Chapter Apache Installation in Linux- Mandrake

Acknowledgment The following information has been obtained directly from All credit it due to the above

Linux UnixWindows Linux: Where Unix meets Windows GUI based approach to Apache installation.

Apache Configuration Using KDE In this section, Apache will be configured using the available tools and utilities of the KDE desktop. This is not necessarily a recommended way to run a web server, but it does offer a convenient environment to begin learning the first steps of running a web server in the safety of an internal LAN.

Checking for Already Installed Apache

Using ktail to Monitor Installation Alt-F2 will open a mini-command line in KDE, and kdesu -c ktail will launch ktail as the root user. Ktail will be used throughout the following pages to monitor Apache's log files during configurationktail

Launching ktail to Monitor the Installation Alt F2 opens a mini command line

Providing root Password

Accessing the Service Activity

Activating the httpd Service

Starting Stopping and Restarting Apache

Monitoring Start, Stop and Restart

Accessing the Web

Accessing the Web Server Using Localhost

Gain Access as Super User to root

Root Folder(File)

Location of Apache Files

Bookmark the Location

Location of Web Files

Renamed Index.html

Loading Your Own Web A web can now be stored in this folder to become the website on the Apache server Index.html will be the first file that would be accessed first

KDE File Manager as a Limited Web Browser

Accessing the Website from Other Machines Use IP Address

Location of Logs

Drag and Drop Logs into ktail for Viewing

Other Details in Error Log

Event Details Date and time of event What type of event The event itself

Other Details in Access Log

Other Details on Access Log The machine's name or IP address that accessed the server Date and time of access The file that was transferred An access code and the number of bytes transferred The server's name or IP address that was requested The web browser that was used And some info about the visitor's system

Location of conf Files A copy has been made of the conf files folder

Making a Copy of the Conf Files /etc/httpd/conf is where Apache's configuration files are located. You may want to first make a backup copy of the original configuration directory before making edits to the enclosed files. Ctrl-t opens a konsole in the current directory, and cp -r conf confOrigBackup recursively copies the folder & contents with a new name.

Locating Apache’s Main httpd.conf File

Editing httpd.conf Using Kedit

Disabling Some Kedit Options Before Saving Changes to httpd.conf

Section1: Modules

A Note on Modules This first section of Apache's configuration file deals with modules. Modules add extra capabilities to Apache that aren't normally included in its basic set of features. If you install Mandrake's RPM modules for Apache you most likely won't ever need to manually enter any module information yourself, as the required entries will automatically be added with the packages. continued

php3 Module: An Example mod_php3 is a module that enables this popular scripting language to be used with Apache. If mod_php3 is installed on your system, you can test it by creating a simple test page as seen on the next page

Creating index.php3 for Testing of php3 Support

Testing for php3 Support

Success in Testing for php3 You can test Apache by loading the page into Netscape. If php3 wasn't enabled properly, a screen of raw text would appear instead of a normal looking web page as seen here.

A Note on Testing for php3 This is just a quick way to demonstrate if php3 is enabled on a server. php3 is a full- featured, HTML-embedded scripting language used for creating dynamically generated web pages. One common use of php3 is as a replacement for CGI scripts. Unfortunately this topic can't be covered in detail on these pages. For more info on php3, phpbuilder is a good starting point.phpbuilder

Location of Web Documents (Root)

Document Root The document root is where the web pages of the active website are kept –Similar to the home directory of the www server in Windows

Display of Directory Listing

Absence of index File A directory listing is displayed as shown in the previous slide in the absence of an index file

Activating Configuration Changes After every configuration change Apache must be restarted It is usually a good practice to make one change at a time and then check ktail to ensure that the change had been made without any errors before proceeding to make the next change

Starting, Stopping and Restarting Apache Commands –apachetl start, apachetl stop, apachetl restart GUI –Apache may also be started, stopped and restarted through the control services GUI Access the httpd service for this purpose

Redirecting 404 and Other Error Messages

Viewing of Serve Status Other IP addresses may be specified for viewing of server status from other machines.

Display of Server Status From a different machine.

Server Type and Port Numbers

Note on Server Type and Port Numbers Standalone is recommended for server type Information on port numbers can be found in /etc/services Users do not have to enter a port number on the address if default port numbers are maintained –Example is Port 80 used for www service

Phantom User Nobody Apache runs as a phantom user known as nobody with very limited access Anyone exploiting this name to gain access to Apache will severely be restricted from causing any damage

Phantom User

Location of Apache Configuration

Server Name

A Note on Server Name Server name is the one seen by the browsers in the filed “location name” For hosting a name accessible over the Internet, the name must have been registered and it must have a DNS entry on a DNS sever Server name need not relate to the machine’s host name

Access to Local Host Name

Adding a Host Name

The New Name

A Note on Changing Name In general, changing host names should be avoided Certain services are configured based on the host name and they may not function properly after changing the name of the host

Permissions on Folders

Access Given to Folders Permission given to others.

Right Clicking on Folders to Give Permission

Changing Permissions Show entries and change into commands will give public to enter the folder and view its contents

Summary Windows users may still use some of the techniques learned to configure and operate Linux operations However, some command line programming is still inevitable In the long run, more GUI based operations is likely to be introduced in Linux

Giving Permission using the chmod Command