Question

So I am trying to upload my files to a local apache on my Ubuntu Server. I installed apache2 and I am now getting 403 forbidden all the time.

I have been searching and looking for some answers as to why on stackoverflow and elsewhere so far, it has yielded no results.

Files in /etc/apache2 is: apache2.conf (this is big), evvars, magic, ports.conf and httpd.conf (this one was empty, nothing inside it).

Also once I have fixed this, a bit off-topic, but can I change it so that instead of typing the local ip-address or localhost so that I could type something like mysite.local/index.php?

Answer 1

If I guess right than your directory you are trying to access are accessable from the web.

You need a <Directory> directive which allows the apache to access that directory:

<Directory /your/path>
  Order Deny,Allow
  Deny from All
</Directory> 

It is normal that the httpd.conf is empty. It is deprecated so you should not use it.

If you use linux also check that the user of your apache can access that directory:
The user is normally defined in the /etc/apache2/envvars file in a line like export APACHE_RUN_USER=www-data. So if the apache runs under the user www-data the directory should be accessable by the user www-data or maybe better directly own that directory/files.