Apache 2 Web Server on Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick)

Set the Hostname

Before you begin installing and configuring the components described in this guide, please makesure you've followed our instructions forsetting your hostname.Issue the following commands to make sure it is set properly:

hostname
hostname -f

The first command should show your short hostname, and the second should show yourfully qualified domain name (FQDN).

Install Apache 2

Make sure your package repositories and installed programs are up todate by issuing the following commands:

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

Enter the following command to install the Apache HTTP server, itsdocumentation, and a collection of utilities.

apt-get install apache2 apache2-doc apache2-utils

Install Support for Scripting

The following commands are optional, and should be run if you want tohave support within Apache for server-side scripting in PHP, Ruby,Python, or Perl.

To install Ruby support, issue the following command:

apt-get install libapache2-mod-ruby

To install Perl support, issue the following command:

apt-get install libapache2-mod-perl2

To install Python support, issue the following command:

apt-get install libapache2-mod-python

If you need support for MySQL in Python, you will also need to installPython MySQL support:

apt-get install python-mysqldb

Your PHP application may require additional dependencies included in Ubuntu.To check for available PHP dependencies run "apt-cache search php", whichwill provide a list of package names and descriptions. To install, issue thefollowing command:

apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5 php5 php-pear php5-xcache

Issue the following command to install the php5-suhosin package, whichprovides additional security to your PHP installation:

apt-get install php5-suhosin

If you're also hoping to run PHP with MySQL, then also install MySQLsupport:

apt-get install php5-mysql

a2dissite default

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin admin@example.net
     ServerName example.net
     ServerAlias www.example.net
     DocumentRoot /srv/www/example.net/public_html/
     ErrorLog /srv/www/example.net/logs/error.log
     CustomLog /srv/www/example.net/logs/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Options ExecCGI
AddHandler cgi-script .pl

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin webmaster@example.org
     ServerName example.org
     ServerAlias www.example.org
     DocumentRoot /srv/www/example.org/public_html/
     ErrorLog /srv/www/example.org/logs/error.log
     CustomLog /srv/www/example.org/logs/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

mkdir -p /srv/www/example.net/public_html
mkdir /srv/www/example.net/logs

mkdir -p /srv/www/example.org/public_html
mkdir /srv/www/example.org/logs

a2ensite example.net
a2ensite example.org

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

/etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Install Apache Modules

One of Apache's prime strengths is its extreme customizability andflexibility. With its support for a large number of modules,there are few web serving tasks that Apache cannot fulfill. By default,modules and their configuration files are installed in the/etc/apache2/mods-available/ directory. Generating a list of thisdirectory will tell you what modules are installed. To enable a modulelisted in this directory, use the following command:

a2enmod [module-name]

Note that in the /etc/apache2/mods-available/ directory, files have a.load and.conf extension. Module names do not include theextension.

To disable a module that is currently enabled, use the inversecommand:

a2dismod [module-name]

To get a list of available Apache modules modules in the Ubuntu repositoryuse the following command:

apt-cache search libapache2*

To install one of these modules use the command:

apt-get install [module-name]

Modules should be enabled and ready to use following installation, thoughyou may have to apply additional configuration options to have accessto the modules' functionality. Consult theApache module documentationfor more information regarding the configuration of specific modules.

Configuration Options

One of the strengths, and obstacles, of Apache is the immense amount offlexibility offered in its configuration files. In the defaultinstallation of Apache 2 on Ubuntu, the main configuration islocated in the/etc/apache2/apache2.conf files, but Apacheconfiguration directives are loaded from files in a number of differentlocations, in a specific order. Configuration files are read in thefollowing order, with items specified later taking precedence overearlier and potentially conflicting options:

1. /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
2. Files with .load or .conf extensions in/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/ directory.
3. /etc/apache2/httpd.conf (Blank by default.)
4. /etc/apache2/ports.conf
5. Files within the /etc/apache2/conf.d/ directory.
6. Files within the /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/ directory.
7. Per-directory .htaccess files in the directory.

Remember, later files take precedence over earlier-cited files. Withina directory of included configuration files, files will be read inorder based on the sort of their file names.

Apache will follow symbolic links to read configuration files, soyou can create links in these directories and locations to files thatare actually located elsewhere in your file system.

Best practices for most installations dictate that we don't recommendmodifying the following default configuration files:/etc/apache2/httpd.conf, files in/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/,and in most cases/etc/apache2/apache2.conf. This is to avoidunnecessary confusion and unintended conflicts in the future.

Generally, as specified in the LAMP guideand elsewhere, files that configure virtual hosts should be located in the/etc/apache2/sites-available/ directory (and symbolically linked tosites-enabled/ with the a2ensite tool. This allows for a clearand specific per-site configuration.

In practice, the vast majority of configuration options will probablybe located in site-specific virtual host configuration files.If you need to set a system-wide configuration option or aren't using virtualhosting, the best practice is to specify options in files createdbeneath the conf.d/ directory.

Multi-Processing Module

The default Apache configuration uses a tool called MPM-worker. Thismulti-processing module can handle a large number of requests quicklyby utilizing multiple threads per worker process. However, this use ofmultiple threads is not compatible with some PHP extensions. When PHPis installed MPM-worker is replaced with MPM-prefork, which allowsApache to handle requests without threading for greater compatibilitywith some software. Furthermore, using MPM-prefork allows Apache toisolate requests in separate processes so that if one request failsfor some reason, other requests will be unaffected.

For more complex setups, however, we recommend that you consider usingan alternate MPM module called "ITK".mpm-itk is quite similar toprefork, but it goes one step further and runs the processes for each siteunder a distinct user account. This is particularly useful insituations where you're hosting a number of distinct sites that youneed to isolate sites on the basis of user privileges.

Begin by installing the mpm-itk module:

apt-get install apache2-mpm-itk

Now, in the <VirtualHost > entries for your sites (thesite-specific files in/etc/apache2/sites-available/) add thefollowing sub-block:

File excerpt:Apache Virtual Host Configuration

<IfModule mpm_itk_module>
   AssignUserId webeditor webgroup
</IfModule>

In this example, webeditor is the name of the user of the specificsite in question, andwebgroup is the name of the particular groupthat "owns" the web server related files and processes. Remember thatyou must create the user accounts and groups using theuseraddcommand.