This document explains how to install, configure and run Apache 1.3 under Novell NetWare 5.x and above. If you find any bugs, or wish to contribute in other ways, please use our bug reporting page.
The bug reporting page and new-httpd mailing list are not provided to answer questions about configuration or running Apache. Before you submit a bug report or request, first consult this document, the Frequently Asked Questions page and the other relevant documentation topics. If you still have a question or problem, post it to the novell.devsup.webserver newsgroup, where many Apache users are more than willing to answer new and obscure questions about using Apache on NetWare.
Most of this document assumes that you are installing Apache from a binary distribution. If you want to compile Apache yourself (possibly to help with development, or to track down bugs), see the section on Compiling Apache for NetWare below.If running on NetWare 5.0 you must install Service Pack 5 or above.
If running on NetWare 5.1 you must install Service Pack 1 or above.
NetWare service packs are available here.
Information on the latest version of Apache can be found on the Apache web server at https://www.apache.org/. This will list the current release, any more recent alpha or beta-test releases, together with details of mirror web and anonymous ftp sites.
Follow these steps to install Apache on NetWare from the binary download (assuming you will install to sys:/apache):
Follow these steps to install Apache on NetWare manually from your own build source (assuming you will install to sys:/apache):
Apache
on a
NetWare volumeApache may be installed to other volumes besides the default
sys
volume.
load address space = apache apache
This will load Apache into an address space called apache. Running multiple instances of Apache concurrently on NetWare is possible by loading each instance into its own protected address space.
After starting Apache it will be listening to port 80 (unless you changed the Port, Listen or BindAddress directives in the configuration files). To connect to the server and access the default page, launch a browser and enter the server's name or address. This should respond with a welcome page, and a link to the Apache manual. If nothing happens or you get an error, look in the error_log file in the logs directory.
Once your basic installation is working, you should configure it properly by editing the files in the conf directory.
To unload Apache running in the OS address space just type the following at the console:
unload apacheIf apache is running in a protected address space specify the address space in the unload statement:
unload address space = apache apache
When working with Apache it is important to know how it will find the configuration files. You can specify a configuration file on the command line in two ways:
apache -f "vol:/my server/conf/my.conf"
apache -f test/test.confIn these cases, the proper ServerRoot should be set in the configuration file.
If you don't specify a configuration file name with -f, Apache will use the file name compiled into the server, usually "conf/httpd.conf". Invoking Apache with the -V switch will display this value labeled as SERVER_CONFIG_FILE. Apache will then determine its ServerRoot by trying the following, in this order:
The server root compiled into the server is usually "sys:/apache". invoking apache with the -V switch will display this value labeled as HTTPD_ROOT.
The main differences in Apache for NetWare are:
Because Apache for NetWare is multithreaded, it does not use a separate process for each request, as Apache does with Unix. Instead there are only threads running: a parent thread, and a child which handles the requests. Within the child each request is handled by a separate thread.
So the "process"-management directives are different:
MaxRequestsPerChild
- Like the Unix directive, this controls how many requests
a process will serve before exiting. However, unlike Unix,
a process serves all the requests at once, not just one, so
if this is set, it is recommended that a very high number
is used. The recommended default, MaxRequestsPerChild
0
, does not cause the process to ever exit.
ThreadsPerChild -
This directive is new, and tells the server how many
threads it should use. This is the maximum number of
connections the server can handle at once; be sure and set
this number high enough for your site if you get a lot of
hits. The recommended default is ThreadsPerChild
50
.
ThreadStackSize 65536
.
LogRotateDaily - This directive allows all custom logs to be rotated on a daily basis. The file name of each log will contain the date and time that the log was created. The default for this directive is "Off".
LogRotateInterval - This directive allows all custom logs to be rotated on a specified interval. The file name of each log will contain the date and time that the log was created. The interval is specified as N minutes. The default is no interval or "0".
The directives that accept filenames as arguments now must use NetWare filenames instead of Unix ones. However, because Apache uses Unix-style names internally, you must use forward slashes, not backslashes. Volumes can be used; if omitted, the drive with the Apache executable will be assumed.
Apache for NetWare has the ability to load modules at
runtime, without recompiling the server. If Apache is
compiled normally, it will install a number of optional
modules in the \Apache\modules
directory. To
activate these, or other modules, the new LoadModule directive
must be used. For example, to active the status module, use
the following (in addition to the status-activating
directives in access.conf
):
LoadModule status_module modules/status
Information on creating loadable modules is also available.
Compiling Apache requires MetroWerks CodeWarrior 4.04 or higher to be properly installed.
First, unpack the Apache distribution into an appropriate
directory. Then go to the src
subdirectory of the
Apache distribution and unzip ApacheNW.mcp.gz
. You
may use a recent version of WinZip to accomplish this or gzip
for Windows. The main Metrowerks project file for Apache
(ApacheNW.mcp)
is now ready to use. Just double
click on it from within explorer and it should automatically
launch MetroWerks CodeWarrior.
All major pieces of Apache may be built using the ApacheNW.mcp project file. This includes modules such as status, info, and proxy.
Once Apache has been built, it needs to be installed in its
server root directory. The default is the
sys:/Apache
directory.
Before running the server you must fill out the conf directory. Copy the *.conf-dist-nw from the distribution conf directory and rename *.conf. Edit the ServerRoot entries to your actual server root (for example "sys:/apache"). Copy over the conf/magic and conf/mime.types files as well.