How to host your own website on a Raspberry Pi

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marty331

Senior Member
Jun 29, 2011
829
249
Dallas, TX
How to host your own website on a Raspberry Pi

Requirements

Hardware:
Raspberry Pi
USB power cable
Ethernet cable and modem to connect to
HDMI cable (temporary need)
Monitor (temporary need)
USB mouse/keyboard (temporary need)
Standard SD card
SD card reader on your computer

Software:
Raspbian image - Debian based OS for Raspberry Pi
Lighttpd - lightweight webserver that is extremely easy to set up
PageKite - makes local websites or SSH servers publicly accessible in mere seconds, and works with any computer and any Internet connection.

Also you will need to buy a domain for your site. I purchased mine through hover.com, but there are many to chose from.



First you need to setup the SD card on your Raspberry Pi.

The SD card is the harddrive for the Raspberry Pi, you'll be installing Raspbian which is a derivative of Debian. If you are familar with Linux you'll be right at home.

Here is the guick start guide for Raspbian:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/quick-start-guide

Install the latest "Raspbian" SD card image from here:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads

Just follow the instructions to download the image and install it on your SD card, once we actually boot the Raspberry Pi you will set it up.

Now, here is where you temporarily need to have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse that you can use to run your Raspberry Pi.

If you don't have a monitor, mouse and keyboard, you can set up your Raspberry Pi in headless mode. Here is a link to to this, although I did not utilize this method:
http://www.penguintutor.com/linux/raspberrypi-headless

Now plug in the ethernet from the Raspberry Pi to the modem, HDMI from the Raspberry Pi to the monitor, USB to your keyboard and mouse. Plug in the SD card that you
installed Raspbian and last plug in the power. Plugging in power is how you power on the Raspberry Pi. Go through the on screen setup, be sure and change the password,
turn on SSH, set the date/time and any of ther other setup options that you think you'll need. Complete the setup and pat yourself on the back, you are on your way.

Next step, setup a static IP on your router so the Raspberry Pi always has a static IP in your home network. Here is tutorial that I followed for this
step: http://www.penguintutor.com/blog/viewblog.php?blog=6306

Once you complete this come back here to continue the setup.

Good job so far. Let's use some of our Linux skills now(I'm a huge Linix fan, it's all I run on my PCs), don't worry, it won't hurt.

Open the terminal and run the following command:
sudo apt-get install lighttpd

Did you press enter at the end of that last row? You should.
Now run the command:
sudo reboot

While your rebooting here is something to read:
lighttpd is a lightweight open source webserver. It is pronounced "Lighty" and it will listen for requests on port 80, when it receives a request
it sends back the requested webpage.

Ok and we're back. So you should be rebooted now so let's check to see if lighttpd is doing it's job. Type in the IP that you assigned to your
Raspberry Pi, for instance 192.168.1.10, on your browser. You can do it on your computer or on the Raspberry Pi's browser, it's called Midori.
You should get a webpage showing that lighttpd is working. The file that is being displayed is sitting on the Raspberry Pi at /var/www/ and it's
named index.html. This folder is where you will place your website. You have created your website already right? If not, you can do that once you
have completed this setup. I used a starter page from http://www.styleshout.com/.

Ok you're doing great, we're getting near the end.

Next we are going to set up an account with PageKite. PageKite charges $36/year for an account. There are free options like Dyndns, but I have
Verizon fios and am forced to use their router, thus my Dyndns did not work well for me. If you wan to use Dyndns, you can set up a free account
that should work for you.

PageKite is easy to install, just visit their page from the Raspberry Pi and setup an account and install the software. You will be installing
the Linux version and the site walks you through all the steps. Make sure your account id is NOT the same as the site you are setting up. You will
use the site name also as a secondary pagekite. Once you have your account set up with PageKite, you will need to follow this guide to setup
PageKite to point to your own doman: https://pagekite.net/wiki/Howto/CnamePageKites/

For step 2 above, if you went with hover.com, you'll need to add a new DNS with the following format:
Hostname: www
Record Type: CNAME
Target Host: sitename.accountid.pagekite.me

Complete the CnamePageKites setup and then you are done! Your website is now live on the web! See that really wasn't very hard to do.

