Confirming that Apache Is Running

You can test to see whether Apache is up and running by opening the Firefox Web browser (Applications → Internet → Firefox Web Browser) and typing localhost in the address bar. If Apache is running on the server.

If this doesn't work, first make sure that you can ping your Linux server from the remote system. To do that, type ping followed by the IP address of the Linux server. If the ping command times out, you have a connectivity problem you need to correct.

If you can ping the Linux server but still can't reach the Apache server home page, here are a few things to check:

• Make sure that the httpd service is running as described in the "Starting and Stopping Apache" section, earlier in this tutorial.
• Make sure that the Linux firewall is turned off or configured to allow HTTP traffic. In Fedora, you can manage the firewall settings from the GNOME-based Security Level Configuration tool. To run it, choose System → Administration → Firewall. Then, select WWW (HTTP) in the list of trusted services. The System Settings Configuration tool with the firewall enabled and the HTTP service trusted.

Do not disable the firewall altogether unless you have another firewall, such as a firewall router, between your Linux server and your Internet connection.