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Posted to dev@httpd.apache.org by Joshua Slive <sl...@finance.commerce.ubc.ca> on 1999/02/18 23:23:49 UTC
Apache FAQ
The Apache FAQ should be a primary resource for new users to find answers
to questions about Apache. However, the current FAQ is rather difficult
to navigate. To find out if your question is answered, you either need to
read through each of the 77 questions in the FAQ, or get lucky with with a
search. Dividing the questions into categories would go a long way
towards making the the FAQ both easier to access and easier to manage.
I think that this has come up a couple times in the last year or so, but
nobody has gotten around to doing it. I spent about 20 minutes
reorganizing the top section of the FAQ, and have included a lynx dump of
the result below. If there is interest, I am willing to finish off the
entire document along similar lines.
Please let me know what you think.
--
Joshua Slive
slive@finance.commerce.ubc.ca
http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/
Apache Server Frequently Asked Questions
$Revision: 1.200 $ ($Date: 1999/02/18 13:11:30 $)
The latest version of this FAQ is always available from the main
Apache web site, at <http://www.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html>.
If you are reading a text-only version of this FAQ, you may find
numbers enclosed in brackets (such as "[12]"). These refer to the list
of reference URLs to be found at the end of the document. These
references do not appear, and are not needed, for the hypertext
version.
The Questions
* Background
+ What is Apache?
+ Why was Apache created?
+ How does The Apache Group's work relate to other servers?
+ Why the name "Apache"?
+ OK, so how does Apache compare to other servers?
+ How thoroughly tested is Apache?
+ What are the future plans for Apache?
+ Whom do I contact for support?
+ Is there any more information on Apache?
+ Where can I get Apache?
* General Questions
+ "Why can't I ...? Why won't ... work?" What to do in case of
problems
+ How compatible is Apache with my existing NCSA 1.3 setup?
+ Is Apache Year 2000 compliant?
+ How do I submit a patch to the Apache Group?
+ Why has Apache stolen my favourite site's Internet address?
+ Why am I getting spam mail from the Apache site?
+ May I include the Apache software on a CD or other package
I'm distributing?
+ What's the best hardware/operating system/... How do I get
the most out of my Apache Web server?
+ What are "regular expressions"?
* Building Apache
+ Why do I get an error about an undefined reference to
"__inet_ntoa" or other __inet_* symbols?
+ Why won't Apache compile with my system's cc?
+ Why do I get complaints about redefinition of "struct iovec"
when compiling under Linux?
+ I'm using gcc and I get some compilation errors, what is
wrong?
+ I'm using RedHat Linux 5.0, or some other glibc-based Linux
system, and I get errors with the crypt function when I
attempt to build Apache 1.2.
* Error Messages and Problems Starting Apache
+ Why do I get "setgid: Invalid argument" at startup?
+ Why am I getting "httpd: could not set socket option
TCP_NODELAY" in my error log?
+ Why am I getting "connection reset by peer" in my error log?
+ The errorlog says Apache dumped core, but where's the dump
file?
+ When I run it under Linux I get "shmget: function not found",
what should I do?
+ Server hangs, or fails to start, and/or error log fills with
"fcntl: F_SETLKW: No record locks available" or similar
messages
+ Why am I getting "Expected </Directory> but saw </Directory>"
when I try to start Apache?
+ I'm using RedHat Linux and I have problems with httpd dying
randomly or not restarting properly
+ I upgraded from an Apache version earlier than 1.2.0 and
suddenly I have problems with Apache dying randomly or not
restarting properly
* Configuration Problems
+ Why can't I run more than <n> virtual hosts?
+ Can I increase FD_SETSIZE on FreeBSD?
+ Why doesn't my ErrorDocument 401 work?
+ Why does Apache send a cookie on every response?
+ Why don't my cookies work, I even compiled in mod_cookies?
+ Why do my Java app[let]s give me plain text when I request an
URL from an Apache server?
+ How do I get Apache to send a MIDI file so the browser can
play it?
+ How do I add browsers and referrers to my logs?
+ Why does accessing directories only work when I include the
trailing "/" (e.g., http://foo.domain.com/~user/) but not
when I omit it (e.g., http://foo.domain.com/~user)?
