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Posted to users@httpd.apache.org by Christophe JAILLET <ch...@wanadoo.fr> on 2019/09/04 18:03:41 UTC
[users@httpd] Re: conditionally create a Virtual Host?
Hi,
I've just got time to set up a build environment for Windows and have
httpd get compiled there (for not without mod_ssl but that's another story)
So now I'm ready for tracking down this strange behavior.
I hope to have time in the coming days to have a look at it.
CJ
Le 01/09/2019 à 01:11, Heather Lotz a écrit :
> Hello - Just wondering if there has been any progress made on getting
> <IfFile> to work for Windows.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Heather Lotz <kn...@hotmail.com>
> *Sent:* Saturday, August 24, 2019 11:40 AM
> *To:* Christophe JAILLET <ch...@wanadoo.fr>;
> users@httpd.apache.org <us...@httpd.apache.org>
> *Subject:* Re: conditionally create a Virtual Host?
> Seeking clarification - does this mean you were able to reproduce the
> issue?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Christophe JAILLET <ch...@wanadoo.fr>
> *Sent:* Saturday, August 24, 2019 5:18 AM
> *To:* users@httpd.apache.org <us...@httpd.apache.org>; Heather Lotz
> <kn...@hotmail.com>
> *Subject:* Re: conditionally create a Virtual Host?
> Hi,
>
> confirmed, using the binaries provided by
> https://www.apachelounge.com/download/
> <https://www.apachelounge.com/download/>
>
> CJ
>
> Le 23/08/2019 à 23:53, Heather Lotz a écrit :
>> Right, I have zero knowledge of C. That would be super if you would
>> be able to replicate the issue in a Windows environment. Admittedly,
>> I don't know what a Windows binary is.
>>
>> I ran some more tests, based on your suggestion, and also found a
>> couple of links about DOS device paths that proved to be helpful*.
>>
>> Here are the results -
>> For each of these Apache would not start:
>> <IfFile "\\.\Z:">
>> <IfFile "\\.\Z:\">
>> <IfFile "\\.\Z:\files\development\ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>> <IfFile "\\.\C:">
>>
>> For each of these Apache would start whether Z: was connected to the
>> PC or not. However, the code within the <IfFile> tags never executed
>> because localhost:8080/miscellaneous/ always returned a 404 error in
>> the browser.
>> <IfFile "\\?\Z:">
>> <IfFile "\\?\Z:\">
>> <IfFile "\\?\Z:\files\development\ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>> <IfFile "\\?\C:">
>> <IfFile "\\?\C:\">
>> <IfFile "\\?\C:\Users\heather.lotz\Documents\_user_files\text.txt">
>>
>> *For reference, here are links to the useful pages about DOS device
>> paths -
>> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/io/file-path-formats
>> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23041983/path-prefixes-and
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* Christophe JAILLET <ch...@wanadoo.fr>
>> <ma...@wanadoo.fr>
>> *Sent:* Friday, August 23, 2019 8:55 AM
>> *To:* users@httpd.apache.org <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>> <us...@httpd.apache.org> <ma...@httpd.apache.org>; Heather
>> Lotz <kn...@hotmail.com> <ma...@hotmail.com>
>> *Subject:* Re: conditionally create a Virtual Host?
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>>
>> Ok, if you have little knowledge of C, no need to try to apply the patch.
>>
>> You would need a compiler, some libraries, set-up the environment,
>> configure, build, install...
>>
>>
>> I'll install a Windows binaries and try your configuration. Should be
>> easy to reproduce.
>>
>>
>> The syntax you have used is correct (Z:/bla/bla/). AFAIK, the
>> internals of httpd (the APR library to be precise) already translate
>> the '/' (Linux style) in '\' (Windows style).
>>
>>
>> My proposal was just based on information taken from Microsoft doc
>> (search for "When opening a volume or removable media drive (for
>> example, a floppy disk drive or flash memory thumb drive), ..." near
>> the end of
>> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/fileapi/nf-fileapi-createfilew).
