I've just completed the presentation of a
LAMP deployment course, teaching Linux - Apache - MySQL - PHP and on one of the machines we built (compiled from scratch) the very latest Apache httpd - version 2.2.0. With a major new release of a product, there's always a "what's changed" concern at build (and run) time ... I noted:
a) Installed server pointed just to a page that said "It works" rather than to a more formal page. I'm happy with this - having a formal page made it look like a real web site and not an in-progress setup
b) The configuration files for certain features have been split off into extra files that are included and the whole of each of the includes can be commented in / out. Another good move.
c) There's a backup (a directory called original) of the shipped httpd.conf and extra friends. Yet another step forward; the first thing I've always had to remember in the past is to take a safety-net copy of the config before I start messing (as one does on a course!) with it.
d) The server is configured to start up as user daemon and group daemon. We change this to user and group apache, but I'm still glad to see the change away from more dangerous accounts such as nobody which has / had a security issue if you were also running things like an NFS server.
During the compile (on Red Hat Fedora 3) the compile hung at one point; I changed the configuration option for the compiler from -O2 to -O1 (a very old trick indeed that one - learnt 20 years ago) and it went through on the second attempt. Possibly just a "core 3" issue.
Note - this was a quick and dirty test / install - I cannot report on details of how the new release runs in a production environment or how any of the options / modules go. We tested straightforward web pages, Perl scripts through CGI, users home directories through ~username. Oh - and we also installed PHP 5.1.1 and MySQL support (running 5.0.16) which went fine just by following the instructions for "Apache 2.0". Having our fingers crossed helped us as we did this, but I don't think it made any difference to how the system worked.
For Tomcat / Java users, I see that mod_jk and the AJP connector are now part of the standard server that's downloaded, although the course completed did NOT include Apache Tomcat for once, so I didn't have a chance to verify / first test that part. From a user's perspective, THANK GOODNESS for this addition as it's been a nightmare for as long as I can remember to find exactly the right version of the connector - especially if you happen to be installing from binary.
(written 2005-12-10, updated 2006-06-05)
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