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Administering Apache
The Scoop It's hard to know where to begin using something as powerful and flexible as Apache. Serving basic pages is easy, but how do you keep track of visitors? How do you provide unique and appropriate content? What happens when you need more than just a static server?
Adminstering Apache takes a calculated, strategic approach. Dedicating the first chapter to the needs of various entities (corporation, small business, large ISP, small ISP), it discusses the Apache features that will come into play. While the book can be read from start to finish as a tutorial, following one of the roadmaps is the quickest way to get things up and running.
What's to Like? People who love details will appreciate many sections, like the comprehensive configuration information. The book passes the usefulness test, having served as an authoritative reference on multiple occasions. For example, the installing/compiling chapter has an excellent list of modules and configuration suggestions that came in handy with a recent project. (The index alone fills 19 full pages of two-column, small print text.)Instead of grouping all of the possible httpd.conf directives in one section, the authors cover them by topic. Localisation information can be found in the content chapter, while logging directives live in chapter 5. This division of information fits the topical philosophy, increasing the work's reference value.
While by no means essential data or a comprehensive reference, the chapter on creating new Apache modules was very interesting. The authors write a sample module in C to implement a new MIME type handler. The program's evolution and refinement demonstrates Apache's design and API, as well as good module programming practices.
The scope of the book covers more than just Apache. Aside from obvious topics of security and networking issues, the text includes firewall and proxy information, pages of related Internet sites, and even sample bash scripts to create new homepage users and directories for ISPs. Other sections discuss HTTP and CGI from protocol and implementation standpoints. (Besides, any other book dedicated to Apache business use that doesn't have a section on paid referrer logs is incomplete.)
What's to Consider? As with Apache itself, there is a strong Unix flavor to the text. The single Windows NT chapter is only five pages long, focusing on a few important differences from the Unix version. The other chapters are reasonably cross-platform (though most of the CGI examples are shell scripts, not Perl or PHP).While a definitive guide would easily double the size of the book, precious little space covers common modules. Besides brief descriptions of distributed modules, the only real discussion involves mod_ssl, though a few have links provided. Also, the book concentrates on Apache in a commercial environment. Perhaps the corporate intranet server best approximates the single-user, small-site setup common for developers' personal pages.
From a writing standpoint, some sections are best left as references. The authors deserve sympathy for writing two pages describing log format string substitutions -- let alone testing and editing them. Though filled, in places, with almost too much information, the writing never becomes muddied. Still, you won't stay awake nights reading some chapters.
The Summary While not the most exciting book to grace your shelf, Administering Apache is a detailed and useful guide to the Apache web server. More than an introduction, it will be a good reference, not just for the mechanics of the software, but for the technique and mindset necessary to maintain an installation in a business environment. Table of Contents- Planning Ahead
- Creating the Web Server
- Creating the Web Site
- Manipulating Content
- Using Logs
- Securing the Server, the Content, and the Connection
- Creating Homepage Web Sites
- Creating Virtual Domain Web Sites
- Proxying with Apache
- Troubleshooting
- Using Apache on Windows NT
- Programming the Apache Server
You can purchase this book at Fatbrain.
You seem to be mis-informed...
.ph0x
*smirk* Apache (bless its heart) is a web server, Windows is an OS. Now lets move on...
Apache can be run on Windows or Linux, however the latter is prefered.
It is definately worth it if you are in the category of a user who is familair with unix but is realtively new to apache. If I was a total rank beginner I would use Mohammed Kabir's "Apache Bible" His book is an easy read with gome good graphics, but I prefer "Administering Apache" since it has many step-by-step intructions as to how to set up the server to do what you want. Also the "Apache Bible" is now almost 3 years old and is starting to show it. I still refer to it though to fill in some gaps.
I've found the O'Rielly book on apache is much less readable than the confusing online docs. They should be ashamed of themself for publishing such a waste. I have a copy of "Apache Server Administrator's Handbook" and its not bad at all but I think that all books on apache are bound to suffer the same fate to some degree because apache is so damn confusing.
Sneakemail is to spam filters what an ounce of prevention is to a pound of cure.
Ok, it was a different tribe, so Sioux me...
I am curious. How does one learn more from text config files than by using a GUI. Is it because it takes longer, so you get more exposure to the product? That doesn't seem right.
Well, my experience with IIS is a bit limited, not because I haven't had exposure to it, but it such a "easy-to-use" product once you start doing some of the more complicated tasks it gets too frustrating to use properly.
