How can I change the document root of the Apache server? I basically want localhost to come from /users/spencer/projects directory instead of /var/www.
I ended up figuring it out. Some suggested I change the httpd.conf file, but I ended up finding a file in /etc/apache2/sites-available/default and changed the root directory from /var/www to /home/myusername/projects_folder and that worked.
You need to change the DocumentRoot setting in your httpd.conf file. Chances are it will be under something like /etc/apache2/conf/httpd.conf.
Use your favourite editor (I recommend Vim) and look for the DocumentRoot and change it to /users/spencer/projects. Also look a little further down for a setting that looks like this:
<Directory "/var/www">
You will also want to change what is in the quotes to your new directory. This gives Apache access to read from that directory when a user makes a request that call on it.
Now restart your Apache service (httpd -k restart) and you should be good to go.
Apache 2 site configuration files are now typically kept in /etc/apache2/sites-available/ (Debian, Ubuntu, etc.).