1.8.1. Out of the Box

./configure
cd src
make

It has to be said that if we had read the apache/INSTALL file first, we would not have tried, because it gives an unjustified impression of the complexity involved. However, INSTALL does conceal at least one useful trick: because almost everything can be specified on the command line, you can create a shell script that configures your favorite flavor of Apache, and you never have to edit Configuration again. If you have to make a lot of different versions of Apache, this method has its advantages. However, the result, for some reason, produces an httpd that expects all the default directories to be different from those described in this book -- for instance, /usr/local/apache/etc/httpd.conf instead of /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf. Until this is fixed, we would suggest running:

./configure  -- compat

or relying on the method in the next section.

1.8.2. Semimanual Method

Start off by reading README in the top directory. This tells you how to compile Apache. The first thing it wants you to do is to go to the src subdirectory and read INSTALL. To go further you must have an ANSI C-compliant compiler. A C++ compiler may not work.

It is usually only necessary to edit the Configuration file to select the modules required (see the next section). Alternatively, you can specify them on the command line. The file will then automatically identify the version of Unix, the compiler to be used, the compiler flags, and so forth. It certainly all worked for us under FreeBSD without any trouble at all.

Configuration has five kinds of things in it:

• Comment lines starting with "#"

• Rules starting with the word Rule

• Commands to be inserted into Makefile , starting with nothing

• Module selection lines beginning with AddModule, which specify the modules you want compiled and enabled

• Optional module selection lines beginning with %Module, which specify modules that you want compiled but not enabled until you issue the appropriate directive

1.8.3. Modules

AddModule modules/standard/mod_env.o

Sets up environment variables to be passed to CGI scripts.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_log_config.o

Determines logging configuration.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_mime_magic.o

Determines the type of a file.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_mime.o

Maps file extensions to content types.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_negotiation.o

Allows content selection based on Accept headers.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_status.o (WD)

Gives access to server status information.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_info.o

Gives access to configuration information.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_include.o

Translates server-side include statements in CGI texts.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_autoindex.o

Indexes directories without an index file.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_dir.o

Handles requests on directories and directory index files.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_cgi.o

Executes CGI scripts.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_asis.o

Implements .asis file types.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_imap.o

Executes imagemaps.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_actions.o

Specifies CGI scripts to act as handlers for particular file types.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_speling.o

Corrects common spelling mistakes in requests.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_userdir.o

Selects resource directories by username and a common prefix.

AddModule modules/proxy/libproxy.o

Allows Apache to run as a proxy server; should be commented out if not needed.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_alias.o

Provides simple URL translation and redirection.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_rewrite.o (WD)

Rewrites requested URIs using specified rules.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_access.o

Provides access control.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_auth.o

Provides authorization control.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_auth_anon.o (WD)

Provides FTP-style anonymous username password authentication.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_auth_db.o

Manages a database of passwords; alternative to mod_auth_dbm.o.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_cern_meta.o (WD)

Implements metainformation files compatible with the CERN web server.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_digest.o (WD)

Implements HTTP digest authentication; more secure than the others.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_expires.o (WD)

Applies Expires headers to resources.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_headers.o (WD)

Sets arbitrary HTTP response headers.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_usertrack.o (WD)

Tracks users by means of cookies. It is not necessary to use cookies.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_unique_id.o

Generates an ID for each hit. May not work on all systems.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_so.o

Loads modules at runtime. Experimental.

AddModule modules/standard/mod_setenvif.o

Sets environment variables based on header fields in the request.

Here are the modules we commented out, and why:

We have left out any modules described as experimental. Any disparity between the directives listed in this book and the list obtained by starting Apache with the -h flag is probably caused by the errant directive having moved out of experimental status since we went to press.

...
<IfModule mod_log_config.c>
LogFormat "customers: host %h, logname %l, user %u, time %t, request %r, status %s, bytes %b"
</IfModule>
...

The module directives are as follows (it will become clear later on how to use them, but they are printed here for convenience):

1.8.4. Configuration Settings and Rules

EXTRA_CFLAGS=
EXTRA_LDFLAGS=
EXTRA_LIBS=
EXTRA_INCLUDES=

Configure will try to guess your operating system and compiler; therefore, unless things go wrong, you won't need to uncomment and give values to:

#CC=
#OPTIM=-02
#RANLIB=

The rules in the Configuration file allow you to adapt for a few exotic configuration problems. The syntax of a rule in Configuration is as follows:

Rule RULE =value

The possible values are as follows:

yes

Configure does what is required.

default

Configure makes a best guess.

Any other value is ignored.

The Rules are as follows:

1.8.5. Making Apache

% ./Configure

You should see something like this -- bearing in mind that we're using FreeBSD:

Using config file: Configuration
Creating Makefile
 + configured for FreeBSD platform
 + setting C compiler to gcc
 + Adding selected modules
    o status_module uses ConfigStart/End:
    o dbm_auth_module uses ConfigStart/End:
    o db_auth_module uses ConfigStart/End:
    o so_module uses ConfigStart/End:
 + doing sanity check on compiler and options
Creating Makefile in support
Creating Makefile in main
Creating Makefile in ap
Creating Makefile in regex
Creating Makefile in os/unix
Creating Makefile in modules/standard
Creating Makefile in modules/proxy

Then type:

% make

When you run make, the compiler is set in motion, and streams of reassuring messages appear on the screen. However, things may go wrong that you have to fix, although this situation can appear more alarming than it really is. For instance, in an earlier attempt to install Apache on an SCO machine, we received the following compile error:

Cannot open include file 'sys/socket.h'

Clearly (since sockets are very TCP/IPish things), this had to do with TCP/IP, which we had not installed: we did so. Not that this is any big deal, but it illustrates the sort of minor problem that arises. Not everything turns up where it ought to. If you find something that really is not working properly, it is sensible to make a bug report via the Bug Report link in the Apache Server Project main menu. But do read the notes there. Make sure that it is a real bug, not a configuration problem, and look through the known bug list first so as not to waste everyone's time.

The result of make was the executable httpd. If you run it with:

% ./httpd

it complains that it:

could not open document config file /usr/local/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

This is not surprising because, at the moment, being where we are, the Config file doesn't exist. Before we are finished, we will become very familiar with this file. It is perhaps unfortunate that it has a name so similar to the Configuration file we have been dealing with here, because it is quite different. We hope that the difference will become apparent later on.

1.8.6. Unix Binary Releases

1.8.7. Installing Apache Under Unix