macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 - apache2 running, httpd not

I finally got this to work. There was an error in the way the log files were referenced in httpd.conf. I had to specify filenames, not folders.

It was very helpful to find out this command:

sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl -k restart

Which returned not only that it wasn't already running (the only command that tells me that), but that it would try to make it run, which it couldn't on account of the error I pointed out above. Now when I issue: ps -ef | grep 'httpd' I have several wonderful processes running. It is great.

Thanks for your attention to this, BobTheFisherMan. I will mark this post as "This solved my question."

These are some of what I would guess to be relevant or distantly related settings in the httpd.conf file:

/etc/apache/httpd.conf:

ServerRoot "/usr"

<IfDefine SERVER_APP_HAS_DEFAULT_PORTS>

Listen 8080

</IfDefine>

<IfDefine !SERVER_APP_HAS_DEFAULT_PORTS>

Listen 80

</IfDefine>

<Directory />

AllowOverride All

Require all denied

</Directory>

DocumentRoot "/Users/tony/Sites"

<Directory "/Users/tony/Sites">

Options FollowSymLinks Multiviews

MultiviewsMatch Any

AllowOverride All

Require all granted

</Directory>

Here is the content of a tony.conf within the users directory of /etc/apache2:

(/etc/apache2/users/tony.conf)

<Directory "/Users/tony/Sites/">

AllowOverride All

Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks

Require all granted

</Directory>

Here is the content of httpd-userdir.conf under /etc/apache2/extra:

(/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf). (most comments removed)

# Settings for user home directories

UserDir Sites

Include /private/etc/apache2/users/*.conf

<IfModule bonjour_module>

RegisterUserSite customized-users

</IfModule>

Many thanks for your response. Yes, I have read that page (several times) but still nothing is working. At this point, I just want "It Works!" to show up in Safari, but my web browser still reports that it can't connect to server "localhost." I know that this should work. At this point, I will reboot my computer again and see if that works. Thanks again for your response.

You know what would be really stupid is that, maybe, I don't even have apache installed on my computer. Via Google searches, I am not sure I have found a _definitive_ way to ensure that everything is properly installed. Certain directories exist on my computer, like /etc/apache2 and /Library/Webserver/Documents. What else is there that I can check?

I have some improvements, but still Safari still will not show "It Works!" when I navigate to http://localhost or http://localhost/~tony.

At this point, when I enter: sudo apachectl configtest, "Syntax OK" is the only output returned.

I have just spent over an hour going line by line over the above link at https://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/install-apache-mysql-php-and-phpmyadmin-on- macos-high-sierra-10-13/ and it just won't work. Safari reports that it can't connect to the localhost server. This is so frustrating!

I may have stumbled upon my problem. I launched the Activity Monitor, and from the View menu I selected "All Processes," no process that resembles httpd is listed at all.

But, when I type httpd -v at the command line, the following is returned:

Server version: Apache/2.4.28 (Unix)

Server built: Oct 9 2017 19:54:20

Does this indicate a problem? Shouldn't Activity Monitor's "All Processes" show httpd?

Will Apache or httpd show up in Task Manager some place? I have not been able to find it. If it does not show there, is that a good indication that the web server is indeed NOT loading?

Also, when I type: sudo apachectl start it returns: "/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist: service already loaded

If it's already loaded, why doesn't it appear in my Activity Monitor? (I have made sure to look in all areas, like "All Processes," "System Processes," etc. Strange.

(I am trying to avoid the scary prospect of reinstalling my operating system because I have a lot of stuff installed, and everything else works very well.)

When I type: httpd -v

Server version: Apache/2.4.28 (Unix)

Server built: Oct 9 2017 19:54:20

This tells me that I don't need to install anything further, right?

Typing sudo apachectl start returns:

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist: service already loaded

When I type: sudo apachectl restart nothing is returned; I just get my prompt back.

In /etc/hosts I have two entries for localhost, one for main.localhost and one for just localhost. Each is set to 127.0.0.1. I can successfully ping main.localhost and localhost; both ping just fine.