>> Because, at some point, on Windows, 'CreteFileW()' is called.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Just 2 words on the patch.
>>
>> When a configuration file is parsed, when a '<IfFile ...>' directive
>> is found, all lines up to the corresponding </Iffile> are discarded.
>>
>> To do that the function, we call 'apr_stat()' which gives information
>> on a file (size, name, dates...). In the specific case, no
>> information is requested. This is unusual. Usually we ask for size
>> only, or "standard" information.
>>
>> The patch just changes the requirement from "do not return anything"
>> to "return size file only".
>>
>> However, asking for no information *should still work*. The function
>> should tell us that the file exists or not, without any details on
>> the file itself, if found.
>>
>> My point is that using it this way, is unusual. This could hide a
>> corner case (read: bug in the APR underlying library)
>>
>>
>> I've had in my todo list for a long time to setup a test environment
>> for Windows. It could be a good occasion to do it. Or you could try
>> with the supplier of a Windows binary (Steffen from Apache lounge is
>> following closely the project and could be of help). Reproduce the
>> issue with their binaries and report to issue to them as well.
>>
>>
>> Finally, I put back the mailing list in copy, should anyone have an
>> opinion on it
>>
>> CJ
>>
>>
>> Le 23/08/2019 à 14:12, Heather Lotz a écrit :
>>> Also, it would be helpful to know the expected syntax to use in
>>> <IfFile> once the patch is applied.
>>>
>>> For instance, does the patch expect
>>> <IfFile "/z/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>> and the purpose of the patch is to execute the code within the
>>> <IfFile> tags?
>>>
>>> Or does the patch expect
>>> <IfFile "Z:/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>> and the patch will allow the code within the <IfFile> tags to
>>> execute as it would on a Linux machine?
>>>
>>> I opened the patch file in Notepad++ but don't understand the contents.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> *From:* Heather Lotz <kn...@hotmail.com> <ma...@hotmail.com>
>>> *Sent:* Friday, August 23, 2019 6:44 AM
>>> *To:* Christophe JAILLET <ch...@wanadoo.fr>
>>> <ma...@wanadoo.fr>
>>> *Subject:* Re: conditionally create a Virtual Host?
>>> Hello Christophe - Thank-you for the reply. Can you please provide
>>> some instructions about how to apply the patch?
>>> Heather
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> *From:* Christophe JAILLET <ch...@wanadoo.fr>
>>> <ma...@wanadoo.fr>
>>> *Sent:* Friday, August 23, 2019 12:50 AM
>>> *To:* users@httpd.apache.org <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>> <us...@httpd.apache.org> <ma...@httpd.apache.org>; Heather
>>> Lotz <kn...@hotmail.com> <ma...@hotmail.com>
>>> *Subject:* Re: conditionally create a Virtual Host?
>>> Le 23/08/2019 à 05:04, Heather Lotz a écrit :
>>>> After some more testing, it seems that this syntax -
>>>> <IfFile "Z:/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>>> is the root cause of Apache not starting when the external storage
>>>> device, mapped to Z:, is detached from the Windows 10 PC.
>>>>
>>>> I tested these variants individually, which are more *nix like -
>>>> <IfFile "Z/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>>> <IfFile "/Z/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>>> <IfFile "/z/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>>> and the behavior is Apache starts whether or not Z: is attached to
>>>> the PC, so that is a step in the right direction. However, the
>>>> code within the <IfFile> tags never executes because when
>>>> localhost:8080/miscellaneous/ is entered in a browser it always
>>>> returns a 404 error.
>>>>
>>>> Another test was this -
>>>> <IfFile "/c/Users/heather.lotz/Documents/_user_files/test.txt">
>>>> which points to an existing file which is not stored on Z:. The
>>>> behavior here was the same as that of the 3 *nix like tests.
>>>> Apache starts whether or not Z: is attached to the PC but code
>>>> within the <IfFile> tags is not executed because
>>>> localhost:8080/miscellaneous/ returns a 404 error.
>>>>
>>>> Does this constitute a bug of <IfFile> when used on a Windows OS?
