Stop Alias virtual server from redirecting to the main domain

[antonphp]

Dear community, after creating a new Alias Virtual Server, by default it redirects to the main domain. How do I stop it from redirecting?

Am I configuring it in a wrong way?

 

Please note that I turned the Apache Website Enabled OFF because I guess I don’t need a new home directory to serve an existing website with an alias.

 

I can confirm that there is no domain name listed in the Apache server configuration for the main domain. Please advise.

Operating system: MacOS
OS version: Bug Sur

[calport]

But an alias domain will, by design, show the website of the main domain.

Why use an alias if you do not wish to show the main domain?

[antonphp]

@calport

But an alias domain will, by design, show the website of the main domain.

It does not. It redirects to the main domain.

[calport]

Could you create a virtual server as alias with default values? Don’t change anything - let’s then see if you get a redirect or an actual alias.

I have the same thing setup on main domain cloudcart.indiax.com with alias www.adventurezone.in for a multi-site hosting setup, which is what you are after too, I presume @antonphp. The system I use for this is:
Operating system Debian Linux 10
Webmin version 1.962 Usermin version 1.812
Virtualmin version 6.14 Authentic theme version 19.62
Kernel and CPU Linux 4.19.0-14-cloud-amd64 on x86_64
Processor information Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2686 v4 @ 2.30GHz, 2 cores

[tpnsolutions]

@antonphp,

Did you by chance have “Apache SSL Website” enabled on the parent domain?

If so, it likely has a “Website Redirect” enabled which is set at the VirtualHost level. When this is triggered because the Alias is added as as ServerAlias of the parent domain, it’ll do a redirect by default.

To change this behavior, visit “Server Configuration > Website Redirects” of the parent domain.

Delete the redirect rule which should look something like:

URL path:
/

Type:
Redirect to URL

Destination:
https://parent-domain.com/$1

If you want to have http to https redirection after this is complete, you can create a “.htaccess” file at the root of the website and add something like:

RewriteRule on
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

This method will respect the “hostname” used in the request and will not redirect to the parent domain like the rule created through Website Redirects which uses a different redirect method.

Best Regards,
Peter Knowles | TPN Solutions

[antonphp]

@calport

Could you create a virtual server as alias with default values? Don’t change anything - let’s then see if you get a redirect or an actual alias.

Re-creating the Alias virtual server with “Apache website enabled” did the job.

So, this is a head up for the development team - you should adjust the help text that appears in the popup box when the "Apache website enabled?" option is clicked.

This piece of text is incorrect:

… a new website home directory will be created

No new directories in Home are created.

This piece of text is incorrect as well:

… a new VirtualHost configuration section will be added

No new VirtualHost configuration section is added either. Instead, just a new ServerAlias is added.

If I understand it correctly, the confusion arises because the same help text is used in both cases:

• when creating a top-level virtual server
• when creating an alias virtual server

If this is the case, then what is needed is to display a different help message depending on what type of server is being created.

Finally, the option name itself, Setup website for domain?, should be changed to something more self-explanatory for the Alias case.

Makes sense?