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Apache

• This document covers the compilation, installation and basic configuration of the Apache webserver. More advanced configuration is covered in many books and online documents. A good place to start is the Apache website.
• If you install this software it is highly recommended that you keep up-to-date with security advisories published on the Apache website.
• I cannot be held responsible for the security of your webserver. The setup I detail is fairly standard and to the best of my knowledge reasonably secure. However, it is up to you to understand the software you are running. You must not rely on this page to secure your webserver for you.
• If you do spot any major security problems that configuring Apache as detailed here may cause, please e-mail me using the link above.

• It is assumed that this installation takes place on a computer on which Core Linux has been successfully installed.
• No software other than the packages bundled with Core Linux have been installed.
• As described in the installation guide, it is assumed that any downloaded application source code is stored in a directory called /apps on the CD-R.
• It is assumed that the Core Linux computer is attached to a network on which there is at least one other machine with internet access and a CD burner. It must also be running a web browser.
• It is assumed that the webpages have been developed on a separate system and are to be copied to the Apache server after configuration. They could of course be created by hand on the Core Linux PC using the nano text editor, but this procedure is beyond the scope of this page, and unlikely to be used by many people. It is assumed that the webpages are stored in a directory called /html on the CD-R.

Preparation

1. Download the Apache source code from httpd.apache.org.
2. Burn the file httpd-2.0.40.tar.gz and your webpages to a CD. This page assumes that the subdirectory /apps is used for the .tar.gz file and that the subdirectory /html is used for the webpages. The CD-ROM can be a multi-session disk.

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Booting

1. Boot your Core Linux PC.
2. Login as root. You will need to enter the password at the prompt.

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Extract the source

1. Place the CD-R in the CD-ROM drive. Mount the CD-ROM drive under /mnt/cdrom.
2. Change to the /apps directory on the CD-R.
3. Copy the httpd-2.0.40.tar.gz file to the directory /usr/src.
4. Change to the /usr/src directory and extract the source from the .tar.gz file.

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Configure and compile

1. Change to the /usr/src/httpd-2.0.40 directory.
2. Run the ./configure script.
3. Run the make program.
4. Run the make program with the argument install.

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Initial Testing

• If you are certain that the networking elements of your Core Linux PC are set up correctly, and that the Apache software was correctly compiled and installed then you may want to skip this section.

1. Add the user nobody.
2. Start the Apache webserver using /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl start.
3. Using your other computer, see if you can access the web server.
4. If the test page loaded successfully then you have correctly compiled and installed the Apache webserver. You may want to spend some time browsing the site to learn about more advanced configuration of the Apache webserver.

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Setting up Apache

• These stages are discretionary, but demonstrate a typical Apache configuration.

1. Change to the /usr/local/apache2/conf directory.
2. Backup httpd.conf to httpd.conf.bak
3. Edit the httpd.conf file.
4. Configure the Server Name. If you are planning to access your webserver using only its IP address then you do not need to complete this stage. Also, you will not be able to access your webserver using the specified address just be including in the configuration file. As there will be no DNS servers referencing it, no potential clients will be able to convert find the IP address for your machine from the given Server Name.
5. Configure the Server Admin e-mail address.
6. Configure the user and group as which Apache will run.
7. Configure the Document Root. This is the directory from which your webpages will be served. The default location is the location of the "Test Page for Apache Installation" files.
8. Save the file and exit the text editor.

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Creating the Document Root

1. Change to the /home directory.
2. Create the directory httpd/html.
3. Add the user and group httpd.
4. Change the ownership of the /home/httpd directory to the user httpd and the group httpd.
5. Change the access permissions of the /home/httpd directory to 0755.

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Copying the webpages

1. Copy the webpages from the CD-R to the Document Root directory.
2. Change to the /home/httpd/html directory.
3. Change the ownership of the files in the /home/httpd/html directory to the user httpd and the group httpd.
4. Change the access permissions of the files in the /home/httpd/html directory to 0755.

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Checking and restarting Apache

1. Check the syntax of your edited httpd.conf file using /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl configtest.
2. Restart Apache using the command /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl restart.

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Stopping Apache

1. Stop the Apache webserver using /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl stop.

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Automating Apache

1. Append the following line to the /etc/rc.d/rc.mu script:
   /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl start
   You can also add comments and echoes for your own information.
2. Insert the following line at the second line of the /etc/rc.d/rc.rb script:
   /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl stop
   You can also add comments and echoes for your own information.
3. Insert the following line at the second line of the /etc/rc.d/rc.ha script:
   /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl stop
   You can also add comments and echoes for your own information.
4. Reboot the system and check that Apache is running.

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