Apache 2 `UserDir` problem in OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) Server after upgrade from Lion (10.7)

Question

I had a Mac under OS X Lion. I upgrade it to Mountain Lion, and buy the OS X Server software in the AppStore.

Since the beginning, I use the Apache version bundled in Mac OS, and it work fine.

But after solving some problems (like the change of location of the main directory from /Library/WebServer/Documents to /Library/Server/Web/Data/Sites/Default), I can't figure out how to configure UserDir to work again!

As explained here:

Please note - the Mountain Lion install removes the contents of the directory
/private/etc/apache2/users
so if you counted on those configuration files working for you, oops.

So, I follow advices found here, and finally my file /etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf look like this:

#
# UserDir: The name of the directory that is appended onto a user's home
# directory if a ~user request is received.  Note that you must also set
# the default access control for these directories, as in the example below.
#
UserDir Sites

#
# Users might not be in /Users/*/Sites, so use user-specific config files.
#
Include /private/etc/apache2/users/*.conf
<IfModule bonjour_module>
       RegisterUserSite customized-users
</IfModule>

<Directory "/Users/*/Sites/">
Options Indexes
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

But, event after some sudo apachectl restart or reboot, impossible to acces again to my UserDir /Users/utilisateur/Sites/ through http://127.0.0.1/~utilisateur

Can you provide me some advice for the configuration please?
Remember: I've installed the Server software from the AppStore.

Thank you in advance!

[EDIT] I also tried these recommendations: Mountain Lion, Apache, Sites folder, htaccess and mod_rewrite, but it dosen't help…

[EDIT 2] In response to the possible duplicate with "How do I get my user directory working for web sharing again?", I will say that in my case, it's not a permission denied, but a 404 Not Found. It is probably due to the concomitant installation of the OS X Server application from the AppStore, so, it's a distinct issue IMHO…
In fact, I've tested the solution provided, and it does not work at all for me.

Answer 1

It seems that the Apache configuration files in /etc/apache2 are not at all considered by the Apache version provided by the Server application.

With the Server application, all configurations are in /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2

As the ReadMe.txt of this directory says, the default apache configuration file is httpd_server_app.conf, and I just had to uncomment the line Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf in this file!

problem solved.

[EDIT] As notified by Kristopher Johnson, it may also be necessary to uncomment LoadModule apple_userdir_module

Answer 2

the answer is as follow:

you must to check if you have a file with the name .conf in this directory:

/private/etc/apache2/users/

by default I think you have the Guess.conf file with this content:

# cat /private/etc/apache2/users/Guest.conf 
<Directory "/Users/Guest/Sites/">
    Options Indexes MultiViews
    AllowOverride None
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

If you have the user "macuser" and you want to use localhost/~macuser URL, then you must create the macuser.conf with the correct information (Sites directory, probably /Users/macuser/Sites). After the change you need to restart the apache process:

sudo apachectl restart