How to Install AWStats with Apache on Debian 12

AWStats (Advanced Web Statistics) is an open-source web analytics tool that analyzes and generates comprehensive reports about web server log files. It provides detailed information about various aspects of web traffic and visitor behavior on a website.

It’s important to note that AWStats relies on server log files, so it may not provide real-time data and requires proper configuration to work effectively.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install AWStats on Debian 12 OS.

Step 1: Update Operating System

Update your Debian 12 operating system to the latest version with the following command:

# apt update && apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Apache webserver

You can install it via apt package manager by executing the following command.

# apt install apache2

Verify the status of the Apache service using systemctl status command:

# systemctl status apache2

Output:

● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running)
       Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
    Process: 928 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/apachectl start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 933 (apache2)
      Tasks: 56 (limit: 2273)
     Memory: 11.2M
        CPU: 1.891s
     CGroup: /system.slice/apache2.service
             ├─933 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             ├─934 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             ├─935 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
             └─936 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start

Step 3: Install AWStats

To install AWStats, you need to run the following command:

# apt install awstats

This command will start the installation process. It will resolve dependencies, run a transaction check, and install the necessary packages.

To get GeoIP information install the following Perl packages:

# apt install libgeo-ip-perl libgeo-ipfree-perl

Step 4: Configure AWStats

Once the installation routine is completed, edit the file awstats.conf as follows:

LogFile="/var/log/apache2/access.log"
LogFormat=1
SiteDomain="your-domain.com"
HostAliases=”www.your-domain.com your-domain.com”
DNSLookup=0
AllowFullYearView=3
LoadPlugin="tooltips"

Step 5: Configure Apache for AWStats

Open the Apache configuration file /etc/apache2/conf-available/awstats.conf :

# nano /etc/apache2/conf-available/awstats.conf

Paste the content as shown below:

Alias /awstatsclasses "/usr/share/awstats/lib/"
Alias /awstats-icon "/usr/share/awstats/icon/"
Alias /awstatscss "/usr/share/doc/awstats/examples/css"
ScriptAlias /awstats/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch

Save and exit the configuration file.

To enable this conf run the command:

# ln -s /etc/apache2/conf-available/awstats.conf /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/awstats.conf

Then enable the "cgi" module in Apache:

# /usr/sbin/a2enmod cgi

To implement the changes, restart Apache webserver:

# systemctl restart apache2

To implement the changes, restart Apache webserver:

# systemctl restart apache2

You can see how the installation is progressing by pointing your web browser to:

# http://your-domain.com/cgi-bin/awstats.pl

The top line displays the time when statistics were updated. It probably reads ‘Never updated’. It is all right, you just have to manually run the first update.

# /usr/lib/cgi-bin/awstats.pl -config=your-domain.com -update

After it is done, if it is successful, with no errors, you should get some output like:

Create/Update database for config "/etc/awstats/awstats.conf" by AWStats version 7.8 (build 20200416)
From data in log file "/var/log/apache2/access.log"...
Phase 1 : First bypass old records, searching new record...
Searching new records from beginning of log file...
Phase 2 : Now process new records (Flush history on disk after 20000 hosts)...
Jumped lines in file: 0
Parsed lines in file: 4258
 Found 0 dropped records,
 Found 0 comments,
 Found 0 blank records,
 Found 0 corrupted records,
 Found 0 old records,
 Found 4258 new qualified records.

Step 6: Secure Your AWStats via .htaccess

A basic, simple way of restricting access is to set up a http password. Open your apache2 configuration file

# nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/your-domain.com.conf

Paste the content as shown below:

<Directory /usr/lib/cgi-bin/>
    Options +ExecCGI
    AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
    AuthType Basic
    AuthName 'Password Protected Area'
    AuthUserFile '/usr/lib/cgi-bin/.htpasswd'
    Require valid-user
</Directory>

If you don’t  have a password that can be used for this purpose, the command htpasswd can do it for you.

# htpasswd -cb /usr/lib/cgi-bin/.htpasswd admin Str0ngPassw0rd

Comments and Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed AWStats with Apache on your Debian 12 OS.

For additional help or useful information, we recommend you to check  the official AWStats documentation.