How to Modify the Magento 2 Root Directory?

Magento 2 Guides | Tips | Magento Tutorial |

December 14, 2021

Today, we’re going to teach you guys how to modify the Magento 2 root directory.

Magento 2 is generally installed in the default /var/www/html/magento2 where it contains

/pub/
/setup/
/var/
Other folders

Here, we need to set the root to the /pub/ folder so that it restricts store visitors from accessing the confidential files of Magento 2 from the browser.

And for that, we need to learn is how to change the apache root folder in Magento 2 to serve files from the /pub/ folder.

Below, we will show you exactly how to modify the Magento 2 root directory and serve files from the /pub/ folder.

Steps to Modify the Magento 2 Root Directory

Please follow the below steps to learn how to modify the Magento 2 root directory.

Step 1.

First of all, you need to edit the server config.

Log in to your Magento 2 server.
Edit the virtual host file.

vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Now, you need to add the path to /pub/ folder to the document root directive.

<VirtualHost *:80>

         ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost

         DocumentRoot /var/www/html/magento2ce/pub

         ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log

         CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

         <Directory "/var/www/html">

                     AllowOverride all

         </Directory>

 </VirtualHost>

Then, you need to reload Apache
systemctl restart apache2

Step 2.

After that, you need to update the base URL.

First, log in to your Magento 2 store database:
mysql -u <user> -p
Then, you need to specify the Magento database during the Magento installation
use <database-name>
Lastly, you need to update the base URL by using the following command:

UPDATE core_config_data SET value='http://192.168.33.10' WHERE path='web/unsecure/base_url';

Step 3.

Next, you need to update the env.php file by adding the following information.

'directories' => [

    'document_root_is_pub' => true

]

Step 4.

Now, you need to switch the modes using the Magento CLI tool as shown below:

First, you need to navigate to the Magento 2 installation folder.
Then, you need to switch to the production mode by executing the following command:

bin/magento deploy:mode:set production

bin/magento cache:flush

Now, you need to refresh the browser and switch back to the developer mode by executing the following command:
bin/magento deploy:mode:set developer

bin/magento cache:flush

Finally, refresh the browser again and ensure that the storefront is displayed as expected.

Step 5.

Lastly, you need to enter the hostname of your Magento 2 server in the browser’s address bar.

Then, access the Magento 2 root folder by directing entering the hostname of your Magento 2 server. If you see an access denied message or 404 error, then everything is working fine.

Also read: How to Get Module Directory Path in Magento 2?