Apache serves up a blank page...

I have Apache 2.2 running on my laptop as test server for a website.

 

It works fine when I access the site from my laptop -- php, mySQL -- everything works. But, if I try to access it from another computer on the network, I get a blank page when I use the "localhost" server name in the URL.

 

However, if I enter the IP address of my laptop in place of "localhost" in the url, I can access the site (most of it -- a wordpress blog gets a blank page, but that might be another issue).

 

    i.e.: http://localhost.dancepanoramadetroit.com works on my laptop where Apache is running, but takes me to blank page on other computers on the network.

 

    http://xxx.xxx.x.x.dancepanoramadetroit.com works on other computers on the network (replace x's with ip address)

 

Also, if I try to change the servername from "localhost" to anything else, I get a "page not found" error on all computers (is localhost a "magic" name somehow?)

 

My network is using a wireless router, with standard security stuff (WEP, mac addresses).

 

I've checked my error logs, and no errors or warnings appear.

 

I've set up a virtual host file, which I've attached below, along with my main configuration file.

 

I've tried numerous vhost and configuration permutations over the last day, and still no luck. I've also checked out lots of other posts, but can't seem to find the answer.

 

Any insights are appreciated!

 

Regards,

 

Jim

 

Main Config File

#LoadModule version_module modules/mod_version.so

#LoadModule vhost_alias_module modules/mod_vhost_alias.so

 

<IfModule !mpm_netware_module>

<IfModule !mpm_winnt_module>

#

# If you wish httpd to run as a different user or group, you must run

# httpd as root initially and it will switch.

#

# User/Group: The name (or #number) of the user/group to run httpd as.

# It is usually good practice to create a dedicated user and group for

# running httpd, as with most system services.

#

User daemon

Group daemon

 

</IfModule>

</IfModule>

 

# 'Main' server configuration

#

# The directives in this section set up the values used by the 'main'

# server, which responds to any requests that aren't handled by a

# <VirtualHost> definition. These values also provide defaults for

# any <VirtualHost> containers you may define later in the file.

#

# All of these directives may appear inside <VirtualHost> containers,

# in which case these default settings will be overridden for the

# virtual host being defined.

#

 

#

# ServerAdmin: Your address, where problems with the server should be

# e-mailed. This address appears on some server-generated pages, such

# as error documents. e.g. admin@your-domain.com

#

ServerAdmin jwelke@sbcglobal.net

 

#

# ServerName gives the name and port that the server uses to identify itself.

# This can often be determined automatically, but we recommend you specify

# it explicitly to prevent problems during startup.

#

# If your host doesn't have a registered DNS name, enter its IP address here.

#

#ServerName localhost:80

ServerName localhost:80

 

#

# DocumentRoot: The directory out of which you will serve your

# documents. By default, all requests are taken from this directory, but

# symbolic links and aliases may be used to point to other locations.

#

#DocumentRoot "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/htdocs"

#DocumentRoot "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs"

DocumentRoot "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com"

 

#

# Each directory to which Apache has access can be configured with respect

# to which services and features are allowed and/or disabled in that

# directory (and its subdirectories).

#

# First, we configure the "default" to be a very restrictive set of

# features.

#

<Directory />

Options FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride None

Order deny,allow

Deny from all

</Directory>

 

#

# Note that from this point forward you must specifically allow

# particular features to be enabled - so if something's not working as

# you might expect, make sure that you have specifically enabled it

# below.

#

 

#

# This should be changed to whatever you set DocumentRoot to.

#

#<Directory "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/htdocs">

<Directory "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com">

#

# Possible values for the Options directive are "None", "All",

# or any combination of:

# Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks SymLinksifOwnerMatch ExecCGI MultiViews

#

# Note that "MultiViews" must be named *explicitly* --- "Options All"

# doesn't give it to you.

#

# The Options directive is both complicated and important. Please see

# http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#options

# for more information.

#

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

 

#

# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.

# It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:

# Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit

#

AllowOverride None

 

#

# Controls who can get stuff from this server.

#

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

 

</Directory>

 

#

# DirectoryIndex: sets the file that Apache will serve if a directory

# is requested.

#

<IfModule dir_module>

# DirectoryIndex index.html

#replaced above line:JMW071808

DirectoryIndex index.php

</IfModule>

 

#

# The following lines prevent .htaccess and .htpasswd files from being

# viewed by Web clients.

#

<FilesMatch "^\.ht">

Order allow,deny

Deny from all

Satisfy All

</FilesMatch>

 

#

# ErrorLog: The location of the error log file.

# If you do not specify an ErrorLog directive within a <VirtualHost>

# container, error messages relating to that virtual host will be

# logged here. If you *do* define an error logfile for a <VirtualHost>

# container, that host's errors will be logged there and not here.

#

ErrorLog "logs/error.log"

