Red Antigua - Apache setup

This tutorial describes how to setup Apache with DSO (Dynamic Shared Object) support, and how to add mod_perl and mod_php as DSOs.
It also describes how to configure Apache to be used for software development on the local host (configuration not recommended for a public server).

Install

On FreeBSD:
Use any port of your taste: http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/ports.cgi?query=apache&stype=name
For example Apache 2.2:

cd /usr/ports/www/apache22
make install clean

or:

Download Apache from www.apache.org, build it and install it (as root):

gunzip -c apache_X.X.XX.tar.gz|tar -xf -
cd apache_X.X.XX
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache --enable-rule=SHARED_CORE --enable-module=so
make
make install

Apache is built with DSO support, which means that we can install additional modules afterwards, without rebuilding Apache itself.

Install mod_perl from perl.apache.org this way:

gunzip -c mod_perl-X.XX.tar.gz|tar -xf -
cd mod_perl-X.XX
perl Makefile.PL \
USE_APXS=1 \
WITH_APXS=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs \
EVERYTHING=1
make && make test && make install

Install mod_php from www.php.net this way:
(If you want PHP with MySQL-support, first install MySQL.)

gunzip -c php-4.X.X.tar.gz |tar -xf -
cd php-4.X.X
./configure --with-mysql=/usr/local --with-apxs=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs
make && make install

Configure

As said in /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf:
"If you use Apache strictly for local testing and development, you may use 127.0.0.1 as the server name."
As that is how we will use Apache, we set the directive in /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf:

ServerName 127.0.0.1

I normally log in as user kuuse, and I prefer to edit my files in /home/kuuse.
If we want Apache to have write access to files in /home/kuuse, it must be run as user and group kuuse:

#User nobody
#Group nobody
User kuuse
Group kuuse

By default, only root has write access to DocumentRoot (/usr/local/apache/htdocs).
So let's move DocumentRoot inside /home/kuuse:

#DocumentRoot "/usr/local/apache/htdocs"
DocumentRoot "/home/kuuse/www"

and a bit further down in httpd.conf:

#<Directory "/usr/local/apache/htdocs">
<Directory "/home/kuuse/www">

We also have to change ScriptAlias. I use two different directories for this:

#ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/usr/local/apache/cgi-bin/"
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/home/kuuse/www/cgi-bin/"
ScriptAlias /scgi-bin/ "/home/kuuse/www/scgi-bin/

and a bit further down (I want to symlink scripts sometimes):

#<Directory "/usr/local/apache/cgi-bin">
<Directory "/home/kuuse/www/cgi-bin">  
    AllowOverride None
    #Options None
    Options FollowSymlinks
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all 
</Directory> 
<Directory "/home/kuuse/www/scgi-bin">  
    AllowOverride None
    #Options None
    Options FollowSymlinks
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

Finally, enable php scripts (add php3 extension to run old scripts):

<IfModule mod_dir.c>
    #DirectoryIndex index.html
    DirectoryIndex index.html index.php index.php3
</IfModule>

#AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
#AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

NOTE: This is not a secure configuration. So why didn't I install Apache with PREFIX=/home/kuuse? Well, the day I want to use my box as a public server, I just throw away this httpd.conf and configures a new one.

Run

Start Apache from the command line (as root):

$ /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start: httpd started

You should now be able to edit any CGI-script, let's say /home/kuuse/www/cgi-bin/my_script.pl, and run it as

$ opera http://www.redantigua.com/cgi-bin/my_script.pl

provided that you configured DNS as I did.

To start apache at boot and stop it at shutdown, create the script /usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache.sh as root:

#!/bin/sh
#
case $1 in
 start)
    /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start
    ;;
 stop)
    /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl stop
    ;;
 *)
 echo "usage: $0 (start|stop)"
    ;;
esac

Virtual Hosts

To run various web sites on one server, you have to uncomment the NameVirtualHost option in httpd.conf, and then add as many sites as you want.
Note that when Virtual Hosts are enabled, the main Apache site configuration will be disabled.
Enable NameVirtualHost:

NameVirtualHost *
NameVirtualHost *:443

Configure the site www.redantigua.com:

<VirtualHost *>
    ServerName www.redantigua.com
    DocumentRoot /usr/local/apache/htdocs
    ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/usr/local/apache/cgi-bin/"
    <Directory "/usr/local/apache/cgi-bin">
        AllowOverride None
        Options FollowSymLinks
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog /usr/local/apache/logs/error_log
    CustomLog /usr/local/apache/logs/access_log common
</VirtualHost>

Configure the site bengt.dennis.com:

<VirtualHost *>
    ServerName bengt.dennis.com
    DocumentRoot /usr/local/apache/bengt
    ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/usr/local/apache/bengt-bin/"
    <Directory "/usr/local/apache/bengt-bin">
        AllowOverride None
        Options FollowSymLinks
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog /usr/local/apache/logs/bengt_log
    CustomLog /usr/local/apache/logs/bengt_log common
</VirtualHost>

Last modified: Thu Aug 23 15:07:32 Romance Daylight Time 2007