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After a few weeks of head banging... I am very near to completing a local development environment for my WP Multi-Site Installation. The final problem that I have (wishful thinking), is that the primary address of the WP LAMP installation keeps re-directing improperly. I don't seem to be able to find the correct configuration of /etc/host and wp-config and apache2 virtualhost, nor WP Database Site URL to get my local development environment to load properly, so that I can actually start the real work of editing sites and content.

Saying that my production site is on the url "example.org" and my local dev site is on the url "localhost.example.org", the following is a detailed description of my current quagmire:

1.) Currently, dev site improperply redirects to http://localhost.example.org/localhost.example.org resulting in an error, preventing site from loading. Is this an ubuntu thing?

2.) With regards to my WP Database Site Url, I used the advice found at the bottom of this page because of a previous redirection problem sending to the site to the wp-login page. In a nutshell, I changed all the urls in my dev site database from being "example.org" to being "localhost.example.org" using the correct variant of this SQL query: enter image description here

However, this solution did not solve the url re-direction problem. (For clarity purposes, yes I can connect to the database correctly now.)

3.) From there I edit my wp-config file according to the advice found here to the following values:

define( 'WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true );
define('MULTISITE', true);
define('SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL', true);
define('DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE', 'localhost.example.org'); 
define('PATH_CURRENT_SITE', '/');
define('SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1);
define('BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1);
define('WP_HOME','http://localhost.example.org');
define('WP_SITEURL','http://localhost.example.org');
define( 'SUNRISE', 'on' );
define( 'ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH', '/' );
define( 'COOKIE_DOMAIN', '' );
define( 'COOKIEPATH', '' );
define( 'SITECOOKIEPATH', '' );
define( 'NOBLOGREDIRECT', 'localhost.example.org' );

4.) In accordance with advice found here, I edit my apache2 virtualhost file ("example.conf") to reflect the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>

ServerName localhost.example.org
ServerAlias localhost.example.org 

# If this is the default configuration file we can use: 'ServerName localhost' or also 'ServerAlias localhost'.

ServerAdmin info@example.org

ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/localhost.example.org.error.log
CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/localhost.example.org.access.log combined

DocumentRoot /var/www/html/example.org

&lt;Directory /var/www/html/example.org&gt;
    Options None FollowSymLinks
    # Enable .htaccess Overrides:
    AllowOverride All
    DirectoryIndex index.php
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
    Require all granted
&lt;/Directory&gt;

&lt;Directory /var/www/html/example.org/wp-content&gt;
    Options FollowSymLinks
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
&lt;/Directory&gt;




</VirtualHost>

5.) And finally, I went to my /etc/host file and made the following entry:

127.0.0.1   localhost localhost.example.org

Of course, I remember to restart apache and mysql servers to make sure the changes were updated. Yes, I also enabled "example.org" on apache2 as well.

At this point I am just stuck. Any advice on how to the solve the redirection problem, highly appreciated.... What am I missing? hhmm....

Also, a final secondary question:

Assuming that one of you Ubuntu / WP superpeople can spot my error above. I also have to subsites on the installation as well, let's call them "webinar.example.org" and "myname.org"... How would I reacha and edit them on my local dev site? Should I just make entries in my host file? Or do I have to make separate virtualhost files, enable them, then point them at the primary directory of the multi-site "example.org"

Thanks again,

DP

EDIT:

