How to Host a Static Website on a VPS Using Apache

2025-07-16 — By Akshay Singh · 6 min read

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Hosting your own static website on a VPS gives you complete control and flexibility — no platform limitations, no hidden restrictions. In this guide, we will talk about how to host a static HTML, CSS and JS website on a Linux VPS using the Apache web server.

🚀 Why Host a Static Site on a VPS?

Complete control: No platform dependency
Scalability: You decide how to scale
Cost-effective: Especially for static sites
Flexibility: Run cron jobs, scripts, or additional services

Apache remains a solid choice for serving static content — it's stable, widely supported, and easy to configure.

🧰 Prerequisites

A Linux VPS (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS recommended)
A static website folder (e.g., built with plain HTML or exported from frameworks like Astro, Hugo, or Next.js static export)
SSH access to the VPS
A domain name (optional but ideal)

🔐 Step 1: Connect to Your VPS

Use SSH to log into your VPS:

ssh root@your-server-ip

If you're using a different user:

ssh your-user@your-server-ip

🧱 Step 2: Install Apache Web Server

Update packages and install Apache:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install apache2 -y

Enable and start the Apache service:

sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2

You can check if it's working by visiting http://your-server-ip in your browser.

🗂 Step 3: Set Up Your Website Directory

Let's assume your website is called mywebsite.

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mywebsite

Copy your static files into that folder (you’ll upload them in the next step).

🧾 Step 4: Create a Virtual Host Configuration

Create a new Apache config file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/mywebsite.conf

Paste the following basic config:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/mywebsite

    <Directory /var/www/mywebsite>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain or server IP.

Enable the site and disable the default site:

sudo a2ensite mywebsite.conf
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

Reload Apache:

sudo systemctl reload apache2

📁 Step 5: Upload Your Static Website

Use scp from your local machine to upload the files:

scp -r ./your-static-site/* user@your-server-ip:/var/www/mywebsite

Or use SFTP with a tool like FileZilla.

🔐 Step 6: Set Correct Permissions

Ensure Apache can read the files:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mywebsite
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/mywebsite

🌐 Step 7: Point Your Domain (Optional but Recommended)

Update your domain’s DNS A record to point to your VPS IP.

Then update Apache’s config (ServerName) and reload:

sudo systemctl reload apache2

🛡 Bonus: Enable UFW Firewall and Allow HTTP

sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full'
sudo ufw enable

🔒 Bonus: Enable HTTPS with Let's Encrypt (Optional)

Install Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

Run the command to get a free SSL certificate:

sudo certbot --apache

Follow the prompts to secure your domain with HTTPS.

✅ You're Live!

Visit your site via http://yourdomain.com or http://your-server-ip. You’ve just self-hosted a website using Apache — no cPanel, no platform restrictions.

🧠 Final Tips

Compress images before uploading to save bandwidth
Use .htaccess for custom rules (e.g., redirects)
Monitor server logs:
```
tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log
```

if you stuck somewhere? Please reach out me via the Contact Us page.

Happy deploying!