One of the keys to Apache’s success is its extensible modular architecture. Developers have created custom modules for authentication, streaming audio, database access, and so on. However, Apache itself only comes with a handful of core modules installed.
One of the keys to Apache’s success is its extensible modular architecture. Developers have created custom modules for authentication, streaming audio, database access, and so on. However, Apache itself only comes with a handful of core modules installed.
The Problem
If you’ve ever needed to add a non-core module to Apache, you’ve probably been through a frustrating process that goes something like this:
Find the module that you want using Google, another Web search engine, the Apache Module Registry (located at http://modules.apache.org/), or whatever means necessary.
Download the module, read the instructions, and then download any other required libraries or modules.
Compile the module as a Dynamic Shared Object (DSO), or completely rebuild Apache.
Update your Apache configuration.
Test your new configuration.
Repeat for each non-core module you’d like to use.
All of that effort can take a fair amount of time and is often error-prone. Fortunately, there’s a better way.
The Solution
The Apache Toolbox is a suite of scripts that can gather the necessary components required to build a custom Apache Web server. As of this writing, the Apache Toolbox has support for Apache’s 36 core modules as well as 63 of the most popular third-party modules.
Apache Toolbox’s requirements are about as lean as can be. It only requires that you have wget (http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/) and bash installed. The entire Toolbox is a small (roughly 50KB) collection of bash code. It is essentially one…
Please log in to view this content.
Not Yet a Member?
Register with LinuxMagazine.com and get free access to the entire archive, including:
