Apache is giving me a headache

Apache was working just fine and then I messed with the default-server.conf file and put a typo in it.

Apache wouldn’t start. I fixed that typo and apache starts but now getting 403 permission errors.

httpd.conf

#
# /etc/apache2/httpd.conf 
#
# This is the main Apache server configuration file.  It contains the
# configuration directives that give the server its instructions.
# See <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.2/> for detailed information about
# the directives.

# Based upon the default apache configuration file that ships with apache,
# which is based upon the NCSA server configuration files originally by Rob
# McCool. This file was knocked together by Peter Poeml <poeml+apache@suse.de>.

# If possible, avoid changes to this file. It does mainly contain Include
# statements and global settings that can/should be overridden in the
# configuration of your virtual hosts.

# Quickstart guide:
# http://en.opensuse.org/Apache_Quickstart_HOWTO


# Overview of include files, chronologically:
#
# httpd.conf
#  | 
#  |-- uid.conf  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  UserID/GroupID to run under
#  |-- server-tuning.conf  . . . . . . . . .  sizing of the server (how many processes to start, ...)
#  |-- sysconfig.d/loadmodule.conf . . . . .  
[li] load these modules[/li]#  |-- listen.conf . . . . . . . . . . . . .  IP adresses / ports to listen on
#  |-- mod_log_config.conf . . . . . . . . .  define logging formats
#  |-- sysconfig.d/global.conf . . . . . . .  
[li] server-wide general settings[/li]#  |-- mod_status.conf . . . . . . . . . . .  restrict access to mod_status (server monitoring)
#  |-- mod_info.conf . . . . . . . . . . . .  restrict access to mod_info
#  |-- mod_usertrack.conf  . . . . . . . . .  defaults for cookie-based user tracking
#  |-- mod_autoindex-defaults.conf . . . . .  defaults for displaying of server-generated directory listings
#  |-- mod_mime-defaults.conf  . . . . . . .  defaults for mod_mime configuration
#  |-- errors.conf . . . . . . . . . . . . .  customize error responses
#  |-- ssl-global.conf . . . . . . . . . . .  SSL conf that applies to default server _and all_ virtual hosts
#  |
#  |-- default-server.conf . . . . . . . . .  set up the default server that replies to non-virtual-host requests
#  |    |--mod_userdir.conf  . . . . . . . .  enable UserDir (if mod_userdir is loaded)
#  |    `--conf.d/apache2-manual?conf  . . .  add the docs ('?' = if installed)
#  |
#  |-- sysconfig.d/include.conf  . . . . . .  
[li] your include files [/li]#  |                                             (for each file to be included here, put its name 
#  |                                              into APACHE_INCLUDE_* in /etc/sysconfig/apache2)
#  |
#  `-- vhosts.d/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  for each virtual host, place one file here
#       `-- *.conf . . . . . . . . . . . . .     (*.conf is automatically included)
#
#
# Files marked 
[li] are created from sysconfig upon server restart: instead of[/li]# these files, you edit /etc/sysconfig/apache2



#  Filesystem layout:
#
# /etc/apache2/
#  |-- charset.conv  . . . . . . . . . . . .  for mod_auth_ldap
#  |-- conf.d/
#  |   |-- apache2-manual.conf . . . . . . .  conf that comes with apache2-doc
#  |   |-- mod_php4.conf . . . . . . . . . .  (example) conf that comes with apache2-mod_php4
#  |   `-- ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  other configuration added by packages
#  |-- default-server.conf
#  |-- errors.conf
#  |-- httpd.conf  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  top level configuration file
#  |-- listen.conf
#  |-- magic
#  |-- mime.types -> ../mime.types
#  |-- mod_autoindex-defaults.conf
#  |-- mod_info.conf
#  |-- mod_log_config.conf
#  |-- mod_mime-defaults.conf
#  |-- mod_perl-startup.pl
#  |-- mod_status.conf
#  |-- mod_userdir.conf
#  |-- mod_usertrack.conf
#  |-- server-tuning.conf
#  |-- ssl-global.conf
#  |-- ssl.crl/  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  PEM-encoded X.509 Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL)
#  |-- ssl.crt/  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  PEM-encoded X.509 Certificates
#  |-- ssl.csr/  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  PEM-encoded X.509 Certificate Signing Requests
#  |-- ssl.key/  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  PEM-encoded RSA Private Keys
#  |-- ssl.prm/  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  public DSA Parameter Files
#  |-- sysconfig.d/  . . . . . . . . . . . .  files that are created from /etc/sysconfig/apache2
#  |   |-- global.conf
#  |   |-- include.conf
#  |   `-- loadmodule.conf
#  |-- uid.conf
#  `-- vhosts.d/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  put your virtual host configuration (*.conf) here
#      |-- vhost-ssl.template
#      `-- vhost.template



### Global Environment ######################################################
#
# The directives in this section affect the overall operation of Apache,
# such as the number of concurrent requests.

