Lighttpd is a web server that offers a lightweight, secure, and efficient solution for serving web applications. The following tutorial will guide you through the steps required to install Lighttpd on Debian Latest.
Before we proceed, ensure that you have a root user account or a user account with sudo privileges.
Before installing Lighttpd, update the package repositories to ensure that you install the latest version of Lighttpd.
sudo apt-get update
Install Lighttpd by running the following command:
sudo apt-get install lighttpd
Once Lighttpd is installed, start the server by running the following command:
sudo systemctl start lighttpd
Verify the status of the Lighttpd server by running the following command:
sudo systemctl status lighttpd
This should display the status of the server that should indicate it's running.
Configure the server's basic settings by editing the /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf file.
sudo nano /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf
This opens the configuration file in the nano text editor.
Locate the server.document-root variable and set it to the path of the root directory for your web files. For example, if your web files are stored in /var/www/html, set the server.document-root variable to:
server.document-root = "/var/www/html"
Save and exit the file by pressing ctrl + x, y and enter.
You can create a virtual host to serve multiple websites or applications. Create a configuration file in the /etc/lighttpd/sites-available/ directory.
sudo nano /etc/lighttpd/sites-available/example.com.conf
Add the following content to the configuration file:
$HTTP["host"] =~ "(^|\.)example\.com$" {
server.document-root = "/var/www/example.com"
}
Save and exit the file by pressing ctrl + x, y and enter.
Activate the virtual host by creating a symbolic link in the /etc/lighttpd/sites-enabled/ directory.
sudo ln -s /etc/lighttpd/sites-available/example.com.conf /etc/lighttpd/sites-enabled/
Restart the Lighttpd server to apply the changes you have made.
sudo systemctl restart lighttpd
That's it! Your Lighttpd server is now ready to serve web pages. You can test the server by opening a web browser and navigating to http://localhost. If you have created a virtual host, navigate to the virtual host's URL to test.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
