Apache improperly redirecting to localhost

[dmbyer]

I am setting up a web server to run a few sites, including a blog (wordpress). I am using a straight default installation of Apache, PHP, and MySql. The only thing I have done for configuration is disable SELinux (at least for now, since it was causing me problems until I am more comfortable configuring it) and change the wordpress config file (detailed below).

Directly from phpinfo() running (named index.php under root directory, /var/www/html) are some important settings you may want to know:
System: localhost.localdomain 2.6.25.11-97.fc9.i686
Virtual Directory Support: disabled
Apache Version: Apache/2.2.8 (Fedora)
Hostname/Port: localhost.localdomain:0
HTTP_HOST: 76.17.222.27
SERVER_NAME: 76.17.222.27
SERVER_ADDR: 192.168.0.100

I see that SERVER_ADDR is set to the machine's IP on the LAN, so I am wondering if that is having an effect on it? I am worried though that if I change settings like that to point to the external IP, scripts running on the server will make requests out to the ISP then bounce back rather than just accessing straight on the machine.

The behavior, is that when I enter the address in my web browser from a remote location (feel free to access this too http://76.17.222.27/wordpress/) it begins to execute something, but then the next request the browser makes is to 192.186.0.100 which obviously is not going to work (but does when I am on my LAN).

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on this? I'm fairly new to administration, but am fairly savvy. Research has turned up little to nothing on this issue.

I also want to note that my wp-config.php (wordpress configuration) has a setting for the host, and it was set to localhost, but when changed to my external IP, the results are the same (even after a reboot). The setting is currently set to:
define('DB_HOST', '76.17.222.27'); // was 'localhost' with same results

[marcrblevins]

For my wordpress, the only thing I changed in /etc/wordpress/wp-config.php was my login info for the database, nothing else. If I type in 'localhost/wordpress in Firefox, it automatically changed to 'kiriyamablevins.dyndns.org/workpress' on the fly. No harm there.

The only thing that comes to play with Apache is:

[marc@kiriyamablevins conf]$ diff httpd.conf.original httpd.conf
264c264
< #ServerName www.example.com:80
---
> ServerName kiriyamablevins.dyndns.org:80

Go ahead name your rig and use some dns like www.dyndns.org to point to your rig with your supplied static IP address. You can use dynamic IP address and use ddclient with dyndns.

[dmbyer]

Thanks for the reply. I checked my httpd.conf and saw I had not set the servername, so I changed it to my external IP (since I am not set up with dns yet) and uncommented the line. I then restarted the service, and attempted to connect again (this is with also using my external IP in the wp-config). It hung up trying to connect to my external IP now for some reason. It eventually gave me an error:

Error establishing a database connection.

Next, I changed the wp-config to use 'localhost' for the hostname, and tried again. It at least worked this time, but only because I am now on my LAN. It is still redirecting the IP to 192.168.0.100.

Do I need to configure my hostnames in some way in /etc/hosts? Perhaps add some sort of new hostname that points to my external IP and use that for Apache and wordpress?

Currently, the only thing I see there (/etc/hosts) is the localhost entry pointing at 127.0.0.1. I am a bit confused, because in the browser, I am being redirected to 192.168.0.100, indicating it is acquiring an IP from somewhere else (not the hostname), otherwise it would be connecting to 127.0.0.1. It seems to be looking right at the ethernet device, which is why I am concerned it is a problem with Apache (I can't see PHP code using anything other than hostnames or hard IPs).

Thanks for your help!

EDIT:
Just realized that if it is redirecting to an external IP address, then the request is boucing out and coming back. SQL does not use port 80 (and this is where it's failing, hence the database connection error). I have my firewall up which would be blocking that. I am going to try disabling the firewall to see if the issue resolves.

EDIT:
Unfortunately disabling the firewall did not help, so still back to square one.

[dmbyer]

Ok, I believe I have this solved, though technically I have not tried it from an external IP address. I went in to the WordPress Settings, and found a section for your blog URL. It was set to 192.168.0.100. I changed it to my external IP address, and now it works (and keeps the external IP in the address bar).

So, theoretically, this should be working externally now.

Steps for resolution:
Ensure Wordpress has the external IP/Domain name for the site URL
Ensure Apache ServerName directive is set to the external IP/Domain name
Ensure wp-config.php has localhost set for the SQL Host location

Steps for prevention:
RTFM

[geeksdatabase]

dmbyer,

Thanks alot. You saved my day. The solution worked for me. Even though I didn't understand the solution completely. I really appreciate your post.

RTFM:
I don't know if there is any manual that explains this. Let me know where you found this information. That might help me in my future experiments.

[icydog]

If Apache's UseCanonicalName directive is on, then Apache will redirect requests that it gets to the ServerName of the appropriate server.