Here is my website: www.pillar-soft.com
 

Quiggers

Member
Jun 21, 2012
9
2
Limerick
this is exactly what i was looking for,

but me being the clutz i am, cant get lighttpd to install, missing dependencies

Code:
Err http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ wheezy/main lighttpd armhf 1.4.31-1
  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/pool/main/l/lighttpd/lighttpd_1.4.31-1_armhf.deb  404  Not Found
using the sudo apt-get install

but the static ip tutorials are very good, i'll try the lighttpd install again tomorrow

With thanks
 

marty331

Senior Member
Jun 29, 2011
829
249
Dallas, TX
this is exactly what i was looking for,

but me being the clutz i am, cant get lighttpd to install, missing dependencies

Code:
Err http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ wheezy/main lighttpd armhf 1.4.31-1
  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/pool/main/l/lighttpd/lighttpd_1.4.31-1_armhf.deb  404  Not Found
using the sudo apt-get install

but the static ip tutorials are very good, i'll try the lighttpd install again tomorrow

With thanks

Did you type exactly:

sudo apt-get install lighttpd

If your still getting that error then do:

sudo apt-get update

Then,

sudo apt-get install lighttpd

Let me know if you're successful.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
 
  • Like
Reactions: Quiggers
Oct 30, 2010
48
11
Mumbai
this is exactly what i was looking for,

but me being the clutz i am, cant get lighttpd to install, missing dependencies

Code:
Err http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ wheezy/main lighttpd armhf 1.4.31-1
  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/pool/main/l/lighttpd/lighttpd_1.4.31-1_armhf.deb  404  Not Found
using the sudo apt-get install

but the static ip tutorials are very good, i'll try the lighttpd install again tomorrow

With thanks

You need to do
Code:
sudo apt-get update
Also
Also try sudo apt-get install -f lighttpd
Static up setup for yoir pi is must for this to work ;)
 

samboza

New member
Dec 3, 2012
1
0
www.jocurile.us
I wonder if it can support some light php tasks and maybe a database?

Also is there a posibility to connect 2-3 raspberry Pi and do some kind of loadbalancing. For example one could be the lighttpd server, an other server could host the files and do all the php work, while an other could by the mysql server.
Could this be done, how would you go by connecting all that together, through a router?
 

jji7skyline

Senior Member
Jun 14, 2012
251
52
thanksman.tk
Seems a pretty simple setup, but you missed out a step.

You need to port forward port 80 on your router/modem so that your modem sends all incoming port 80 traffic to your Raspberry Pi.

Also, you should use Apache which is much faster, and the original open source web server.
 
Oct 30, 2010
48
11
Mumbai
what i would suggest is better go with NO-IP or similar stuff !!

they have nice ip update clients ! not only will you save money , it will make easy to manage the accounts as they have good apps for Linux !

---------- Post added at 06:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:24 PM ----------

I wonder if it can support some light php tasks and maybe a database?

Also is there a posibility to connect 2-3 raspberry Pi and do some kind of loadbalancing. For example one could be the lighttpd server, an other server could host the files and do all the php work, while an other could by the mysql server.
Could this be done, how would you go by connecting all that together, through a router?

i guess yes !
You can setup ip and port forwarding to make the same make happen !
like, may be, you can set up a My sql server at lan and then setup a port forward to that r-pi and necessary stuff !!

then your man server can issue requests as necessary!!

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

I just prefer Apache because of its wide support and speed, but maybe I was misinformed about its speed on ARM devices.

LAMP is a good package if you want PHP, MySQL and PHPmyAdmin.

