Hosting Operations

Find Apache Document Roots

You need to list DocumentRoot values from enabled Apache configs.

Command

grep -RInE '^[[:space:]]*DocumentRoot[[:space:]]' fixtures/apache/sites-enabled

What changed

Nothing changes. The command prints DocumentRoot config lines.

Danger

safe

When to use it

Use when static files, index pages, or deploy output appear missing.

When not to use it

Do not change file permissions until you verify Apache is pointing at the expected directory.

Undo or recovery

No undo needed because this command is read-only.

Expected output

Enabled Apache config files and DocumentRoot paths.

demo script

Disposable terminal steps

grep -RInE '^[[:space:]]*DocumentRoot[[:space:]]' fixtures/apache/sites-enabled
grep -RInE '


      
        
          Terminal transcript
          Demo JSON



    
      
        simulated output
        What it looks like
        
          
            
            disposable vessel
          
          ::fixture-ready::
$ grep -RInE '^[[:space:]]*DocumentRoot[[:space:]]' fixtures/apache/sites-enabled
fixtures/apache/sites-enabled/app.conf:3:    DocumentRoot /srv/www/app/public
fixtures/apache/sites-enabled/example.conf:4:    DocumentRoot /srv/www/legacy/public
::exit-code::0
$ grep -RInE '
fixtures/apache/sites-enabled/app.conf:2:    ServerName app.example.com
fixtures/apache/sites-enabled/example.conf:1:
fixtures/apache/sites-enabled/example.conf:2:    ServerName legacy.example.com
::exit-code::0

        
      
    

    
      
        YouTube Short
        Where is Apache serving from?
        Before moving files or changing permissions, list Apache DocumentRoot lines. The web server may be looking elsewhere.
      
      
        LinkedIn hook
        Apache was serving files from a different directory than expected.
        Question: Do you verify DocumentRoot before fixing web file permissions?
      
    

    
      experiments
      A/B tests to run
      
        
          Metric: completion_rate
          A: Wrong directory.
          B: Find DocumentRoot before chmod.