A howto get a full functioning webserver on pfsense via vhost

sash99

A requested HowTo

For those that wish to have a functional webserver on their pfsense router/firewall to handle content internally ( or otherwise)
I simplified it as easy as possible

Installing the packages and preparing pfsense vhost
( from a clean install)

go to system > packages

install BandwidthD ( installs most of GD libaries)
install Vhost

then go to System > advance

give pfsense a non standard TCP port ie: 11111 ( do not forget to be able to log into pfsense you have to add the port number to your ip ie: https://192.168.1.1:11111)
disable WebGUI redirect
enable secure shell

you should now be able to use port 80 as your webserver port ( internal (lan) and externally (wan) )

now use putty or terminal to ssh into pfsence
ie: ssh root@192.168.1.1

go to shell (8 )

copy and paste each line to shell command line and press enter ( any deviation can break pfsense)

touch /etc/php_dynamodules/pdo
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/pdo_sqlite
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/gd
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/mysql
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/json
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/mcrypt
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/dom
touch /etc/php_dynamodules/sqlite

/etc/rc.php_ini_setup

/usr/local/bin/mysql_install_db
chmod 777 /var/db/mysql
chmod 777 /var/db/mysql/mysql
chmod 777 /var/db/mysql/mysql/.
mv /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server.sh

now if you are familar with vi continue to enter this line and then edit the following

vi /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server.sh

changed
: ${mysql_enable="NO"}
to
: ${mysql_enable="YES"}

save the file

I am not so great at vi so I usually use filezilla log into the server and use the ftp program to edit the file

to log in pfsense with filezilla the user name is not admin it is always root and the port is 22 –
then negotiate to /usr/local/etc/rc.d and edit the file mysql-server.sh

once the line is edited

exit
restart webconfiguator ( 11 )
reboot ( 5 )

once it reboots ssh into it again and give mysql a password

mysqladmin -u root password "your new password"

now you have a fully functioning webserver on PFsense

To get the web Server running ( vhost)

services > vhosts

click add +
Host: create a simple name ie: info or admin this will create a folder in your web server directory
ip address; assign this to to your wan, lan, opt or virtual ip that you created on your system
post the default is 8001 but if you disabled Webgui redirect as mentioned above then you can use port 80 ( I would suggest if it some form of administration website use a non standard port)
Directory leave this one blank on some installs it breaks vhost if you enter in anything
Certificate & key also leave blank unless you want https website

now start the vhost services

status > services
click start vhost
( it will not change to green status but it is functioning )

test web server

enter in ip plus directory name in browser
ie: Ip 192.168.1.1
if using port 8001 and the host is called info – http://192.168.1.1:8001/info
if using port 80 and host is called admin – http://192.168.1.1/admin
or you can use servers host name ie: http:// pfsense.localdomain/admin

It should display a PHP webpage describing what php module you have installed

Uploading your website
install filezilla or similar program that can handle sftp – http://filezilla-project.org/
host: ip of your pfsense box
user name root
password whatever your password is for you pfsense box
port 22

negotiate your way to vhost directories /usr/local/vhosts

copy your php or html websites to your host directory

your DONE

test to see if the website works

Useful php websites

to maintain mysql create vhost and install phpmyadmin ( probably not on port 80 for security reasons)

http://www.phpmyadmin.net

other usefull programs:
server monitor
http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpservermon/

a very good content manager
www.joomla.org

and much much more

Good luck and have fun ;D

stephenw10

Nice write up! :)
You should probably add a security disclaimer of some sort. ;)

Steve

A howto get a full functioning webserver on pfsense via vhost

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