Have been using Apache for a damn long time ... very comfortable with the same !!

but in these recent years even i have been ranted over to use Lighttpd seems it is friendly with processor !!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ant007

marty331

Senior Member
Jun 29, 2011
829
249
Dallas, TX
Also suggest no-ip. I use no-ip on the NexusQ site server. It cuts down on cost and you can take your server with you. I've even run it on a mobile server (read phone) that was wifi tethered to my phone while in my car. The same could be done from the RasPi as well.

Great tip! I'm sure there are more ways to tweak this guide and make it more robust.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
 

puleen

Member
Sep 5, 2007
36
2
Do you guys think the Raspberry Pi would be good to use as an XBMC streaming box off a remote NAS?

Anyone tried this?
 

marty331

Senior Member
Jun 29, 2011
829
249
Dallas, TX
Do you guys think the Raspberry Pi would be good to use as an XBMC streaming box off a remote NAS?

Anyone tried this?

I first used the Raspberry Pi for XBMC, RasBMC and it worked great. I did not use it to stream anything locally stored but I believe it would handle that just fine.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
 

GabrialDestruir

Senior Member
Nov 12, 2009
650
514
California
I've used the Pi to stream things from a share on a desktop computer and found that it worked wonderfully (as long as the connection could handle it). I've even done HD streaming with little to know issue at least streaming wise. I was using OpenElec at the time, but I imagine it's not different on Raspbmc, if anything it should work better.

Edit: I also want to note I constantly Stream things via Hulu or Youtube. These also work great as long as your connection can handle it. They can be a little slow while "loading" but once a show gets going they usually do just fine.
 
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  • 24
    How to host your own website on a Raspberry Pi

    Requirements

    Hardware:
    Raspberry Pi
    USB power cable
    Ethernet cable and modem to connect to
    HDMI cable (temporary need)
    Monitor (temporary need)
    USB mouse/keyboard (temporary need)
    Standard SD card
    SD card reader on your computer

    Software:
    Raspbian image - Debian based OS for Raspberry Pi
    Lighttpd - lightweight webserver that is extremely easy to set up
    PageKite - makes local websites or SSH servers publicly accessible in mere seconds, and works with any computer and any Internet connection.

    Also you will need to buy a domain for your site. I purchased mine through hover.com, but there are many to chose from.



    First you need to setup the SD card on your Raspberry Pi.

    The SD card is the harddrive for the Raspberry Pi, you'll be installing Raspbian which is a derivative of Debian. If you are familar with Linux you'll be right at home.

    Here is the guick start guide for Raspbian:
    http://www.raspberrypi.org/quick-start-guide

    Install the latest "Raspbian" SD card image from here:
    http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads

    Just follow the instructions to download the image and install it on your SD card, once we actually boot the Raspberry Pi you will set it up.

    Now, here is where you temporarily need to have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse that you can use to run your Raspberry Pi.

    If you don't have a monitor, mouse and keyboard, you can set up your Raspberry Pi in headless mode. Here is a link to to this, although I did not utilize this method:
    http://www.penguintutor.com/linux/raspberrypi-headless

    Now plug in the ethernet from the Raspberry Pi to the modem, HDMI from the Raspberry Pi to the monitor, USB to your keyboard and mouse. Plug in the SD card that you
    installed Raspbian and last plug in the power. Plugging in power is how you power on the Raspberry Pi. Go through the on screen setup, be sure and change the password,
    turn on SSH, set the date/time and any of ther other setup options that you think you'll need. Complete the setup and pat yourself on the back, you are on your way.

    Next step, setup a static IP on your router so the Raspberry Pi always has a static IP in your home network. Here is tutorial that I followed for this
    step: http://www.penguintutor.com/blog/viewblog.php?blog=6306

    Once you complete this come back here to continue the setup.

    Good job so far. Let's use some of our Linux skills now(I'm a huge Linix fan, it's all I run on my PCs), don't worry, it won't hurt.

