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If your ISP provides static IP addresses then you will need to associate your domain with your static IP address. This is achieved using a name server. Some domain registration services will provide this service for you. If yours does not, you can create a free account at [http://www.zoneedit.com/ http://www.zoneedit.com] and use their name servers to point your domain name at your static IP address.
If you do not have a static IP address (i.e. your ISP provides you with a dynamic address which changes frequently) then you can use one of a number of free services which that map your dynamic IP address to your domain name. One such service is provided by [http://www.dnsExit.com/ http://www.dnsExit.com].
Once you have your domain name and your name server configured the next step is to install and configure your web server.
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The installion installation process will not only install, but also start up the web server.
== Testing the Web Server ==
Once the installation is complete the next step is to verify the web server is up and running. To do this fire up the web browser by clicking on the Firefox logo and enter ''127.0.0.1'' in the address bar (127.0.0.1 is the loop-back network address which tells the system to connect to the local machine). Note that if you are running Ubuntu version 7 you may need to enter ''127.0.0.1''. The browser should load a page that reads ''It works!''.
Congratulations, you have now installed the web server and served up what will hopefully be the first of many web pages.
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Next it the ServerName and ServerAlias directives need to be defined so that the web server knows which virtual host this configuration file refers to:
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If your Ubuntu Linux system is configured to use a firewall, you will need to ensure that HTTP traffic on port 80 is permitted in order for external system to be able to access your web server. Refer to the [[Basic Ubuntu Linux Firewall Configuration]] and [[Using Firestarter to Configure an Ubuntu Linux Firewall]] chapters of this book for details on configuring Ubuntu Linux Firewalls.
If the Ubuntu system hosting running your web server sits on a network protected by a firewall (either another computer running a firewall, or a router or wireless base station containing built in firewall protection) you will need to configure the firewall to forward port 80 to your web server system. The mechanism for performing this differs between firewalls and devices so check your documentation to find out how to configure port forwarding.
Once everything is configured it should be possible to enter the domain name of your web site into a browser anywhere in the world and access your web server.
