apache not accepting incoming connections from outside of localhost
LinuxApacheWebserverCentosLinux Problem Overview
I've booted up a CentOS server on rackspace and executed yum install httpd'd. Then services httpd start. So, just the barebones.
I can access its IP address remotely over ssh (22) no problem, so there's no problem with the DNS or anything (I think...), but when I try to connect on port 80 (via a browser or something) I get connection refused.
From localhost, however, I can use telnet (80), or even lynx on itself and get served with no problem. From outside (my house, my school, a local coffee shop, etc...), telnet connects on 22, but not 80.
I use netstat -tulpn (<- I'm not going to lie, I don't understand the -tulpn part, but that's what the internet told me to do...) and see
tcp 0 0 :::80 :::* LISTEN -
as I believe I should. The httpd.conf says Listen 80.
I have services httpd restart'd many a time.
Honestly I have no idea what to do. There is NO way that rackspace has a firewall on incoming port 80 requests. I feel like I'm missing something stupid, but I've booted up a barebones server twice now and have done the absolute minimum to get this functioning thinking I had mucked things up with my tinkering, but neither worked.
Any help is greatly appreciated! (And sorry for the long winded post...)
Edit
I was asked to post the output of iptables -L. So here it is:
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination
ACCEPT all -- anywhere anywhere state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
ACCEPT icmp -- anywhere anywhere
ACCEPT all -- anywhere anywhere
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhere anywhere state NEW tcp dpt:ssh
REJECT all -- anywhere anywhere reject-with icmp-host-prohibited
Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination
REJECT all -- anywhere anywhere reject-with icmp-host-prohibited
Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination
Linux Solutions
Solution 1 - Linux
In case not solved yet. Your iptables say:
>state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
Which means that it lets pass only connections already established... that's established by you, not by remote machines. Then you can see exceptions to this in the next rules:
state NEW tcp dpt:ssh
Which counts only for ssh, so you should add a similar rule/line for http, which you can do like this:
state NEW tcp dpt:80
Which you can do like this:
sudo iptables -I INPUT 4 -p tcp -m state --state NEW -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
(In this case I am choosing to add the new rule in the fourth line)
Remember that after editing the file you should save it like this:
sudo /etc/init.d/iptables save
Solution 2 - Linux
CentOS 7 uses firewalld by default now. But all the answers focus on iptables. So I wanted to add an answer related to firewalld.
Since firewalld is a "wrapper" for iptables, using antonio-fornie's answer still seems to work but I was unable to "save" that new rule. So I wasn't able to connect to my apache server as soon as a restart of the firewall happened. Luckily it is actually much more straightforward to make an equivalent change with firewalld commands. First check if firewalld is running:
firewall-cmd --state
If it is running the response will simply be one line that says "running".
To allow http (port 80) connections temporarily on the public zone:
sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-service=http
The above will not be "saved", next time the firewalld service is restarted it'll go back to default rules. You should use this temporary rule to test and make sure it solves your connection issue before moving on.
To permanently allow http connections on the public zone:
sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=http
If you do the "permanent" command without doing the "temporary" command as well, you'll need to restart firewalld to get your new default rules (this might be different for non CentOS systems):
sudo systemctl restart firewalld.service
If this hasn't solved your connection issues it may be because your interface isn't in the "public zone". The following link is a great resource for learning about firewalld. It goes over in detail how to check, assign, and configure zones: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-a-firewall-using-firewalld-on-centos-7
Solution 3 - Linux
SELinux prevents Apache (and therefore all Apache modules) from making remote connections by default.
# setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect=1
Solution 4 - Linux
Try with below setting in iptables.config table
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
Run the below command to restart the iptable service
service iptables restart
change the httpd.config file to
Listen 192.170.2.1:80
re-start the apache.
Try now.
Solution 5 - Linux
If you are using RHEL/CentOS 7 (the OP was not, but I thought I'd share the solution for my case), then you will need to use firewalld instead of the iptables service mentioned in other answers.
firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=80/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload
And then check that it is running with:
firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --list-all
It should list 80/tcp under ports
Solution 6 - Linux
Search for LISTEN directive in the apache config files (httpd.conf, apache2.conf, listen.conf,...) and if you see localhost, or 127.0.0.1, then you need to overwrite with your public ip.
Solution 7 - Linux
Try disabling iptables: service iptables stop
If this works, enable TCP port 80 to your firewall rules: run system-config-selinux from root, and enable TCP port 80 (HTTP) on your firewall.
Solution 8 - Linux
this would work: -- for REDHAT use : cat "/etc/sysconfig/iptables"
iptables -I RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -s 192.168.1.3 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
followed by
sudo /etc/init.d/iptables save
Solution 9 - Linux
this is what worked for us to get the apache accessible from outside:
sudo iptables -I INPUT 4 -p tcp -m state --state NEW -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
sudo service iptables restart
Solution 10 - Linux
Set apache to list to a specific interface and port something like below:
Listen 192.170.2.1:80
Also check for Iptables and TCP Wrappers entries that might be interfering on the host with outside hosts accessing that port
Solution 11 - Linux
Disable SELinux
$ sudo setenforce 0