Conventions/vdomain

Apache Config

I have a set of include files and templates that I use for Apache configuration, as well as a utility for verifying that virtual domains are being served correctly.

• Server Bits
  • Apache includes: these have individual version folders instead of using git branches because I don't necessarily migrate all the vhosts on a server at once
  • test utilities: a few specific test-scripts
    • vhost tests: run.php tests all the vhosts as defined in local/vhosts.php. Tests include:
      • Apache is running the correct virtual-host user?
      • Apache is using the correct version of PHP (or other language)?
      • SSL certificate is working?
      • Scripts can only be executed via https (not http)?

Virtual Domain Setup

This is how I typically set up virtual domains.

Definitions

• <$HOME> is the home folder of the virtual domain's user account
  • e.g. /home/wvbz/
• <$USER> is the system user that Apache will run as
  • e.g. wvbz
• <$WEB> is the base folder of files that will be served to the web
  • Typically <$HOME>/public_html
  • e.g. /home/wvbz/public_html
  • I'd actually prefer something shorter like www, web, or pub; I may change this in the future. For now, I'm using Virtualmin's default.

File Structure

• <$HOME> - domain user's home folder
  • /site - all site-specific stuff
    • /config - any configuration stuff that might change
      • there's a folder for each project that has configurable files, typically in lowercase
        • e.g. <$HOME>/site/config/vbzcart
    • /git - Git repositories being used for this domain/project
      • Repositories are directly under this, e.g. <$HOME>/site/git/ferreteria.
      • Nothing in this folder should be edited, unless doing development on the repository itself.
    • /apps for applications (e.g. MediaWiki) whose code is delivered via some method other than git clone
      • For Mediawiki specifically, where there are no other apps I've been just using mw instead of apps/mw.
      • A lot of web apps mix together site-config files and read-only code files, so this folder may need to be writeable.
  • /public_html is <$WEB>, i.e. files to be served on the web
    • Personally I'd prefer /web or /www, but this ↑ is VirtualMin's default

Wherever possible, I will make links inside <$WEB> to files/folders in <$HOME>/site rather than copying them, in order to minimize scattering of edit-targets and simplify updates a bit.