+ Why doesn't mod_info list any directives?
+ I upgraded to Apache 1.3 and now my virtual hosts don't work!
+ I'm using RedHat Linux and my .htm files are showing up as
HTML source rather than being formatted!
+ My .htaccess files are being ignored.
* Dynamic Content (CGI and SSI)
+ How do I enable CGI execution in directories other than the
ScriptAlias?
+ What does it mean when my CGIs fail with "Premature end of
script headers"?
+ How can I have my script output parsed?
+ Why do I keep getting "Method Not Allowed" for form POST
requests?
+ How can I get my script's output without Apache buffering it?
Why doesn't my server push work?
+ Where can I find the "CGI specification"?
+ Why isn't FastCGI included with Apache any more?
+ How do I enable SSI (parsed HTML)?
+ Why don't my parsed files get cached?
+ SSIs don't work for VirtualHosts and/or user home directories
+ How can I use ErrorDocument and SSI to simplify customized
error messages?
* Authentification and Access Restrictions
+ Why isn't restricting access by host or domain name working
correctly?
+ How do I set up Apache to require a username and password to
access certain documents?
+ Why is the environment variable REMOTE_USER not set?
+ How do I set up Apache to allow access to certain documents
only if a site is either a local site or the user supplies a
password and username?
+ Why does my authentication give me a server error?
+ Do I have to keep the (mSQL) authentication information on
the same machine?
+ Why is my mSQL authentication terribly slow?
+ Can I use my /etc/passwd file for Web page authentication?
* URL Rewriting
+ Where can I find mod_rewrite rulesets which already solve
particular URL-related problems?
+ Where can I find any published information about
URL-manipulations and mod_rewrite?
+ Why is mod_rewrite so difficult to learn and seems so
complicated?
+ What can I do if my RewriteRules don't work as expected?
+ Why don't some of my URLs get prefixed with DocumentRoot when
using mod_rewrite?
+ How can I make all my URLs case-insensitive with mod_rewrite?
+ Why are RewriteRules in my VirtualHost parts ignored?
+ How can I use strings with whitespaces in RewriteRule's ENV
flag?
* Features
+ Does or will Apache act as a Proxy server?
+ What are "multiviews"?
+ Why can't I publish to my Apache server using PUT on Netscape
Gold and other programs?
+ Why doesn't Apache include SSL?
Re: Apache FAQ
Posted by Paul Sutton <pa...@awe.com>.
On Sat, 20 Feb 1999, Lars Eilebrecht wrote:
> According to Joshua Slive:
>
> > http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/FAQ.html
> > If someone would commit this, I would appreciate it.
>
> Done.
Very nice.
Paul
Re: Apache FAQ
Posted by Joshua Slive <sl...@finance.commerce.ubc.ca>.
On Sat, 20 Feb 1999, Lars Eilebrecht wrote:
> According to Joshua Slive:
>
> > http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/FAQ.html
> > If someone would commit this, I would appreciate it.
>
> Done.
>
Woops. Thanks for the commit, now here's one more to put back
a question that got lost in the shuffle.
*** FAQ.html.old Sat Feb 20 00:27:21 1999
--- FAQ.html Sat Feb 20 00:34:35 1999
***************
*** 1096,1101 ****
--- 1096,1139 ----
<HR>
</LI>
+ <LI><A NAME="redhat">
+ <STRONG>I'm using RedHat Linux and I have problems with httpd
+ dying randomly or not restarting properly</STRONG>
+ </A>
+
+ <P>
+ RedHat Linux versions 4.x (and possibly earlier) RPMs contain
+ various nasty scripts which do not stop or restart Apache properly.
+ These can affect you even if you're not running the RedHat supplied
+ RPMs.
+ </P>
+ <P>
+ If you're using the default install then you're probably running
+ Apache 1.1.3, which is outdated. From RedHat's ftp site you can
+ pick up a more recent RPM for Apache 1.2.x. This will solve one of
+ the problems.
