Enable mod_userdir, which is installed by default with Apache2.
sudo a2enmod userdir
Create
public_html directory with the user's permissions
mkdir public_html
I don't know if that is a bug or a feature. Edit file /etc/apache2/mods-available/php5.conf and comment out lines
...IfModule mod_userdir.c...
...Directory /home/*/public_html..
...php_admin_value engine Off
.../Directory
.../IfModule...
Restart Apache Finally, you should restart Apache.
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
You can test with http://localhost/~username or http://ip-address-of-system/~username