Configuring Apache in Docker Compose With Custom Log Settings and Size Limitation for Virtual Hosts

In this article, we will explore how to configure an Apache web server running in a Docker Compose environment with custom log settings and size limitation specifically for virtual host logs. We’ll cover the steps to set up the necessary volume mounts, configuration files, and log rotation to ensure that virtual host logs are limited in size. This will help you effectively manage disk space and maintain clean and manageable log files for your Apache server.

Prerequisites

• Basic knowledge of Docker and Docker Compose
• Familiarity with Apache web server and its configuration

Step 1: Setting up the Docker Compose Environment

1. Create a new directory for your Docker project.
2. Create a docker-compose.yml file and define the Apache service using the desired base image.
3. Configure the necessary port mappings for the Apache container.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10

version: '3'
services:
  apache:
    restart: always
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - 80:80
      - 443:443

Step 2: Configuring Custom Log Settings and Size Limitation

1. Create the required directories on the host machine for storing log files, if they don’t already exist.
2. Modify the docker-compose.yml file to include the appropriate volume mounts for log files and configuration files:

• Mount the custom log configuration file, such as other-vhosts-access-log.conf, to the appropriate location inside the container (e.g., /etc/apache2/conf-available/).

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12

version: '3'
services:
  apache:
    restart: always
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - 80:80
      - 443:443
    volumes:
      - ./conf-available/other-vhosts-access-log.conf:/etc/apache2/conf-available/other-vhosts-access-log.conf

3. Open the custom log configuration file (other-vhosts-access-log.conf) and add the following directives to limit the size of virtual host logs using log rotation:

1

CustomLog "|/path/to/rotatelogs -n 10 /var/log/apache2/other_vhosts_access.log 1M" vhost_combined

• Adjust the /path/to/rotatelogs to the actual path of the Rotatelogs program on your system.
• The -n 10 flag specifies that a maximum of 10 log files should be kept.
• The 1M argument specifies that each log file should have a maximum size of 1 megabyte.

Step 3: Starting the Apache Container

1. Run the docker-compose up -d command to start the Apache container.
2. Apache will use the custom log configuration specified in the mounted configuration file, and virtual host log files will be limited in size according to the log rotation settings.

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined in this article, you can configure an Apache web server running in a Docker Compose environment to use custom log settings with size limitation specifically for virtual host logs. This allows you to effectively manage disk space usage and maintain clean log files for your Apache server. With size-limited virtual host logs, you can ensure efficient log management and prevent log files from growing indefinitely.

Note: Remember to adjust the file paths, directory names, and configuration files according to your specific setup. Additionally, monitor the log rotation and adjust the size limitation parameters based on your requirements and available disk space.

Feel free to provide further explanations, expand on each step with additional details, and include any necessary code snippets or screenshots to make the blog post more comprehensive.