How to configure APACHE as a reverse proxy on RHEL/Centos/Oracle linux(5/6/7) step by step guide

In this article we learn how to configure APCHE as a reverse proxy in linux. Reverse proxy takes http and https request from the user end and transfer this request to the backend server.

Advantage of APACHE reverse proxy server

· APACHE reverse proxy server hide the original server from the outside world. Thus these backend servers are secured.

· APACHE reverse proxy also used to encrypt and decrypt the webserver traffic.

· APACHE reverse proxy acts as a loadbalancer.

LAB Environment to configure APACHE reverse proxy

To demonstrate APACHE reverse proxy we use same server as a backend server as well as APACHE reverse proxy server.

Backend server IP ADDRESS=================è 192.168.137.3

Backend server port no====================è 80

APACHE reverse proxy server IP ADDRESS=====è 192.168.137.5

APACHE proxy server port no==============è 80

When user hits the (192.168.137.5) address user will get the content of the backend server.

Pre-requisites to configure APACHE reverse proxy

To configure APACHE reverse proxy we need to install apache pacakages on the linux server. To install the apache package on the linux server find the below reference link.

https://techrideradmin.blogspot.com/2018/12/how-to-install-and-configure-apache-webserver-in-linux-5-6-7-step-by-step-guide.html

Modules required to configure APACHE as a reverse proxy

To configure APACHE as a reverse proxy we need to enable two modules .

Mod_proxy: This module is main to configure APACHE as a reverse proxy. It takes the responsibility to redirect the connection.

Mod_proxy_http: This module handles the http and https request.

If these two modules is not enabled we need to go and edit “/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf” file and uncomment the below lines to enable these two modules.

ProxyPreserveHost on

ProxyPass / http://192.168.137.3

ProxyPassReverse / http://192.168.137.3

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