 

#

# LogLevel: Control the number of messages logged to the error_log.

# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,

# alert, emerg.

#

LogLevel warn

 

<IfModule log_config_module>

#

# The following directives define some format nicknames for use with

# a CustomLog directive (see below).

#

LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" combined

LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b" common

 

<IfModule logio_module>

# You need to enable mod_logio.c to use %I and %O

LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\" %I %O" combinedio

</IfModule>

 

#

# The location and format of the access logfile (Common Logfile Format).

# If you do not define any access logfiles within a <VirtualHost>

# container, they will be logged here. Contrariwise, if you *do*

# define per-<VirtualHost> access logfiles, transactions will be

# logged therein and *not* in this file.

#

CustomLog "logs/access.log" common

 

#

# If you prefer a logfile with access, agent, and referer information

# (Combined Logfile Format) you can use the following directive.

#

#CustomLog "logs/access.log" combined

</IfModule>

 

<IfModule alias_module>

#

# Redirect: Allows you to tell clients about documents that used to

# exist in your server's namespace, but do not anymore. The client

# will make a new request for the document at its new location.

# Example:

# Redirect permanent /foo http://localhost/bar

 

#

# Alias: Maps web paths into filesystem paths and is used to

# access content that does not live under the DocumentRoot.

# Example:

# Alias /webpath /full/filesystem/path

# Alias /localhost.dancepanoramadetroit.com "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com"

#

# If you include a trailing / on /webpath then the server will

# require it to be present in the URL. You will also likely

# need to provide a <Directory> section to allow access to

# the filesystem path.

 

#

# ScriptAlias: This controls which directories contain server scripts.

# ScriptAliases are essentially the same as Aliases, except that

# documents in the target directory are treated as applications and

# run by the server when requested rather than as documents sent to the

# client. The same rules about trailing "/" apply to ScriptAlias

# directives as to Alias.

#

# ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/cgi-bin/"

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com/cgi-bin/"

 

</IfModule>

 

<IfModule cgid_module>

#

# ScriptSock: On threaded servers, designate the path to the UNIX

# socket used to communicate with the CGI daemon of mod_cgid.

#

#Scriptsock logs/cgisock

</IfModule>

 

#

# "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/cgi-bin" should be changed to whatever your ScriptAliased

# CGI directory exists, if you have that configured.

#

#<Directory "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/cgi-bin">

<Directory "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com/cgi-bin">

AllowOverride None

Options None

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

</Directory>

 

#

# DefaultType: the default MIME type the server will use for a document

# if it cannot otherwise determine one, such as from filename extensions.

# If your server contains mostly text or HTML documents, "text/plain" is

# a good value. If most of your content is binary, such as applications

# or images, you may want to use "application/octet-stream" instead to

# keep browsers from trying to display binary files as though they are

# text.

#

DefaultType text/plain

 

<IfModule mime_module>

#

# TypesConfig points to the file containing the list of mappings from

# filename extension to MIME-type.

#

TypesConfig conf/mime.types

 

#

# AddType allows you to add to or override the MIME configuration

# file specified in TypesConfig for specific file types.

#

#AddType application/x-gzip .tgz

#

# AddEncoding allows you to have certain browsers uncompress

# information on the fly. Note: Not all browsers support this.

#

#AddEncoding x-compress .Z

#AddEncoding x-gzip .gz .tgz

#

# If the AddEncoding directives above are commented-out, then you

# probably should define those extensions to indicate media types:

#

AddType application/x-compress .Z

AddType application/x-gzip .gz .tgz

 

#

# AddHandler allows you to map certain file extensions to "handlers":

# actions unrelated to filetype. These can be either built into the server

# or added with the Action directive (see below)

#

# To use CGI scripts outside of ScriptAliased directories:

# (You will also need to add "ExecCGI" to the "Options" directive.)

#

#AddHandler cgi-script .cgi

 

# For type maps (negotiated resources):

#AddHandler type-map var

 

#

# Filters allow you to process content before it is sent to the client.

#

# To parse .shtml files for server-side includes (SSI):

# (You will also need to add "Includes" to the "Options" directive.)

#

#AddType text/html .shtml

#AddOutputFilter INCLUDES .shtml

 

#Added:JMW071808

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html

</IfModule>

 

#

# The mod_mime_magic module allows the server to use various hints from the

# contents of the file itself to determine its type. The MIMEMagicFile

# directive tells the module where the hint definitions are located.

#

#MIMEMagicFile conf/magic

 

#

# Customizable error responses come in three flavors:

# 1) plain text 2) local redirects 3) external redirects

#

# Some examples:

#ErrorDocument 500 "The server made a boo boo."

