WAMP Cannot access on local network 403 Forbidden

Question

I know this question has been asked a lot of times

I followed Most of the answers in the internet But I still get the same Message

403 Forbidden

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

It is weird that when I access using the same PC to localhost:1234 it runs normally but if I access using my IP address 192.168.0.188:1234

Also which is really weird is that I tried to install WAMP on other PC and without any configuration I could access to that PC.

So I thought it's because McAfee and Firewall so I open port on Widows and McAfee and nothing changed also I turned off Firewall and still nothing change.

Then for no reason I opened port through the Router “port forwarding” and still nothing changed.

I don't think that it's because my configuration in WAMP since I am still able to get this 403 Forbidden Message and also by using other PC without any configuration I could access it.

Both PCs are setup like this:

Windows 8 Pro

• WAMP Wampserver: 2.4
• Apache Version: 2.4.4
• PHP Version: 5.4.12
• MySQL Version: 5.6.12

The accessible PC uses Microsoft Security Essentials.

The inaccessible PC uses McAfee Internet Security.

I tried to turn off WAMP and start IIS For Microsoft Server (I works perfectly From any PC) but WAMP is still not not working

I followed these tutorial:

• How to Access WAMP Server in LAN or WAN
• Install & Setup Virtual Host Guide for WAMP
• Install & Setup LAN & Worldwide Access Guide for WAMP

And the Stack Overflow answers here:

• Cannot access wamp server on local network
• WAMP 403 Forbidden message on Windows 7

Answer 1

If you are using WAMPServer 3 See bottom of answer

For WAMPServer versions <= 2.5

By default Wampserver comes configured as securely as it can, so Apache is set to only allow access from the machine running wamp. Afterall it is supposed to be a development server and not a live server.

Also there was a little error released with WAMPServer 2.4 where it used the old Apache 2.2 syntax instead of the new Apache 2.4 syntax for access rights.

You need to change the security setting on Apache to allow access from anywhere else, so edit your httpd.conf file.

Change this section from :

#   onlineoffline tag - don't remove
     Order Deny,Allow
     Deny from all
     Allow from 127.0.0.1
     Allow from ::1
     Allow from localhost

To :

#   onlineoffline tag - don't remove
    Require local
    Require ip 192.168.0

The Require local allows access from these ip's 127.0.0.1 & localhost & ::1.

The statement Require ip 192.168.0 will allow you to access the Apache server from any ip on your internal network. Also it will allow access using the server mechines actual ip address from the server machine, as you are trying to do.

WAMPServer 3 has a different method

In version 3 and > of WAMPServer there is a Virtual Hosts pre defined for localhost so you have to make the access privilage amendements in the Virtual Host definition config file

First dont amend the httpd.conf file at all, leave it as you found it.

Using the menus, edit the httpd-vhosts.conf file.

It should look like this :

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName localhost
    DocumentRoot D:/wamp/www
    <Directory  "D:/wamp/www/">
        Options +Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Require local
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Amend it to

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName localhost
    DocumentRoot D:/wamp/www
    <Directory  "D:/wamp/www/">
        Options +Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Hopefully you will have created a Virtual Host for your project and not be using the wamp\www folder for your site. In that case leave the localhost definition alone and make the change only to your Virtual Host.

Dont forget to restart Apache after making this change

Answer 2

For Apache 2.4.9

in addition, look at the httpd-vhosts.conf file in C:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.4.9\conf\extra

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName localhost
ServerAlias localhost
DocumentRoot C:/wamp/www
<Directory "C:/wamp/www/">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride all
Require local
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Change to:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName localhost
ServerAlias localhost
DocumentRoot C:/wamp/www
<Directory "C:/wamp/www/">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride all
Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

changing from "Require local" to "Require all granted" solved the error 403 in my local network

Answer 3

I got this answer from here. and its works for me

Require local

Change to

Require all granted
Order Deny,Allow
Allow from all

Answer 4

To expand on RiggsFolly’s answer—or for anyone who is facing the same issue but is using Apache 2.2 or below—this format should work well:

Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 127.0.0.1 ::1
Allow from localhost
Allow from 192.168
Allow from 10
Satisfy Any

For more details on the format changes for Apache 2.4, the official Upgrading to 2.2 from 2.4 page is pretty clear & concise. Key point being:

The old access control idioms should be replaced by the new authentication mechanisms, although for compatibility with old configurations, the new module mod_access_compat is provided.

Which means, system admins around the world don’t necessarily have to panic about changing Apache 2.2 configs to be 2.4 compliant just yet.

Answer 5

For those who may be running WAMP 3.1.4 with Apache 2.4.35 on Windows 10 (64-bit)

If you're having issues with external devices connecting to your localhost, and receiving a 403 Forbidden error, it may be an issue with your httpd.conf and the httpd-vhosts.conf files and the "Require local" line they both have within them.

[Before] httpd-vhosts.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
 ServerName localhost
 ServerAlias localhost
 DocumentRoot "${INSTALL_DIR}/www"
 <Directory "${INSTALL_DIR}/www/">
   Options +Indexes +Includes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
   AllowOverride All
   Require local     <--- This is the offending line.
 </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

[After] httpd-vhosts.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
 ServerName localhost
 ServerAlias localhost
 DocumentRoot "${INSTALL_DIR}/www"
 <Directory "${INSTALL_DIR}/www/">
   Options +Indexes +Includes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
   AllowOverride All
 </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Additionally, you'll need to update your httpd.conf file as follows:

[Before] httpd.conf

DocumentRoot "${INSTALL_DIR}/www"
<Directory "${INSTALL_DIR}/www/">
#   onlineoffline tag - don't remove

    Require local  #<--- This is the offending line.
</Directory>

[After] httpd.conf

DocumentRoot "${INSTALL_DIR}/www"
<Directory "${INSTALL_DIR}/www/">
#   onlineoffline tag - don't remove

#   Require local
</Directory>

Make sure to restart your WAMP server via (System tray at bottom-right of screen --> left-click WAMP icon --> "Restart all Services").

Then refresh your machine's browser on localhost to ensure you've still got proper connectivity there, and then refresh your other external devices that you were previously attempting to connect.

Disclaimer: If you're in a corporate setting, this is untested from a security perspective; please ensure you're keenly aware of your local development environment's access protocols before implementing any sweeping changes.