Think of it this way. I used to program religously in BASIC. Nowadays I stick to Perl, even though by most definitions Perl is "harder" to learn (which I agree with; I've used both extensively throughout my life). However, once you start doing tasks that are more complicated than the examples you find in the "Learning BASIC 101" tutorial books you realize that BASIC isn't as easy to use as you thought initially, since you start concentrating more on the "workarounds" rather that your code. Perl, as Larry Wall put it, "makes the easy job easy and the hard jobs possible". BASIC just does a good job of making the hard jobs a programming (and sometimes managerial) nightmare.
When you have something like IIS, it appears to be easier because the first ten "easy" tasks you can think of to do with it are so simple. But the bugger is when you try to bend it in ways Microsoft never really intended. Thus, your stuck.
Anyways those are my two cents.
--- Journals are boring; Go to my web page instead
Is it because it takes longer, so you get more exposure to the product?
Well a gui might be better for initial setup, but once you are profecient its easier to write text based config files. With text based config files you can write a gui to configure it. Swat for samba is the best example. Text based config files are easier to backup as well.
It is true that the main reason for haveing better knowledge of a program through editing config files is partly due to increased time learning how the config files work. However, the long term benifit in ability to diagnose and fix problems is usually well worth it. My general knowlegde of SNB/CIFS was greatly increased when I setup SAMBA as a PDC. Yes I did invest alot of time in reading online docs as well as the Oreilly book, but I now can very quickly diagnose and fix SAMBA as well as SMB problems on Windows boxes. Editing apache files by hand may take more time initially, but in the long run the ability to fine tune and secure the server will benifit the admin in the long run.
--- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
"yeah but you also have to reboot IIS ever couple days to keep it going =p. And really its not quite as configurable as Apache."
Bullshit. You don't know one damn thing about running a webserver or tweaking an OS if you can't get weeks or months outta IIS. Granted Apacahe is more stable outta the box and Windows allows for quite a few unstable processes to get through, but it is up to the administrator to find the software that fucks up a system and remove it. Can't live with out it, well then just to damn bad. All the unstable IIS installations I've have to fix in the last few years have been folks that had no biz running a web site trying to do too much with too little of a box. Crap like running IIS on Win98 or NT Workstation (really PWS, but these folks don't know that because it comes down with the IIS install).
I'll probably get marked down as a troll, but I don't care, I just don't like seeing ignorant comments go unchecked. Having said that, I run IIS where I need folks that can run it without too much geek knowledge. I run Apache where I can administer all aspects myself without someone screwing up a config file or something like that.
clif
Actually, we don't... Until next Thursday anyway! Then Apache on Solaris replaces O'Reilly website on NT!! (But we nearly all agree after the last 9 months of testing and planning that we should have used Linux as the OS. Solaris is pretty lacking when compared to Linux.)
I just got back from a gruelling two day marathon of teaching our Operations Support Group in St Louis all about our new web architecture. 5:30 AM to 7:30 PM, five classes a day. I'm not usually out of bed until 8:30 AM. I'm still braindead, but it was fun! :)
web hosters:
knowing users can configure their part of Apache themselves using
As an added plus, each users authentication data is kept in separate password files, and independent of the system authentication data. This is crucial in a hosting environment.
The Apache process modell with a single manager process accepting requests and delegating them to a farm of worker processes is built with the idea of unstable or unsafe modules being present in the worker processes. Apache can recover from core'ing or memleaking worker processes and keeps your server online, albeit with higher system load.
Both properties are priceless in a hosting environment and are the main reason why Apache is consistently chosen in mass hostings over IIS. The completely scriptable configuration is another plus, too. So is the abundance of useful modules and server extensions. Price is secondary.
© Copyright 2000 Kristian Köhntopp
All rights reserved.
No thanks...
<tongue_in_cheek>
Ah, yes; IIS, the web server for illiterates.
</tongue_in_cheek>
Seriously, IIS is not nearly as flexible or useful a general tool like Apache is. Look at the book. Feel the power. Get away from those pretty useless buttons and dialog boxes. You don't learn anything from them.
--- Journals are boring; Go to my web page instead
The more books the better. If it's one thing I can say is there are never enough manuals to quench my readings. :)
.ph0x
I could give 2 $*!ts about most novels but when it comes to manuals I'm a happy camper.
My girlfriend gives me these weird looks when I break out my Camel book or my Linux 4th edition manual.
what exactly is in $* ? then we can know exaclt how much you care about it...
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