Getting a 403 forbidden error for simplesaml after Apache upgrade

Question

My simplesaml was working perfectly until I upgraded Apache to 2.4.6 on Ubuntu

The error I was getting :

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /simplesaml/ on this server.

Answer 1

The instructions for installing simplesamlphp on Apache only require an alias for the simplesamlphp directory :

https://simplesamlphp.org/docs/stable/simplesamlphp-install#section_6

But for Apache 2.4.6+ the security has changed - it worked for me when I added a Directory directive. eg:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mywebsite.dev
    DocumentRoot /home/myuser/www/mywebsite/

    <Directory /home/myuser/www/mywebsite/>
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    Alias /simplesaml /var/simplesamlphp/www

    <Directory /var/simplesamlphp/www/>
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

</VirtualHost>