#ErrorDocument 404 /missing.html

#ErrorDocument 404 "/cgi-bin/missing_handler.pl"

#ErrorDocument 402 http://localhost/subscription_info.html

#

 

#

# EnableMMAP and EnableSendfile: On systems that support it,

# memory-mapping or the sendfile syscall is used to deliver

# files. This usually improves server performance, but must

# be turned off when serving from networked-mounted

# filesystems or if support for these functions is otherwise

# broken on your system.

#

#EnableMMAP off

#EnableSendfile off

 

# Supplemental configuration

#

# The configuration files in the conf/extra/ directory can be

# included to add extra features or to modify the default configuration of

# the server, or you may simply copy their contents here and change as

# necessary.

 

# Server-pool management (MPM specific)

#Include conf/extra/httpd-mpm.conf

 

# Multi-language error messages

#Include conf/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf

 

# Fancy directory listings

#Include conf/extra/httpd-autoindex.conf

 

# Language settings

#Include conf/extra/httpd-languages.conf

 

# User home directories

#Include conf/extra/httpd-userdir.conf

 

# Real-time info on requests and configuration

#Include conf/extra/httpd-info.conf

 

# Virtual hosts

Include conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

 

# Local access to the Apache HTTP Server Manual

Include conf/extra/httpd-manual.conf

 

# Distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV)

#Include conf/extra/httpd-dav.conf

 

# Various default settings

#Include conf/extra/httpd-default.conf

 

# Secure (SSL/TLS) connections

#Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

#

# Note: The following must must be present to support

# starting without SSL on platforms with no /dev/random equivalent

# but a statically compiled-in mod_ssl.

#

<IfModule ssl_module>

SSLRandomSeed startup builtin

SSLRandomSeed connect builtin

</IfModule>

 

#BEGIN PHP INSTALLER EDITS - REMOVE ONLY ON UNINSTALL

#PHPIniDir "C:/Program Files/PHP/"

#LoadModule php5_module "C:/Program Files/PHP/php5apache2_2.dll"

#END PHP INSTALLER EDITS - REMOVE ONLY ON UNINSTALL

 

#Added by JMW:070708 per "http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/install-apache-php-mysql.php#apache"

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

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

 

 

 

#BEGIN PHP INSTALLER EDITS - REMOVE ONLY ON UNINSTALL

PHPIniDir "C:/Program Files/PHP/"

LoadModule php5_module "C:/Program Files/PHP/php5apache2_2.dll"

#END PHP INSTALLER EDITS - REMOVE ONLY ON UNINSTALL

 

 

 

VHosts Config File

NameVirtualHost localhost:80

 

<VirtualHost localhost:80>

ServerAdmin help@dancepanoramadetroit.com

DocumentRoot "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com"

ServerName localhost.dancepanoramadetroit.com

# ServerAlias *.dancepanoramadetroit.com

ErrorLog "logs/dpd.localhost-error.log"

CustomLog "logs/dpd.localhost-access.log" common

 

 

#dpd.com permissions

<Directory "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com">

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride None

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

</Directory>

<Directory "C:/JMW/SW_HW_Development/DanceSite/Server/htdocs/dancepanoramadetroit.com/Blogs">

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride None

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

</Directory>

</VirtualHost>

is localhost a "magic" name somehow?

 

Yes (kind of). It always refers to the computer your calling it from.

 

So if pcA is running apache and pcB is not.

 

You can access apache via localhost from within pcA, but calling localhost on pcB will try to look for a server on pcB.

is localhost a "magic" name somehow?

 

Yes (kind of). It always refers to the computer your calling it from.

 

So if pcA is running apache and pcB is not.

 

You can access apache via localhost from within pcA, but calling localhost on pcB will try to look for a server on pcB.

 

Ahhh...thanks for the quick reply!

 

OK, but can I give it another name so that it will be accessible to other computers on the network, i.e. change "servername"  to something other than "localhost" (I tried this, but always seem to get "Page not found")?

 

-- Jim

 

This is a dns issue, nothing to do with Apache.

 

What you can do is add the server to each clients hosts file. Assuming your clients are using windows you'll need to search for a file called hosts, somewhere under the system directory I think (I'm not a windows user).

 

Once you locate that file simply add something like....

 

# server ip     servername
192.168.10.1  foo.example.com

 

The client can then use the address foo.example to access the server at 192.168.10.1

 

Alternatively, if you have a large network, you will need to setup a local DNS server.

Yes, you are correct. That did it. I added the IP and URL to the client's host file, per your suggestion.

 

BTW, if anyone wants to know, the file (hosts) is located in Windows at:

C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc

 

Thanks very much for the help!

 

Regards,