# run under this user/group id
Include /etc/apache2/uid.conf

# - how many server processes to start (server pool regulation)
# - usage of KeepAlive
Include /etc/apache2/server-tuning.conf

# ErrorLog: The location of the error log file.
# If you do not specify an ErrorLog directive within a &lt;VirtualHost&gt;
# container, error messages relating to that virtual host will be
# logged here.  If you *do* define an error logfile for a &lt;VirtualHost&gt;
# container, that host's errors will be logged there and not here.
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error_log

# generated from APACHE_MODULES in /etc/sysconfig/apache2
Include /etc/apache2/sysconfig.d/loadmodule.conf

# IP addresses / ports to listen on
Include /etc/apache2/listen.conf

# predefined logging formats
Include /etc/apache2/mod_log_config.conf

# generated from global settings in /etc/sysconfig/apache2
Include /etc/apache2/sysconfig.d/global.conf

# optional mod_status, mod_info
Include /etc/apache2/mod_status.conf
Include /etc/apache2/mod_info.conf

# optional cookie-based user tracking
# read the documentation before using it!!
Include /etc/apache2/mod_usertrack.conf

# configuration of server-generated directory listings
Include /etc/apache2/mod_autoindex-defaults.conf

# associate MIME types with filename extensions
TypesConfig /etc/apache2/mime.types
DefaultType text/plain
Include /etc/apache2/mod_mime-defaults.conf

# set up (customizable) error responses
Include /etc/apache2/errors.conf

# global (server-wide) SSL configuration, that is not specific to 
# any virtual host
Include /etc/apache2/ssl-global.conf

# forbid access to the entire filesystem by default
&lt;Directory /&gt;
    Options None
    AllowOverride None
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
&lt;/Directory&gt;

# use .htaccess files for overriding,
AccessFileName .htaccess
# and never show them
&lt;Files ~ "^\.ht"&gt;
    Order allow,deny
    Deny from all
&lt;/Files&gt;

# List of resources to look for when the client requests a directory
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.html.var

### '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
# &lt;VirtualHost&gt; definition.  These values also provide defaults for
# any &lt;VirtualHost&gt; containers you may define later in the file.
#
# All of these directives may appear inside &lt;VirtualHost&gt; containers,
# in which case these default settings will be overridden for the
# virtual host being defined.
#
Include /etc/apache2/default-server.conf


# Another way to include your own files
#
# The file below is generated from /etc/sysconfig/apache2,
# include arbitrary files as named in APACHE_CONF_INCLUDE_FILES and
# APACHE_CONF_INCLUDE_DIRS
Include /etc/apache2/sysconfig.d/include.conf


### Virtual server configuration ############################################
#
# VirtualHost: If you want to maintain multiple domains/hostnames on your
# machine you can setup VirtualHost containers for them. Most configurations
# use only name-based virtual hosts so the server doesn't need to worry about
# IP addresses. This is indicated by the asterisks in the directives below.
#
# Please see the documentation at
# &lt;URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.2/vhosts/&gt;
# for further details before you try to setup virtual hosts.
#
# You may use the command line option '-S' to verify your virtual host
# configuration.
#
Include /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/*.conf


# Note: instead of adding your own configuration here, consider 
#       adding it in your own file (/etc/apache2/httpd.conf.local)
#       putting its name into APACHE_CONF_INCLUDE_FILES in 
#       /etc/sysconfig/apache2 -- this will make system updates 
#       easier :) 


default-server.conf

#
# Global configuration that will be applicable for all virtual hosts, unless
# deleted here, or overriden elswhere.
# 

DocumentRoot "/srv/www/htdocs"

#
# Configure the DocumentRoot
#
<Directory "/srv/www/htdocs">
          # 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
          # 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 All
          # Controls who can get stuff from this server.
Order allow,deny
 Allow from all
</Directory>

# Aliases: aliases can be added as needed (with no limit). The format is 
# Alias fakename realname
#
# Note that if you include a trailing / on fakename then the server will
# require it to be present in the URL.  So "/icons" isn't aliased in this
# example, only "/icons/".  If the fakename is slash-terminated, then the 
# realname must also be slash terminated, and if the fakename omits the 
# trailing slash, the realname must also omit it.
#
# We include the /icons/ alias for FancyIndexed directory listings.  If you
# do not use FancyIndexing, you may comment this out.
#
Alias /icons/ "/usr/share/apache2/icons/"

<Directory "/usr/share/apache2/icons">
 Options Indexes MultiViews
 AllowOverride None
 Order allow,deny
 Allow from all
</Directory>

# ScriptAlias: This controls which directories contain server scripts.
# ScriptAliases are essentially the same as Aliases, except that
# documents in the realname 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/ "/srv/www/cgi-bin/"

# "/srv/www/cgi-bin" should be changed to whatever your ScriptAliased
# CGI directory exists, if you have that configured.
#
<Directory "/srv/www/cgi-bin">
 AllowOverride None
 Options +ExecCGI -Includes
 Order allow,deny
 Allow from all
</Directory>

# UserDir: The name of the directory that is appended onto a user's home
# directory if a ~user request is received.
#
# To disable it, simply remove userdir from the list of modules in APACHE_MODULES 
# in /etc/sysconfig/apache2.
#
<IfModule mod_userdir.c>
          # Note that the name of the user directory ("public_html") cannot simply be
    # changed here, since it is a compile time setting. The apache package
    # would have to be rebuilt. You could work around by deleting
    # /usr/sbin/suexec, but then all scripts from the directories would be
    # executed with the UID of the webserver.
UserDir public_html
          # The actual configuration of the directory is in
    # /etc/apache2/mod_userdir.conf.
Include /etc/apache2/mod_userdir.conf
</IfModule>


# Include all *.conf files from /etc/apache2/conf.d/.
#
# This is mostly meant as a place for other RPM packages to drop in their
# configuration snippet.
#
# You can comment this out here if you want those bits include only in a
# certain virtual host, but not here.
#
Include /etc/apache2/conf.d/*.conf

# The manual... if it is installed ('?' means it won't complain)
Include /etc/apache2/conf.d/manual.conf
NameVirtualHost 127.0.0.1

folder permissions are all 755 with owner as root and group www with +x.

Check the logs inside the directory

/var/log/apache2

Also there is a yast module to configure apache2 in openSUSE.

yast2 http-server

Install it if it is not installed already. Also as a general rule make a backup of every file you are editing no matter what/which editor you are using, take it from some one who has been bitten by that mistake and learned the “hard way” :wink: