index.php not loading by default

I have just installed CentOS, Apache and PHP. When I visit my site http://example.com/myapp/, it says "forbidden". By default it's not loading the index.php file.

When I visit http://example.com/myapp/index.php, it works fine.

Any idea how to fix that issue?

Apache needs to be configured to recognize index.php as an index file.

The simplest way to accomplish this..

1. Create a .htaccess file in your web root.

2. Add the line...

DirectoryIndex index.php

Here is a resource regarding the matter...
http://www.twsc.biz/twsc_hosting_htaccess.php

Edit: I'm assuming apache is configured to allow .htaccess files. If it isn't, you'll have to modify the setting in apache's configuration file (httpd.conf)

While adding 'DirectoryIndex index.php' to a .htaccess file may work,

NOTE:

In general, you should never use .htaccess files

This is quoted from http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/howto/htaccess.html
Although this refers to an older version of apache, I believe the principle still applies.

Adding the following to your httpd.conf (if you have access to it) is considered better form, causes less server overhead and has the exact same effect:

<Directory /myapp>
DirectoryIndex index.php
</Directory>

Edit: At the time of edit, the v1.3 documentation is down. The v2.4 documentation (current version at time of edit) has a similar stance:

In general, use of .htaccess files should be avoided when possible. Any configuration that you would consider putting in a .htaccess file, can just as effectively be made in a <Directory> section in your main server configuration file.