+ </P>
+ <P>
+ If you're using a custom built Apache rather than the RedHat RPMs
+ then you should <CODE>rpm -e apache</CODE>. In particular you want
+ the mildly broken <CODE>/etc/logrotate.d/apache</CODE> script to be
+ removed, and you want the broken <CODE>/etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd</CODE>
+ (or <CODE>httpd.init</CODE>) script to be removed. The latter is
+ actually fixed by the apache-1.2.5 RPMs but if you're building your
+ own Apache then you probably don't want the RedHat files.
+ </P>
+ <P>
+ We can't stress enough how important it is for folks, <EM>especially
+ vendors</EM> to follow the <A HREF="../stopping.html">stopping Apache
+ directions</A> given in our documentation. In RedHat's defense,
+ the broken scripts were necessary with Apache 1.1.x because the
+ Linux support in 1.1.x was very poor, and there were various race
+ conditions on all platforms. None of this should be necessary with
+ Apache 1.2 and later.
+ </P>
+ <HR>
+ </LI>
+
<LI><A NAME="stopping">
<STRONG>I upgraded from an Apache version earlier
than 1.2.0 and suddenly I have problems with Apache dying randomly
Re: Apache FAQ
Posted by Brian Behlendorf <br...@hyperreal.org>.
On Sat, 20 Feb 1999, Lars Eilebrecht wrote:
> According to Joshua Slive:
>
> > http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/FAQ.html
> > If someone would commit this, I would appreciate it.
>
> Done.
Way to go! Nice to see it finally semi-organized.
Brian
Re: Apache FAQ
Posted by Lars Eilebrecht <la...@hyperreal.org>.
According to Joshua Slive:
> http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/FAQ.html
> If someone would commit this, I would appreciate it.
Done.
ciao...
--
Lars Eilebrecht - RFC 1925: "Every networking problem
lars@hyperreal.org - always takes longer to solve than it
- seems like it should."
Re: Apache FAQ
Posted by Joshua Slive <sl...@finance.commerce.ubc.ca>.
On Thu, 18 Feb 1999, Bill Stoddard wrote:
> Joshua Slive wrote:
> >
> > The Apache FAQ should be a primary resource for new users to find answers
> > to questions about Apache. However, the current FAQ is rather difficult
> > to navigate. To find out if your question is answered, you either need to
> > read through each of the 77 questions in the FAQ, or get lucky with a
> > search. Dividing the questions into categories would go a long way
> > towards making the the FAQ both easier to access and easier to manage.
> >
> > Please let me know what you think.
> >
>
> I like it!
>
One positive response, and no negative ones, so I went ahead and
reorganized the FAQ. I took a minimalist approach. The only changes are
in ordering, numbering, section titles, and a few tiny formatting errors.
If anyone has suggestions for further improvements, I may be willing to
implement them.
I don't see any point in making a diff. Since it is a large file, I have
posted it at
http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/FAQ.html
If someone would commit this, I would appreciate it.
--
Joshua Slive
slive@finance.commerce.ubc.ca
http://finance.commerce.ubc.ca/~slive/
Phone: (604) 822-1871
Location directive
Posted by Jie Gao <J....@isu.usyd.edu.au>.
Hi,
Is it possible/right to have the Location/LocationMatch directive cover query strings?
Like:
<Location '/cgi-bin/myprog?class=1'>
...
</Location>
Would be handy to have this.
Thanks,
Jie
Re: Apache FAQ
Posted by Bill Stoddard <st...@raleigh.ibm.com>.
Joshua Slive wrote:
>
> The Apache FAQ should be a primary resource for new users to find answers
> to questions about Apache. However, the current FAQ is rather difficult
> to navigate. To find out if your question is answered, you either need to
> read through each of the 77 questions in the FAQ, or get lucky with with a
> search. Dividing the questions into categories would go a long way
> towards making the the FAQ both easier to access and easier to manage.
>
> I think that this has come up a couple times in the last year or so, but
> nobody has gotten around to doing it. I spent about 20 minutes
> reorganizing the top section of the FAQ, and have included a lynx dump of
> the result below. If there is interest, I am willing to finish off the
> entire document along similar lines.
>
> Please let me know what you think.
>
I like it!
--
Bill Stoddard
stoddard@raleigh.ibm.com