Apache redirects to wrong virtual host - apache

Question

I am trying to set up two virtual hosts, one for my website and another for my nextcloud instance. This is what my config files look like:
/etc/apache2/site-available/000-default.conf
<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost _default_:80>
ServerName domain.com
ServerAlias www.domain.com
DocumentRoot "/var/www/html"
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/nc-access.log combined
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/nc-error.log
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
</VirtualHost>
<Directory /var/www/html/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
<IfModule mod_dav.c>
Dav off
</IfModule>
LimitRequestBody 0
SSLRenegBufferSize 10486000
</Directory>
</IfModule>
/etc/apache2/site-available/nextcloud.conf
<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost _default_:443>
ServerName nextcloud.domain.com
DocumentRoot "/var/www/nextcloud"
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/nc-access.log combined
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/nc-error.log
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
</VirtualHost>
<Directory /var/www/nextcloud/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
<IfModule mod_dav.c>
Dav off
</IfModule>
LimitRequestBody 0
SSLRenegBufferSize 10486000
</Directory>
</IfModule>
Output of apache2ctl -S, showing the activated hosts:
VirtualHost configuration:
*:80 domain.com (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf:2)
*:443 nextcloud.domain.com (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/nextcloud.conf:2)
ServerRoot: "/etc/apache2"
Main DocumentRoot: "/var/www/html"
Main ErrorLog: "/var/log/apache2/error.log"
Mutex ssl-cache: using_defaults
Mutex default: dir="/var/run/apache2/" mechanism=default
Mutex watchdog-callback: using_defaults
Mutex rewrite-map: using_defaults
Mutex ssl-stapling-refresh: using_defaults
Mutex ssl-stapling: using_defaults
Mutex proxy: using_defaults
PidFile: "/var/run/apache2/apache2.pid"
Define: DUMP_VHOSTS
Define: DUMP_RUN_CFG
User: name="www-data" id=33
Group: name="www-data" id=33
When I enter domain.com in my browser, I am expecting it to load /var/www/html, my website. However, it loads my nextcloud (/var/www/nextcloud) instance. What do I do to make domain.com redirect to my website instead of my nextcloud instance?

Answer 1

You should modify your configurations like this (explanation below):
/etc/apache2/site-available/000-default.conf
<VirtualHost _default_:80>
ServerName domain.com
ServerAlias www.domain.com
DocumentRoot "/var/www/html"
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/80_nc-access.log combined
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/80_nc-error.log
<Directory /var/www/html/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
<IfModule mod_dav.c>
Dav off
</IfModule>
LimitRequestBody 0
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
/etc/apache2/site-available/nextcloud.conf
<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost _default_:443>
ServerName nextcloud.domain.com
DocumentRoot "/var/www/nextcloud"
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/443_nc-access.log combined
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/443_nc-error.log
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
<Directory /var/www/nextcloud/>
Options +FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
<IfModule mod_dav.c>
Dav off
</IfModule>
LimitRequestBody 0
SSLRenegBufferSize 10486000
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>
Changes
In your :80 VirtualHost, you should not have any SSL directives. Port 80 is for http:// connections. So I remove everything that had to do with SSL.
In your :443 VirtualHost, there you want to have your SSL directives. So keep those.
<Directory> directives should be included in the <VirtualHost> sections. These only make sense in the context of your <VirtualHost> anyway. There should be a generic <Directory> in httpd.conf that blocks direct access to all directories anyway.
I suggest you use separate log files for each <VirtualHost>. It is a good habit to have, trust me I have had Apache server with 20 hosts, it is impossible to figure out which log entry is for which. Also you might want to put your SSL in Debug log to troubleshoot something...
To reach the first <VirtualHost>, enter http://example.com
To reach the second <VirtualHost>, enter https://example.com
There is no redirection here. Just <Virtualhost> names and ports assignment. Apache looks at what you asked for (the site in the address bar of your browser) and uses the <VirtualHost> that best matches your request. If it cannot find a specific one, it will use the first one by default.
That explains why if you try https://example.com, Apache will select the <VirtualHost> based on the port. Here it is port 443 (https://). So Apache will respond with your cloud <VirtualHost>. The port is the deciding factor here, not the domain name.