Setting PHP Document Root on webserver

Question

Currently I have an Ubuntu 12.04 webserver running apache2. I have it setup to dynamically create subdomains by creating new folders under /sites/example.com/*/public /sites/example.com/www/public is reserved for my main root site.

This is working out, however I am unable to configure PHP's $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] to be dynamic to the newly created folder.

When I echo $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] I get /etc/apache2/htdocs which I assume is some sort of default path. I would like this to be: /sites/example.com/*/public instead

# Wildcards
<VirtualHost *:80>
    VirtualDocumentRoot /sites/example.com/%1/public
    ServerAdmin [email protected]
    ServerAlias *.example.com
</VirtualHost>

Curious why PHP doesn't pick up the the virtual document root setting above, I'm likely doing something wrong.

Are you confident that files are being served out of the proper DocumentRoot at /sites/example.com/*/public? What is the path of the PHP file you're testing with, and what Host are you using to obtain it? — Bendoh
– Bendoh, Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 14:09
Yea, the rest of the php stuff is executing as I expected. It seems that this variable can vary per host. This seems to do the trick, but I don't know if its the best solution (joshbenner.me/blog/…) — mikevoermans
– mikevoermans, Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 14:12

Kevin Labécot · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-29 14:12:42Z

7

Solution found at : http://joshbenner.me/blog/quick-tip-get-proper-document-root-when-using-mod-vhost-alias/

The Apache module mod_vhost_alias and its VirtualDocumentRoot directive can really be a great time saver for local development (some googling will explain why in more deapth). Basically, my local dev is set up so that I just have to create a directory in my aliases directory, and I just then navigate my browser to a URL matching the name of that new directory, and apache knows exactly what to serve automagically.

However, there are a few evil gotchas when using mod_vhost_alias, one of which is that the PHP global $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] remains set to the apache default DOCUMENT_ROOT environment variable rather than being re-assigned to the document root activated by the VirtualDocumentRoot directive for the current URL. This can cause some PHP applications (that are too trusting) to die for one reason or another.

I found a great solution to this in the related apache bug report: Simply add the following line to your apache configuration inside the VirtualDocumentRoot vhost definition:

php_admin_value auto_prepend_file /path/setdocroot.php

Then, create the referenced PHP file, and put set this as its contents:
<?php $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] = str_replace($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'], '', $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']); ?>
Now, every page load has this file executed, which properly sets DOCUMENT_ROOT.

answered Jul 29, 2014 at 14:12

Kevin Labécot

1,99513 silver badges25 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

mikevoermans Over a year ago

I did this and set php_admin_value auto_prepend_file /sites/example.com/_setdocroot.php It does what I need it to.

Powerlord · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-29 14:28:23Z

1

This has apparently (finally) been fixed in Apache 2.4. Unfortunately, Ubuntu 12.04 still runs Apache 2.2.

Having said that, Ubuntu 14.04 (the next LTS release) is out now and do-release-upgrade should now be enabled for 12.04 to 14.04 upgrades since 14.04 had its first point release last week.

answered Jul 29, 2014 at 14:28

Powerlord

89k17 gold badges130 silver badges179 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Setting PHP Document Root on webserver

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related