access to terminal from startup script

[Francisco Corella <fr...@yahoo.com>]

Hello,

In mod_perl 1, is it possible for the startup script
(invoked by PerlRequire in httpd.conf) to write to and read
from the terminal?  I need to do that in order to prompt the
operator for sensitive data, such as db passwords, etc.,
that is best not stored in httpd.conf nor anywhere else in
the file system (just like mod_ssl prompts for the private
key passphrase when the server starts up).

I have searched the archives and seen this same question
asked back in 2001 (April 17, thread "Simple Password
Method?")  but the thread seemed to have only three messages
and the issue was not resolved.

I have found password_get() in APR::Util, but when I try to
install APR::Util with CPAN it attempts to install mod_perl
2, so I assume that APR::Util is not available for mod_perl
1, is that right?

I have tried to use STDOUT and STDIN directly in the startup
script.  It seems that the startup script is run twice.
The first time it does prompt to STDOUT and read from STDIN,
but then it starts again from scratch, and this time STDOUT
and STDIN are not bound to the terminal.  I have tried using
STDOUT and STDIN in a BEGIN block, and I have tried setting
"PerlFreshRestart off" in httpd.conf but that did not help.

Should I give up?

Thanks in advance,

Francisco