[mp2] configure Apache with PerlRequire and external script (does $PerlConfig work in mp2?)

["Eric J. Hansen" <eh...@worldmachine.com>]

I'd like to dynamically configure Apache using an external Perl script.  i.e., in
httpd.conf:

	PerlRequire		myhttpdconf.pl

Since I'm using a database to define how I'd like to configure multiple
virtual hosts on my server, my Perl script iterates through records to
produce the necessary Apache configuration:

myhttpdconf.pl:

	package Apache::ReadConfig;
	use Apache::ServerUtil ();
	...database query/fetch...
	...iterate through records...

With all the books and web references on hand, I've already tried numerous approaches
to get things working, but have been unsuccessful.  The only thing that has worked
has been to generate my Apache configuration syntax as text and then copy/paste
it into the httpd.conf file (obviously not as dynamic as I'd like):

Here's a summary of what I've tried (unsuccessfully) in the myhttpdconf.pl file:

1) appending Apache syntax to $PerlConfig, i.e., "$PerlConfig .= "<VirtualHost 1.2.3.4:80>\n", etc.
2) same as #1, but pushing lines onto @PerlConfig array
3) Apache->server->add_config($line), for each $line in my $myconfig (similar as approach #1,
but using add_config rather than $PerlConfig, and prepending the entire block with "<Perl>",
and appending "</Perl>".)

I have also tried using the Perl Syntax within the external script
(i.e. "<Perl>\n$VirtualHost{ ... }\n</Perl>") but found it too complicated for
my needs, particularly since most of my virtual hosts have the same IP/port.

I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on this topic.  I think the
ideal way for me to do this is with the $PerlConfig var, but it seems that perhaps
this area has changed considerably since mp1, and is perhaps the API is still in flux.

FYI, Here's an example of a typical VirtualHost configuration for my server (there are
many of these, mostly sharing the same IP:port):

<VirtualHost 1.2.3.4:443>
	ServerName www.hostA.com
 
	PerlSetVar 		myvar_A	value1
	PerlSetEnv		myenvvar_A	value1

	SetHandler perl-script
	PerlInitHandler                 myhandler1
	PerlTransHandler                myhandler2

	SSLEngine on
	SSLCertificateFile              conf/ssl/host_A.crt
	SSLCertificateKeyFile           conf/ssl/host_A.key
</VirtualHost>

My system is:
Apache/2.0.48 (Unix) mod_perl/1.99_11 Perl/v5.8.2 mod_ssl/2.0.48 OpenSSL/0.9.7c

thanks
Eric


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