Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Configure Apache Event MPM, Create index.php, Set Up VirtualHost, and Fix Ubuntu Default Page

Posted on March 11, 2026

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1. Understand the server flow first

When a user opens:

https://urologyhospitals.com/

the request flow is:

  1. Domain DNS points to your server IP
  2. Apache receives request on port 80 or 443
  3. Apache checks enabled VirtualHosts
  4. Apache matches ServerName or ServerAlias
  5. Apache uses that VirtualHost’s DocumentRoot
  6. Apache looks for index.php or index.html
  7. PHP executes the file
  8. Browser gets the response

If no proper VirtualHost is loaded, Apache falls back to the default root:

/var/www/html

That is why Ubuntu default page was opening.

2. Verify Apache is using Event MPM

Run:

apachectl -V

You already confirmed:

Server MPM: event

That means Apache Event MPM is active.

To verify loaded MPM module:

apachectl -M | grep mpm

Expected:

mpm_event_module

3. Tune Apache Event MPM

Open the file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/mods-available/mpm_event.conf

Your earlier file was:

StartServers            2
MinSpareThreads         25
MaxSpareThreads         75
ThreadLimit             64
ThreadsPerChild         25
MaxRequestWorkers       150
MaxConnectionsPerChild  0

A stronger production-style version is:

<IfModule mpm_event_module>
    StartServers             2
    ServerLimit              16
    ThreadLimit              64
    ThreadsPerChild          25
    MaxRequestWorkers        400
    MinSpareThreads          50
    MaxSpareThreads          150
    MaxConnectionsPerChild   10000
</IfModule>

Meaning of these values

  • StartServers 2 → start with 2 Apache child processes
  • ServerLimit 16 → Apache can create up to 16 child processes
  • ThreadsPerChild 25 → each process has 25 worker threads
  • MaxRequestWorkers 400 → max concurrent workers
  • MinSpareThreads 50 → keep at least 50 idle threads ready
  • MaxSpareThreads 150 → do not keep too many idle threads
  • MaxConnectionsPerChild 10000 → recycle child process after 10000 connections

Important formula

ServerLimit × ThreadsPerChild = MaxRequestWorkers
16 × 25 = 400

So this is valid.

4. Test Apache config after MPM change

Run:

sudo apachectl configtest

Expected:

Syntax OK

You saw this already. That means config is correct.

Then restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

5. Fix the global ServerName warning

You got this warning:

AH00558: apache2: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name

This is only a warning, not a failure.

To remove it:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Add at the bottom:

ServerName localhost

Or use your main domain if preferred.

Then:

sudo apachectl configtest
sudo systemctl restart apache2

6. Check whether VirtualHosts are loaded

Run:

sudo apache2ctl -S

Your output showed only:

Main DocumentRoot: "/var/www/html"

and no domain VirtualHosts.

That means Apache had no active site for your domain, so it was showing the Ubuntu default page.

7. Create your website folder

Create a clean project folder:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public

Set ownership:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/urologyhospitals.com

Set permissions:

sudo find /var/www/urologyhospitals.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/urologyhospitals.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

8. Create a test index.php

Create file:

sudo nano /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public/index.php

Paste this:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>urologyhospitals.com</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>urologyhospitals.com is working</h1>
    <p>Apache is serving this domain from its own VirtualHost.</p>
    <p><strong>Server Name:</strong> <?= htmlspecialchars($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] ?? '') ?></p>
    <p><strong>Document Root:</strong> <?= htmlspecialchars($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] ?? '') ?></p>
    <p><strong>Request URI:</strong> <?= htmlspecialchars($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ?? '') ?></p>
</body>
</html>

This helps confirm:

  • PHP is working
  • correct domain is matched
  • correct folder is used

9. Create HTTP VirtualHost

Create file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/urologyhospitals.com.conf

Paste:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName urologyhospitals.com
    ServerAlias www.urologyhospitals.com

    DocumentRoot /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public
    DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

    <Directory /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/urologyhospitals_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/urologyhospitals_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

What this does

  • listens on port 80
  • matches urologyhospitals.com
  • serves files from /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public
  • allows .htaccess
  • uses index.php as default file

10. Enable Apache modules

Enable rewrite:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

Enable SSL if you will use HTTPS:

sudo a2enmod ssl

11. Enable the new site

Run:

sudo a2ensite urologyhospitals.com.conf

This creates a symlink in:

/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/

which makes Apache actually load the site.