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> *From:* Heather Lotz <kn...@hotmail.com> <ma...@hotmail.com>
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 21, 2019 9:36 PM
>>>> *To:* users@httpd.apache.org <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>>> <us...@httpd.apache.org> <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [users@httpd] conditionally create a Virtual Host?
>>>> A new file was created on Z: for the sole purpose of having a
>>>> designated file for Apache to seek.
>>>> The file is called Z:\files\development\ApacheSmokeSignal.txt.
>>>>
>>>> Here is what httpd-vhosts.conf looks like now:
>>>> <IfFile "Z:/files/development/ApacheSmokeSignal.txt">
>>>> <VirtualHost *:8080>
>>>> DocumentRoot "Z:/files/xampp/htdocs"
>>>> <Directory "Z:/files/xampp/htdocs">
>>>> Options Indexes
>>>> Require all granted
>>>> </Directory>
>>>> </VirtualHost>
>>>> </IfFile>
>>>>
>>>> With this update in place, Apache starts fine when Z: is attached
>>>> to the PC. However, when Z: is not attached to the PC Apache does
>>>> not start and these lines appear in the XAMPP Control Panel console:
>>>> 9:30:24 PM [Apache] Attempting to start Apache app...
>>>> 9:30:24 PM [Apache] Status change detected: running
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] Status change detected: stopped
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] Error: Apache shutdown unexpectedly.
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] This may be due to a blocked port, missing
>>>> dependencies,
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown
>>>> by another method.
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] Press the Logs button to view error logs and
>>>> check
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] If you need more help, copy and post this
>>>> 9:30:26 PM [Apache] entire log window on the forums
>>>>
>>>> There are no entries in error.log with a Wed Aug 21 21:30 or later
>>>> timestamp.
>>>>
>>>> Is the syntax incorrect? Note that Apache is installed in this
>>>> location on the PC in question: C:\xampp\apache.
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> *From:* Eric Covener <co...@gmail.com> <ma...@gmail.com>
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 21, 2019 7:27 PM
>>>> *To:* users@httpd.apache.org <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>>> <us...@httpd.apache.org> <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [users@httpd] conditionally create a Virtual Host?
>>>> On Wed, Aug 21, 2019 at 8:21 PM Heather Lotz <kn...@hotmail.com>
>>>> <ma...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > Greetings,
>>>> >
>>>> > In my development environment on a Windows 10 PC I have added the
>>>> following to Apache's configuration files -
>>>> >
>>>> > To httpd.conf:
>>>> > Listen 8080
>>>> >
>>>> > To httpd-vhosts.conf:
>>>> > <VirtualHost *:8080>
>>>> > DocumentRoot "Z:/files/xampp/htdocs"
>>>> > <Directory "Z:/files/xampp/htdocs">
>>>> > Options Indexes
>>>> > Require all granted
>>>> > </Directory>
>>>> > </VirtualHost>
>>>> >
>>>> > Note that Z: is mapped to an external storage device.
>>>> >
>>>> > With this setup, Apache successfully accesses C: on port 80 and
>>>> Z: on port 8080. However, if the external storage device is not
>>>> attached to the computer, Apache will not start. Is there a way to
>>>> check if Z: is present, and only create the virtual host if that
>>>> device is plugged in so that Apache always starts? If so, how can
>>>> this be achieved?
>>>>
>>>> Try <IfFile> https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/core.html#iffile
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Eric Covener
>>>> covener@gmail.com <ma...@gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@httpd.apache.org
>>>> <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>>> For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@httpd.apache.org
>>>> <ma...@httpd.apache.org>
>>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>>
>>> would you have the opportunity to test the attached patch?
>>>
>>> The 0 passed to apr_stat looks spurious to me. (but should work)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (Pure speculation)
>>> Also, based on Microsoft doc, could you also try:
>>>
>>> <IfFile "\\.\Z:">
>>> ...
>>>
>>> and
>>> <IfFile "\\.\Z:\">
>>>
>>> ...
>>>
>>>
>>> CJ
>
>