Since Apache is free, it's one of
the most popular web servers to install. It also has several features that make
it useful for many different types of websites.
The Goal of this server is to
provide secure, efficient and extensible way by which it provides all HTTP
Standards & Services.
Get the facts on how to install
Apache on a Linux system with this overview.
DOWNLOAD
APACHE
I recommend downloading the
latest stable release. The best place to get Apache is from the Apache HTTPServer download site.
Download the source files appropriate to your system. Binary releases for some
operating systems are available as well.
Download the required version of
tar file – either httpd 2.2 or httpd 2.4 versions which are currently available
in the Apache site.
Let’s download httpd-2.2.32.tar.gz
in local drive, login as root or administrative account.
EXTRACT THE APACHE
FILES
Once you've downloaded the files you need to uncompress
them:
[root@middleware jboss]# tar -zxvf httpd-2.2.32.tar.gz
This creates a new directory under the current directory
with the source files.
[root@middleware jboss]# cd httpd-2.2.32
CONFIGURING YOUR
SERVER FOR APACHE
Once you have the files, you need to tell your machine where
to find everything by configuring the source files. The easiest way is to
accept all the defaults and just type:
[root@middleware httpd-2.2.32]#./configure
Of course, most people don't want to accept just the default
choices. The most important option is the --prefix=PREFIX
option. This specifies the directory where the Apache files will be installed.
[root@middleware httpd-2.2.32]# ./configure
--prefix=/logicial/jboss/apache
You can also set specific environment variables and modules.
Some of the modules I like to have installed include:
- mod_alias - to map different parts of the URL tree
- mod_include - to parse Server Side Includes
- mod_mime - to associate file extensions with its MIME-type
- mod_rewrite - to rewrite URLs on the fly
- mod_speling (sic) - to help your readers who might misspell URLs
- mod_ssl - to allow for strong cryptography using SSL
- mod_userdir - to allow system users to have their own web page directories
Please keep in mind that these aren't all the modules I
might install on a given system. Read the details about the modules to
determine which ones you need.
BUILD APACHE
As with any source installation, you'll then need to build
the installation:
[root@middleware httpd-2.2.32]# make
[root@middleware httpd-2.2.32]# make install
This creates/build a http conf, bin and lib & etc
directories of apache.
[root@middleware jboss]# cd apache/
[root@middleware apache]# ls
bin build cgi-bin
conf error htdocs
icons include lib
logs man manual
CUSTOMIZE APACHE
Assuming that there were no problems, you are ready to
customize your Apache configuration. This really just amounts to editing the
httpd.conf file. This file is located in the PREFIX/conf directory.
vi PREFIX/conf/httpd.conf
vi /logicial/jboss/apache/conf/ httpd.conf
Follow the
instructions in this file to edit your configuration the way you want it. More
help is available on the Apache website. I have modified below parameters.
- Listen 0.0.0.0:80
- ServerName
middleware.tech.com:80
- User jbossas
- Group jbossas
TEST YOUR APACHE
SERVER
Start the web server
[jbossas@middleware bin]$ /logicial/jboss/apache/bin/apachectl
start
Open a web browser on the same machine and type http://middleware.tech.com:80
in the address box. You should see a page It
works! . as it
means your server is installed correctly.
Stop the web server :
[jbossas@middleware bin]$ /logicial/jboss/apache/bin/apachectl stop