    Open the terminal and run the following command:
    sudo apt-get install lighttpd

    Did you press enter at the end of that last row? You should.
    Now run the command:
    sudo reboot

    While your rebooting here is something to read:
    lighttpd is a lightweight open source webserver. It is pronounced "Lighty" and it will listen for requests on port 80, when it receives a request
    it sends back the requested webpage.

    Ok and we're back. So you should be rebooted now so let's check to see if lighttpd is doing it's job. Type in the IP that you assigned to your
    Raspberry Pi, for instance 192.168.1.10, on your browser. You can do it on your computer or on the Raspberry Pi's browser, it's called Midori.
    You should get a webpage showing that lighttpd is working. The file that is being displayed is sitting on the Raspberry Pi at /var/www/ and it's
    named index.html. This folder is where you will place your website. You have created your website already right? If not, you can do that once you
    have completed this setup. I used a starter page from http://www.styleshout.com/.

    Ok you're doing great, we're getting near the end.

    Next we are going to set up an account with PageKite. PageKite charges $36/year for an account. There are free options like Dyndns, but I have
    Verizon fios and am forced to use their router, thus my Dyndns did not work well for me. If you wan to use Dyndns, you can set up a free account
    that should work for you.

    PageKite is easy to install, just visit their page from the Raspberry Pi and setup an account and install the software. You will be installing
    the Linux version and the site walks you through all the steps. Make sure your account id is NOT the same as the site you are setting up. You will
    use the site name also as a secondary pagekite. Once you have your account set up with PageKite, you will need to follow this guide to setup
    PageKite to point to your own doman: https://pagekite.net/wiki/Howto/CnamePageKites/

    For step 2 above, if you went with hover.com, you'll need to add a new DNS with the following format:
    Hostname: www
    Record Type: CNAME
    Target Host: sitename.accountid.pagekite.me

    Complete the CnamePageKites setup and then you are done! Your website is now live on the web! See that really wasn't very hard to do.

    Here is my website: www.pillar-soft.com
    1
    this is exactly what i was looking for,

    but me being the clutz i am, cant get lighttpd to install, missing dependencies

    Code:
    Err http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ wheezy/main lighttpd armhf 1.4.31-1
      404  Not Found
    Failed to fetch http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/pool/main/l/lighttpd/lighttpd_1.4.31-1_armhf.deb  404  Not Found
    using the sudo apt-get install

    but the static ip tutorials are very good, i'll try the lighttpd install again tomorrow

    With thanks

    Did you type exactly:

    sudo apt-get install lighttpd

    If your still getting that error then do:

    sudo apt-get update

    Then,

    sudo apt-get install lighttpd

    Let me know if you're successful.

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
    1
    @marty

    we have lift off
    thank you
    1
    what i would suggest is better go with NO-IP or similar stuff !!

    they have nice ip update clients ! not only will you save money , it will make easy to manage the accounts as they have good apps for Linux !

    ---------- Post added at 06:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:24 PM ----------

    I wonder if it can support some light php tasks and maybe a database?

    Also is there a posibility to connect 2-3 raspberry Pi and do some kind of loadbalancing. For example one could be the lighttpd server, an other server could host the files and do all the php work, while an other could by the mysql server.
    Could this be done, how would you go by connecting all that together, through a router?

    i guess yes !
    You can setup ip and port forwarding to make the same make happen !
    like, may be, you can set up a My sql server at lan and then setup a port forward to that r-pi and necessary stuff !!

    then your man server can issue requests as necessary!!

    ---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

    I just prefer Apache because of its wide support and speed, but maybe I was misinformed about its speed on ARM devices.

    LAMP is a good package if you want PHP, MySQL and PHPmyAdmin.

    Have been using Apache for a damn long time ... very comfortable with the same !!

    but in these recent years even i have been ranted over to use Lighttpd seems it is friendly with processor !!!
    1
    Also suggest no-ip. I use no-ip on the NexusQ site server. It cuts down on cost and you can take your server with you. I've even run it on a mobile server (read phone) that was wifi tethered to my phone while in my car. The same could be done from the RasPi as well.