12. Disable Ubuntu default site

Disable the default site that serves /var/www/html:

sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

If SSL default site is enabled, disable it too:

sudo a2dissite default-ssl.conf

If it says not enabled, that is okay.

13. Test config and restart

Run:

sudo apachectl configtest

Then restart:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

14. Verify VirtualHost is active

Run:

sudo apache2ctl -S

Now you should see the domain listed.

If HTTP site is active, you should now be able to open:

http://urologyhospitals.com/

and see your custom index.php.

15. Set up HTTPS VirtualHost

First make sure certificate files exist:

ls -l /etc/letsencrypt/live/urologyhospitals.com/

You should see:

  • fullchain.pem
  • privkey.pem

If they exist, create HTTPS config:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf

Paste:

<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName urologyhospitals.com
    ServerAlias www.urologyhospitals.com

    DocumentRoot /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public
    DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

    <Directory /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/urologyhospitals_ssl_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/urologyhospitals_ssl_access.log combined

    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/urologyhospitals.com/fullchain.pem
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/urologyhospitals.com/privkey.pem
    Include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-apache.conf
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>

Enable it:

sudo a2ensite urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf

Test config:

sudo apachectl configtest

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Now:

https://urologyhospitals.com/

should load your custom index.php.

16. Optional HTTP to HTTPS redirect

If you want every HTTP request to go to HTTPS, edit:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/urologyhospitals.com.conf

Use this version:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName urologyhospitals.com
    ServerAlias www.urologyhospitals.com

    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =urologyhospitals.com [OR]
    RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =www.urologyhospitals.com
    RewriteRule ^ https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [END,NE,R=permanent]

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/urologyhospitals_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/urologyhospitals_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Then:

sudo apachectl configtest
sudo systemctl restart apache2

17. Why Ubuntu page appeared before

Because Apache had:

Main DocumentRoot: "/var/www/html"

and no domain VirtualHost was active.

So requests were being served from:

/var/www/html

where Ubuntu default Apache page exists.

Once you create and enable your own site, Apache stops using the default site for that domain.

18. Useful commands for troubleshooting

Show loaded virtual hosts

sudo apache2ctl -S

Test Apache config

sudo apachectl configtest

Restart Apache

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Check Apache status

sudo systemctl status apache2 --no-pager

Check enabled sites

ls -l /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/

Check logs

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Domain-specific error log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/urologyhospitals_error.log

SSL error log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/urologyhospitals_ssl_error.log

19. Full command sequence in one place

Step A: Create folder and file

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/urologyhospitals.com
sudo find /var/www/urologyhospitals.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/urologyhospitals.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo nano /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public/index.php

Step B: Create HTTP site

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/urologyhospitals.com.conf

Step C: Enable modules and site

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod ssl
sudo a2ensite urologyhospitals.com.conf
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo a2dissite default-ssl.conf

Step D: Test and restart

sudo apachectl configtest
sudo systemctl restart apache2
sudo apache2ctl -S

Step E: Create HTTPS site

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf
sudo a2ensite urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf
sudo apachectl configtest
sudo systemctl restart apache2
sudo apache2ctl -S

20. Final recommended setup structure

Your final structure should look like this:

/var/www/urologyhospitals.com/
└── public/
    └── index.php

/etc/apache2/sites-available/
├── urologyhospitals.com.conf
└── urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf

/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/
├── urologyhospitals.com.conf -> ../sites-available/urologyhospitals.com.conf
└── urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf -> ../sites-available/urologyhospitals.com-ssl.conf

21. Important production note

Later, when you host Laravel or another PHP app, DocumentRoot should point to the app’s public folder, not the project root.

Example:

DocumentRoot /var/www/project-name/public

That is the correct approach for Laravel too.

22. Best next step

Run this sequence first:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public
sudo nano /var/www/urologyhospitals.com/public/index.php
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/urologyhospitals.com.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2ensite urologyhospitals.com.conf
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo apachectl configtest
sudo systemctl restart apache2
sudo apache2ctl -S

Then test:

http://urologyhospitals.com/

After that, add the SSL site.

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