Hide Notes 

Slide 1: WMB-520: Web Technology Web Server Setup Meeting 2: Apache Installation and Initial Configuration Rutgers University Center for Applied Computing Technology Instructor: Chris Uriarte Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 2: Apache • The world’s leading web server software (powers 65% of all web sites in the world) • Runs on UNIX and Windows platforms. UNIX version is the most stable and most widely used. • Configuration is the same on all UNIX platforms, varies slightly on Windows systems. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 3: How Do I Get Apache? • There are currently two supported releases of Apache: v1.3 and v2.0. Version 1.3 is the most widely used (95% of all Apache installation), but version 2.0 will become more popular over the next 12-18 months. – There are many subversions released throughout the lifetime of a major version (i.e. 1.3.10) • You can download it from the Apache Website: http://www.apache.org/dist/ – Binary Versions – software that is ready-to-use for your specific operating system platform – Source Code – the computer code used to build Apache. You must use a compiler to build the code. • You can buy a Unix distribution that comes bundled with Apache prebuilt (most Linux distributions include Apache by default). Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 4: Installing Apache from Source • Allows you to build the Apache binaries from scratch. • Optimizes Apache for the platform on which it will run. • Allows you to specify special server features at build-time. • You need a C compiler (i.e. gcc) installed on your system to compile source code, which is included in most UNIX distributions. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 5: Apache Modules • Apache has a modular structure. Only a core set of features exists within the main Apache executable. • Apache Modules provide additional functionalityto Apache. • Example Module: mod_speling: The Speling module attempts to correct misspellings of URLs that users might have entered, namely by checking capitalization or by allowing up to one misspelling (character insertion, omission, transposition, typo). Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 6: Apache: Static vs. Dynamic Servers • Static Servers – Must decide at build time what modules to include. Recompiling will be necessary to add modules later. • Dynamic Servers – Allows you to utilize new modules without recompiling apache. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 7: Static vs. Dynamic Apache • Building a static (standard) Apache distribution limits you to the modules you choose when you compile the server. • However, using Apache with dynamic modules makes apache more difficult to administer, perform slower and increases its memory requirements. • Consider building a static server, as the need to add new modules is not very common and recompiling Apache is simple. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 8: Installing Apache Source • Create a directory under your blender.rutgers.edu home directory called “apache” – mkdir apache • You now need to obtain the Apache source file (which you’d usually do from http://www.apache.org/dist). You can copy the source that is contained locally on the blender.rutgers.edu server: – cd apache – cp ~chrisjur/apache_1.3.27.tar.gz . • You should now have the Apache source file under your home directory in /home/<username>/ apache. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 9: Unzipping and Untar’ing the Source File • You now have the Apache source distribution under your home directory in /home/<username>/ apache. • The source file is actually a group of tar’ed files and directories, which is then zipped using the gzip utility. • You can untar and unzip the source distribution by issuing: – tar –xvzf apache_1.3.27.tar.gz Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 10: Unzipping and Untar’ing the Source File – con’t. • Unpacking the distribution file will create another directory under /home/<username>/ apache called “apache_1.3.27” (/home/<username>/apache/apache_1.3.27). • “cd” to the apache_1.3.27 to view the files and directories that are included in the distribution. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 11: Sample Directory Listing from Source Distribution iti% cd apache_1.3.27 iti% ls ABOUT_APACHE LICENSE README.NT Announcement Makefile README.configure INSTALL Makefile.tmpl WARNING-NT.TXT KEYS README cgi-bin iti% ls -al total 272 drwx-----8 chrisjur users 4096 Oct drwx-----13 chrisjur users 4096 Oct -rw------1 chrisjur users 12957 Mar -rw------1 chrisjur users 2922 Feb -rw------1 chrisjur users 27964 Dec -rw------1 chrisjur users 35773 Aug -rw------1 chrisjur users 2848 Jan -rw------1 chrisjur users 26929 Oct -rw------1 chrisjur users 26758 Jan -rw------1 chrisjur users 2046 Apr -rw------1 chrisjur users 3132 Mar -rw------1 chrisjur users 11176 Dec -rw------1 chrisjur users 331 Sep drwx-----2 chrisjur users 4096 Feb drwx-----2 chrisjur users 4096 Feb -rw------1 chrisjur users 5909 Dec -rwx--x--x 1 chrisjur users 312 Oct -rwx-----1 chrisjur users 56062 Feb drwx-----3 chrisjur users 4096 Feb drwx-----3 chrisjur users 4096 Feb drwx-----2 chrisjur users 4096 Feb drwx-----11 chrisjur users 4096 Oct conf config.layout config.status configure htdocs icons logs src 15 15 31 23 21 20 1 15 11 1 19 20 21 23 23 28 15 5 23 23 23 15 20:21 21:10 1999 2000 1999 1999 1999 20:20 2000 1998 1999 1999 1998 2000 2000 1999 20:20 2000 2000 2000 2000 20:21 . .. ABOUT_APACHE Announcement INSTALL KEYS LICENSE Makefile Makefile.tmpl README README.NT README.configure WARNING-NT.TXT cgi-bin conf config.layout config.status configure htdocs icons logs src Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 12: Apache Installation: Step 1 • Before actually building the Apache binaries, you must run a configure utility, which inspects your system and prepares the distribution for compiling. • The configure script is located in the directory that was created when you unpacked the Apache source distribution (i.e. /home/itiXXX/apache/apache_1.3.27) • The included INSTALL file has instructions on how to configure and compile Apache. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 13: Apache Installation: Step 1 con’t. • Run the configure script like this: ./configure --prefix=/home/itiXXX/apache • The “prefix” flag tells Apache where you actually want to install the software and configuration files. • It also builds the Apache software so it knows where to look for configuration files Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 14: Apache Installation: Step 2 • After the configure script runs successfully, you now need to compile the software code into the actual binaries. • You can start the compile by issuing the make command in the Apache distribution directory, i.e: – cd /home/itiXXX/apache/apache_1.3.27 – make • The compile process will take 2-10 minutes, depending on the speed of your system. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 15: Apache Installation: Step 3 • When the compile is complete, you can install the software and configuration files by issuing the make install command. • This will copy the built binaries and configuration files into the /home/<username>/apache directory you specified when you ran the configuration script. We will now refer to this directory as the Server Root directory. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 16: The Server Root Directory • Examine the contents of the Server Root directory. You now have a group of directories Apache uses: – bin: the location of the actual apache program and other utilities – conf: location of the configuration files – htdocs: the directory where web pages and and associated files are kept – logs: where apache keeps log files – man: UNIX man pages for apache – cgi-bin: the directory where CGI scripts are kept Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 17: Apache and Privileged Ports • Any TCP/IP port <1024 is considered a privileged port. • Privileged Ports can only be accessed by applications started by the root (system admin) user. • Therefore, since you are not the root user on this system, you must configure Apache to use a port >1024. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 18: Quickstart: Change the Port Number your Apache Server Uses • “cd” to the Apache conf directory (/home/itiXXX/apache/conf) • Use a text editor to open the httpd.conf file, which is the main Apache configuration file. • Find the line that says “Port XX”. Your file may say “Port 8080” or some other number. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 19: Change your Apache Port, con’t. • Replace the number next to the “Port” directive to a number that corresponds to you. • Use the numeric portion of your blender.rutgers.edu username. For example, if your username is iti2345, use port 2345 as your port number. • Exit your editor and save the file. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 20: Getting Ready to Run Apache for the First Time… • Apache is configured to look for web documents in the htdocs directory under the server root (/home/itiXXX/apache/htdocs). – This directory is known as the “Document Root” • Be default, a page called “index.html” is the first page of a the website returned to clients. • Create an index.html file in your htdocs directory that contains the text “Hello World. My name is <Your Name>” Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 21: Starting Apache: The “Hard” Way • The actual Apache binary is called httpd and it resides in the Apache /bin directory. • You can start Apache by simply executing the httpd command – cd apache/bin – ./httpd • Apache is now started! Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 22: Verify that Your Instance of Apache is Working • Point a web browser to http:// blender.rutgers.edu:<PORT> (recall, you configured the port number in the httpd.conf file to be the numeric portion of your iti username) • You should see your default web page appear (the contents of the htdocs/index.html document we created at earlier) Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 23: • Remember, every time you execute a program on a UNIX operating system, a process is created • Apache creates a file called httpd.pid in its logs directory. This file contains the parent process ID of the Apache process. • You can kill the process by using the kill command • You can kill Apache by issuing the following commend: – kill –TERM `cat /home/<username>/apache/logs/httpd.pid` Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte Stopping Apache: The “Hard” Way
Slide 24: Starting and Stopping Apache: The “Easy” Way with apachectl • A script called apachectl is included in the apache/bin directory. • You can use apachectl to start, stop and restart the Apache server – very simple to use: – cd /home/<username>/apache/bin/ – ./apachectl {start|stop|restart} Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 25: • Configuration files are placed in the conf/ directory and include: – httpd.conf – master configuration file – access.conf and srm.conf – no longer used Apache Configuration Files • Since version 1.3.4, all you configuration is done in the httpd.conf file – the srm.conf and access.conf files are no longer needed. • Apache needs to know location of httpd.conf file to start. If httpd.conf needs to move after initial install need to specify location with –f option when starting server. – httpd –f /path/to/httpd/.conf Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 26: httpd.conf: IP address and Port • The BindAddress and Port directives in the httpd.conf tell Apache which IP addresses and ports to listen on. Usage: Tells Apache to use the default IP address for this system: BindAddress * Tells Apache to “listen” for web requests on Port 80: Port 80 Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 27: Tell Apache to Listen To Additional Ports and IP addresses • The Listen directive in the httpd.conf tells Apache to listen to additional Ports and/or Port/IP address combinations. • Usage: Listen <Port Number> or Listen <IP>:<Port Number> • These IP/Ports are used in addition to the IP and Port specified in the BindAddress and Port directive described earlier. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 28: httpd.conf: Basic Configuration Directives • ServerName blender.rutgers.edu – The name of this server we use to respond to web clients with. If the server does not have a real internet name, use the IP address instead. • ServerType standalone - We always set this to standalone. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 29: httpd.conf: Basic Configuration Directives • User nobody, Group nobody - For security reasons, we usually run Apache assumes the identity of a non-root user and group on the system. A lot of times we run Apache as the nobody user/group. • ServerAdmin itiXXX@blender.rutgers.edu - A contact address to report problems – returned to the web client when an error occurs. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 30: httpd.conf: Basic Configuration • ServerRoot /home/<username>/apache - Where Apache keeps all its essential files. Where the actual Web pages reside. • DocumentRoot /usr/local/apache/htdocs • ErrorLog /home/<username>/apache/logs/error_log – The location of the Apache error log • PidFile /home/<username>/apache/logs/httpd.pid - Process id for the Apache parent process. Used with the kill command to stop Apache. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 31: httpd.conf: Virtual Directories • Sometime you want to create a Virtual Directory, where a document directory may not exist under your htdocs directory, but you want web clients to have access to it. • This is configured using the Alias directive in the httpd.conf, usage: Alias <virtualdirectory> <real directory> Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 32: Virtual Directories, con’t. • For example, if your Document Root is the default htdocs directory and you want web client to access a directory that contains Icons (/home/<username>/apache/icons), you can create a Virtual Virtual Directory called myicons like this: Alias /myicons /home/<username>/apache/icons • Now web clients can access this virtual directory by going to http:// blender.rutgers.edu:XXXX/myicons to view the Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 33: httpd.conf: Redirects • The Redirect directive allows web clients to access a URL on your system and be re-directed to a remote URL somewhere else. • Usage: Redirect /localpath http://remote-url • Example: Redirect /photos http://members.yahoo.com/user/photos Redirects all request to http://yoursite.com/photos to http://members.yahoo.com/user/photos • Useful when you move portions of a webpage Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 34: • Individual users on your system may wan the ability to post web content. • The UserDir Apache directive, allows each user on the system to create an special directory used to contain web content. • Usage: UserDir public_html • Now system users can place all of their web documents in a directory called public_html under their home directory. These documents can be accessed via the URL http://systemname/~username. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte Giving Web Access to Users on the System
Slide 35: Access Control Files • Per directory configuration files can be used to supplement or override settings set on the server level. Most commonly used to password-protect a directory. • Allows for “on-the-fly” changes. No need to restart the server. • Generally referred to as .htaccess files even though the actual name of the file can be set in httpd.conf: AccessFileName .htaccess Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 36: Access Control Files, con’t. • Level of overrides allowed should also be set in httpd.conf: • AllowOverride None|All|Options|Indexes| FileInfo|AuthConfig|Limit • Default is “All”. • Access control file is placed in root of directory for which configuration is being modified. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 37: Access Restrictions by Location • Access to directory contents can be granted or denied by IP address, network, hostname or name. <Directory /home/apache/apache/htdocs/restricted> order deny,allow deny from all allow from 165.230.30.68 .rutgers.edu internet.rutgers.edu </Directory> • Best to control access by IP address rather than hostname to avoid require DNS lookups for every attempted connection. • You can place these blocks access control blocks in the httpd.conf file or in an .htaccess file. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 38: The Index File • When a web browser points to a directory, rather than a particular file (e.g. Apache looks for an index file, which is the default web page for a particular directory. • You can specify the name of acceptable index files by using the DirectoryIndex directive in the httpd.conf file. • Usage: DirectoryIndex filename filename… • Apache will look for the index file names specified when a request is made to a directory. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte http://www.internet.rutgers.edu/II/ITI520 vs. http://www.internet.rutgers.edu/II/ITI520/index.html),
Slide 39: Indexing • What happens if you type a URL into a browser that points to a directory rather than a specific file? – Will load the index file if directory includes any of the files specified with DirectoryIndex in httpd.conf: DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm • If no index file exists and indexing has been enabled, will get a directory listing. • If no index file exists and indexing has been disabled, will get an error message. • Advisable to leave indexing disabled for security reasons unless there is a specific need for it. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte
Slide 40: Indexing, con’t. • To enable indexing in httpd.conf: Options Indexes • Fancy indexing generates listing that includes representative icon, name, last modified, size, and description: IndexOptions FancyIndexing • Indexing requires module mod_autoindex, which is installed by default. Web Technology – Web Server Setup : Chris Uriarte