Here is the output of my .htaccess file as requested

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
    AddType text/css .css
    AddType text/x-component .htc
    AddType application/x-javascript .js
    AddType application/javascript .js2
    AddType text/javascript .js3
    AddType text/x-js .js4
    AddType video/asf .asf .asx .wax .wmv .wmx
    AddType video/avi .avi
    AddType image/bmp .bmp
    AddType application/java .class
    AddType video/divx .divx
    AddType application/msword .doc .docx
    AddType application/vnd.ms-fontobject .eot
    AddType application/x-msdownload .exe
    AddType image/gif .gif
    AddType application/x-gzip .gz .gzip
    AddType image/x-icon .ico
    AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe
    AddType image/webp .webp
    AddType application/json .json
    AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb
    AddType audio/midi .mid .midi
    AddType video/quicktime .mov .qt
    AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a
    AddType video/mp4 .mp4 .m4v
    AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe
    AddType application/vnd.ms-project .mpp
    AddType application/x-font-otf .otf
    AddType application/vnd.ms-opentype ._otf
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula .odf
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text .odt
    AddType audio/ogg .ogg
    AddType application/pdf .pdf
    AddType image/png .png
    AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx
    AddType audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram
    AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz
    AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf
    AddType application/x-tar .tar
    AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff
    AddType application/x-font-ttf .ttf .ttc
    AddType application/vnd.ms-opentype ._ttf
    AddType audio/wav .wav
    AddType audio/wma .wma
    AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri
    AddType application/font-woff .woff
    AddType application/font-woff2 .woff2
    AddType application/vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw
    AddType application/zip .zip
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
    ExpiresActive On
    ExpiresByType text/css A31536000
    ExpiresByType text/x-component A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/javascript A31536000
    ExpiresByType text/javascript A31536000
    ExpiresByType text/x-js A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/asf A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/avi A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/bmp A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/java A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/divx A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/msword A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-msdownload A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/gif A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-gzip A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/x-icon A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/jpeg A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/webp A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/json A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-access A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/midi A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/quicktime A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/mpeg A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/mp4 A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/mpeg A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-project A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-font-otf A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-opentype A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/ogg A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/pdf A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/png A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/x-realaudio A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/svg+xml A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-tar A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/tiff A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-opentype A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/wav A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/wma A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-write A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/font-woff A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/font-woff2 A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-excel A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/zip A31536000
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext image/svg+xml text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/bmp application/java application/msword application/vnd.ms-fontobject application/x-msdownload image/x-icon image/webp application/json application/vnd.ms-access application/vnd.ms-project application/x-font-otf application/vnd.ms-opentype application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text audio/ogg application/pdf application/vnd.ms-powerpoint image/svg+xml application/x-shockwave-flash image/tiff application/x-font-ttf application/vnd.ms-opentype audio/wav application/vnd.ms-write application/font-woff application/font-woff2 application/vnd.ms-excel
    <IfModule mod_mime.c>
        # DEFLATE by extension
        AddOutputFilter DEFLATE js css htm html xml
    </IfModule>
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch "\.(css|htc|less|js|js2|js3|js4|CSS|HTC|LESS|JS|JS2|JS3|JS4)$">
    FileETag MTime Size
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
         Header unset Set-Cookie
    </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(html|htm|rtf|rtx|svg|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|HTML|HTM|RTF|RTX|SVG|TXT|XSD|XSL|XML)$">
    FileETag MTime Size
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
        Header append Vary User-Agent env=!dont-vary
    </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|webp|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wma|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|WEBP|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WMA|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$">
    FileETag MTime Size
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
         Header unset Set-Cookie
    </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(bmp|class|doc|docx|eot|exe|ico|webp|json|mdb|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|svg|svgz|swf|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|BMP|CLASS|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|ICO|WEBP|JSON|MDB|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW)$">
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
         Header unset Last-Modified
    </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header set Referrer-Policy ""
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Browser Cache
# BEGIN W3TC Page Cache core
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
    RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
    RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} =443
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
    RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} =https [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
    RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Encoding} gzip
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
    RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_ENC:_gzip]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} w3tc_preview [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
    RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_PREVIEW:_preview]
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} =""
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \/$
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !(comment_author|wp\-postpass|w3tc_logged_out|wordpress_logged_in|wptouch_switch_toggle) [NC]
    RewriteCond "%{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}%{ENV:W3TC_PREVIEW}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}" -f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/cpanel-dcv/[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/[A-F0-9]{32}\.txt(?:\ Comodo\ DCV)?$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/pki-validation/(?:\ Ballot169)?
    RewriteRule .* "/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}%{ENV:W3TC_PREVIEW}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}" [L]
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Page Cache core
nightwatch
  • 639
  • Hi, what is the content of /var/www/html/example.org/.htaccess? – pa4080 Jun 30 '20 at 06:24
  • According to the final question, please read this answer: Creating additional Virtual Host Ubuntu Server – pa4080 Jun 30 '20 at 06:31
  • In addition, in order to move one WP site to another location with a new FQDN, I would use a plugin such as Duplicator. – pa4080 Jun 30 '20 at 06:44
  • @pa4080 added the .htaccess file info as requested. thx for the tip on the Duplicator plugin, just trying to save the $70 bucks. I used to be a druapl guy, I have created dev environments before, this one just seems to be a pain because these isn't much support info for WP multisite, which are very convenient, but difficult to maintain. I understand you.. I can create additional virtualhosts and just point them that at example.org as the Document Root and edit /etc/host to have the relative domain names "webinar.example.org" and "myname.org" – nightwatch Jun 30 '20 at 09:12
  • @pa4080 took your advice and I eventually just used the https://backup-guard.com/ plugin to complete my migration (~$20), but of course, while it advertises multisite network support... my two subsites are nowhere to be found..and subsite urls configured to the instrustions you provided above are of course improperly redirecting as well.... quagmire :-( – nightwatch Jul 01 '20 at 06:05
  • Hi, the duplicator I've mentioned has free version that serves well. This redirection could be caused by a cache issue. In your .htaccess has rules that are related to some cache plugin. You could tray to remove them and flush your browser's cache (or use incognito session). – pa4080 Jul 01 '20 at 06:17
  • @pa4080 multisite migration is a paid feature :-( I did my homework... looked at a bunch of migrators... – nightwatch Jul 01 '20 at 06:43

0 Answers0