Ok, so we have installed apache. Now we want to set up a basic web server on our Raspberrypi and be able to navigate through the contents of its directories. Let’s get the task divided into 4 simple steps and down to work:

Step 1: enable mod_autoindex

This module will take care of the job:

sudo a2enmod autoindex

Once enabled, we can check (and tweak) its configuration in /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/autoindex.conf:

Let’s move on to the next step.

Step 2: Create your virtual host

Go to /etc/apache2/sites-available/ and either use the default virtual host configuration file or copy it to a new file like so:

cp 000-default.conf my-virtual-host.conf

Now modify the config file to meet your needs:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/my-virtual-host
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Don’t forget to enable the newly created virtual host with:

sudo a2ensite my-virtual-host

On to the next step.

Step 3: Make sure the icons directory is where it should be

Make sure the icons directory is in the directory indicated by the DocumentRoot directive:

ls /var/www/html/my-virtual-host

Again, make sure you see the icons directory in the output of the above command.

Last, but not least …

Step 4: Enable Options +Indexes

To start with, make sure no index.html file (or a similar one like index.htm or index.php) exits in our virtual host’s DocumentRoot:

ls /var/www/html/my-virtual-host

If an index file exists, change its name to avoid having it shown by default when accessing the web server.

Finally, activate the option +Indexes either:

In apache’s main config file /etc/apache2/apache2.conf:

<Directory /var/www/html/my-virtual-host>
  Options +Indexes
</Directory>

or in /var/www/html/my-virtual-host/.htaccess:

Options +Indexes

Now you’re ready to restart apache and have it show directory listings.

Halof!!!

References

Apache wiki: https://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DirectoryListings