

Edit

# HTTP
Listen 80
# HTTPS 
Listen 443

Restricted access

Edit configuration

vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/myServer

If your server is directly accessible on Internet: you should protect it!

# Disable access to the entire file system except for the directories that
# are explicitly allowed later.
#
<Directory />
        AllowOverride None
        Order Deny,Allow
        Deny from all
</Directory>

# Protect .htacess files
<Files ~ "^\.ht">
    Order allow,deny
    Deny from all
</Files>

Be discreet!

PHP info

Check the current server status using a simple PHP info file.

vim /var/www/myServer/phpinfo.php

Put the following:

<?php
// Show all information, defaults to INFO_ALL
phpinfo();
?>

Adjust rights and ownership:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/myServer
chmod -R 755 /var/www/myServer

Adjust verbose level

Do not gives details about your configuration to outsiders.

vim /etc/apache2/conf.d/security

Set the following settings

#### Ask your server to be more discret!
# ServerTokens
# Set to one of:  Full | OS | Minimal | Minor | Major | Prod
ServerTokens Prod

ServerSignature Off
TraceEnable Off

Restart Apache2

service apache2 restart

Re-run PHP info, you should have less information.

Apache 2 and PHP5: Secure your installation!

PHP Security Info

If you want to test your PHP security, you can use the PHPSecInfo tool, available at: http://phpsec.org/projects/phpsecinfo/index.html

Installation

cd /tmp
wget http://phpsec.org/projects/phpsecinfo/phpsecinfo.zip
unzip phpsecinfo.zip
mv phpsecinfo-Version phpsecinfo
mv phpsecinfo/ /var/www
cd /var/www
chown -R www-data:www-data phpsecinfo

Virtual host configuration

Edit configuration

vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/myServer

!! For security reason: DO NOT use 'phpsecinfo' as alias. It's too easy to guess.

<VirtualHost *:80>
	# Advanced redirection – Only allow specific IP @
	RewriteRule ^/phpsec(/.*|$)    https://%{HTTP_HOST}/phpsec$1 [L,R]
	<Location /phpsec >
		order deny,allow
		deny from all
                # Only allow specific IP@
                # allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0	
                allow from all
	</Location>
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost _default_:443>
	# PHPSecInfo
	Alias 	/phpsec   /var/www/phpsecinfo
	<Location /phpsec >
		order deny,allow
		deny from all
                # Only allow specific IP@
                # allow from 127.0.0.1 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0	
               allow from all
         </Location>
</VirtualHost>

Reload your configuration

/etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Run the test

To asset your current installation you can run the test: https:// myServer/phpsec

Improve security

PHP5 sessions and temp files

Create specific directory to store the sessions and temp files:

mkdir -p /etc/php5/temp
mkdir -p /etc/php5/session
chown -R www-data:root /etc/php5/temp
chown -R www-data:root /etc/php5/session
chmod -R 770 /etc/php5/session
chmod -R 770 /etc/php5/temp

Edit the configuration file

vim /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

line 798 → upload_tmp_dir = /etc/php5/temp line 1409 → session.save_path = "/etc/php5/session"

PHP5 tweak

vim /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini

line 261 → expose_php = Off line 480 → display_errors=Off line 675 → post_max_size=256K line 814 → allow_url_fopen=Off

DO NOT enable the open_basedir (even if the test say so! It’s a troublesome setting)

Restart your server to load the changes:

service apache2 restart

Re-run the test. Then:

• Ignore the open_basedir and upload_tmp_dir alerts, if any.
• You can enable some specific options with a .htaccess file

Change Apache 2 UID

Do not change the UID if you already have install web programs such as phpldapadmin or phpmyadmin, cacti, ...

Change the Apache UID

vim /etc/group

Change www-data UID

    www-data:x:10033:

Change the Apache GID

 
vim /etc/passwd

Change the group settings

	www-data:x:10033:10033:www-data:/var/www:/bin/false

Apply modifications

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/*
chown -R www-data:root /etc/php5/*

To take on the modifications you have to reboot your server.

Avoid DOS attacks

Source: Linux mag’ – Hors serie Apache2

You can protect your server from Denial Of Service (DOS) attacks through mod_evasive

apt-get install libapache2-mod-evasive

Prepare log directory

mkdir /var/log/apache2/mod_evasive
chown -R www-data:www-data  /var/log/apache2/mod_evasive

Enable module

a2enmod mod-evasive

Configuration

Create the configuration file

vim /etc/apache2/conf.d/mod_evasive.conf

Put:

# Mod evasive configuration
# Based upon Linux Mag 
<IfModule mod_evasive20.c>
	DOSHashTableSize 3097 

	# Limit user to 5 pages per 2 seconds
	DOSPageCount 5
	DOSPageInterval 2 

	# No more than 100 HTTP request per second (HTML, CSS, images, …) 
	DOSSiteCount 100
	DOSSiteInterval 1

	# Block client for 300 seconds
	DOSBlockingPeriod 300 
	# Send alert email
	#DOSEmailNotify "admin@myDomain" 

	# Log directory
	DOSLogDir "/var/log/apache2/mod_evasive" 

	# Command to execute on ban
	#DOSSystemCommand "/sbin/iptables -I INPUT -s %s -j DROP"

	# Ignore following IP and networks
	DOSWhiteList 127.0.0.1 
	#DOSWhitelist 66.249.65.*
<IfModule mod_evasive20.c>

DosHashTableSize = Size of the hash table.

• The greater, the more memory is required but the faster it is! The value must be a prime number

Apply changes

service apache2 restart

Apache2 configuration # Improve server performances

Mod deflate: improved the bandwidth

To improve the bandwidth, you can compress pages and type of content.

=> You can improved your bandwidth from 20 to 30%.

To do so, you need a specific module for Apache: mod_deflate

a2enmod deflate
touch /var/log/apache2/deflate.log
chown www-data:www-data /var/log/apache2/deflate.log
chmod 740 /var/log/apache2/deflate.log

Edit your web server configuration file:

vim /etc/apache2/conf.d/deflate.conf

Add the following lines:

### Bandwidth optimization
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
	AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain text/xml text/javascript text/css application/x-javascript
	DeflateFilterNote deflate_ratio
	LogFormat "%v %h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b"
	CustomLog /var/log/apache2/deflate.log vhost_with_deflate_info
</IfModule>

Restart your web server:

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Mod expires: use the cache of your clients

Another way to improve performances and bandwidth: use the client's cache.

To do so, you need a specific module for Apache: mod_expires

a2enmod expires

Edit your web server configuration file:

vim /etc/apache2/expires.conf

Add the following lines

#### Client's cache settings
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
	ExpiresActive on
	# set the default to 24 hours
	ExpiresDefault "access plus 24 hours"
	# cache shockwave-flash for 2 weeks (days | weeks | mounths | years)
	ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access plus 2 weeks"
	ExpiresByType flv-application/octet-stream "access plus 3 days"
	# cache common graphics for 3 days
	ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 2 weeks"
	ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 2 weeks"
	ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 2 weeks"
	ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 2 weeks"
	# cache CSS for 24 hours
	ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 24 hours"
</IfModule>

Restart your web server:

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Related topics

Distribute and install the certificates

see Apache 2 - SSL certificates page