RE: Apache 2.4.62 placing web pages for virtual hosts in Downloads folder (Apache Users)

Hi Frank

Your suggestions resolved. I thought I’d mention, I did a search for AddHanler php apache and got to the below page on Apache Lounge which addresses this very problem:

https://www.apachelounge.com/viewtopic.php?t=9247

Thanks so much for your help!

From: Frank Gingras <thumbs@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: October 24, 2024 1:58 PM
To: users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [users@httpd] Apache 2.4.62 placing web pages for virtual hosts in Downloads folder

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

On Thu, Oct 24, 2024 at 1:42 PM Bill Wiest <Bill.Wiest@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Frank

Thanks for responding.

I can use any of

http://localhost

http://localhost/

http://localhost/index.html

Each of these results in the web page (index,html in this case) being deposited in Downloads. The index.html here is just:

<html><body><h1>It works!</h1></body></html>

I have a php file in the main server root (=localhost virtual host) called 1.php. I runs phpinfo() with no issues

http://localhost/1.php

I have a few other PHP files there which all run fine. One, called 7.php has a PHP block at the top which echoes the word “Hi” followed by a web page. So, I assume there is no issue with my PHP setup, which I did not alter from using versipn 2.4.12 of Apache – I just copied the PHP config info from the .12 httpd.conf to the .62 httpd.conf, which includes the addition of these AddTypes:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html .phtml .php3 .inc .conf

AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

Do these need to be added into each virtual host definition file now?

Thanks!

From: Frank Gingras <thumbs@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: October 24, 2024 12:26 PM
To: users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [users@httpd] Apache 2.4.62 placing web pages for virtual hosts in Downloads folder

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

On Thu, Oct 24, 2024 at 12:09 PM Bill Wiest <Bill.Wiest@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi there

We currently use Apache 2.4.12 (Win32) with PHP 5.6.10 and need to upgrade. I am working on getting Apache 2.4.62 running but have a problem with the named virtual hosts which work fine under 2.4.12. The web pages for these hosts are being placed into my Downloads folder instead of being displayed.

Troubleshooting:

I had to make adjustments in my vhosts.conf file, removing some directives in the <Directory> blocks which are no longer valid.

It appears to be the case that the top Server root has to defined as follows

Define SRVROOT "c:/Apache24"

ServerRoot "${SRVROOT}"

This made me wonder if I needed to replace “c:/Apache” in DocumentRoot specifications with “${SRVROOT}”, but this made no difference and the Apache docs don’t indicate this is required. The web pages still get placed in my Downloads folder.

In 2.4.13 you have to use the NameVirtualHost directive in httpd.conf but this has no effect in 2.4.62, as an error message reported, so I commented it out.

I tried extensive searching of Google, but the only thing I found that was pertinent was this post

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/35057325/virtual-host-in-apache-downloads-the-file-instead-of-displaying-it

which went unanswered.

I have not found anything in the virtual host setup documentation, such as

https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/vhosts/examples.html

which gives me any clues as to why the web pages are being downloaded instead of displayed.

I have sent an email to   users-faq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to find if there is a FAQ that might reference this issue. The response was:

“Hi! This is the ezmlm program. I'm managing the users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailing list.

FAQ - Frequently asked questions of the users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx list.

None available yet.”

I searched in Google's usenet for virtual host and apache 2.4.62 but nothing related to this issue shows up.

I tried to see if anything related to the subject “virtualhost” was referenced in the archive for this list using this email and got this response

“-----Original Message-----

From: users-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <users-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Sent: October 23, 2024 2:48 PM

To: Bill Wiest <Bill.Wiest@xxxxxxxxxx>

Subject: users Digest of: thread.virtualhost

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Sorry, that message is not in the archive.”

I even thought that perhaps the vhosts were not being set up at all, so I tried to telnet to each on port 80. They exist!

Each host is set up like the below in vhosts.conf. Some have a Serveralias specified, otherwise identical to the below.

<VirtualHost *:80>

Servername localhost

DocumentRoot "C:/Apache24/htdocs"

<IfModule dir_module>

    DirectoryIndex index.phtml index.php index.html

</IfModule>

ErrorLog "c:/Apache24/logs/localhost_error.log"

CustomLog "c:/Apache24/logs/localhost_access.log" combined

<Directory "c:/Apache24/htdocs">

        AllowOverride AuthConfig Options Limit

        Options None

</Directory>

</virtualHost>

I’ve used Apache, on both Linux and Windows boxes for many years and have never come across thi issue. Is it a bug in version 2.4.62? Am I just brain-dead and missing something obvious?

Any help is appreciated!

Try requesting the html or php resource directly instead of ending the URI with /, so you can narrow down which resource is being served with the wrong content type in the response.

If the culprit is the .php file, then your php interpreter isn't set up properly.

If the culprit is the .html file, then you need to use the AddType directive to set the appropriate response.

You do NOT want to use the following directives for php, that's been outdated advice for over 20 years:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html .phtml .php3 .inc .conf

AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

AddType is for *static* content, such as .html files, or .css files. Further, setting application/x-httpd-php for .html files is COMPLETELY wrong. Your html files should be fully static, and your php content should only reside in .php files.

For php, use:

https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_mime.html#addhandler

As for your static content, you should be using the mimes.type file first, and load it as such:

TypesConfig /path/to/mimes.types.file

You can add static entries, as such, if not part of the mimes.type file:

AddType text/html .html

I have a strong suspicion that you followed some very outdated or misleading tutorial. Don't do that.