Apache Week
   
   Issue 224, 24th November 2000:  

Copyright ©2020 Red Hat, Inc

In this issue


Apache status

Apache Site: www.apache.org/httpd
Release: 1.3.14 (Released 13th October 2000) (local download sites)
Beta: None
Alpha: 2.0a8 (Released 20th November 2000) (local download sites)

Apache 1.3.14 is the current stable release. Users of Apache 1.3.12 and earlier on Unix and Windows systems should upgrade to this version. Read the Guide to 1.3.14, the Guide to 1.3.12, the Guide to 1.3.11 for information about changes between 1.3.9 and 1.3.11 and the Guide to 1.3.9 for information about changes between 1.3.6 and 1.3.9.

Most bugs listed below include a link to the entry in the Apache bug database where the problem is being tracked. These entries are called "PR"s (Problem Reports). Some bugs do not correspond to problem reports if they are found by developers.

Recent bugs in 1.3.14

These bugs have been found in 1.3.14 and will be fixed in the next release.

  • The rotatelogs utility churns if the destination for the logs is out of space
  • If you make httpd.conf a directory rather than a file, then doing a subsequent 'make install' over the existing installation goes wrong, leaving a '.apaci.install.tmp' file in the httpd.conf directory. This is because the check for an existing httpd.conf file doesn't notice the directory.
  • The recent performance tweak to Configure broke the DSO detection on Linux, causing compilation problems
  • The Mac OS layout needed updating
  • Apache will hang during logoff or shutdown when run on Windows 2000

Apache 2.0 alpha 8

Apache 2.0 alpha 8 was released this week; over eight months since the first alpha back in March 2000. There are likely to be more alpha releases in the near future as the group try to have a working and stable product before the first beta releases.

After the alpha 8 release of Apache 2.0 was completed, the APR (Apache Portable Run-time) source code was moved outside of the Apache 2.0 CVS repository. APR is now a separate project to the Apache HTTP Server Project, with it's own mailing list, web site, and CVS repository.

Splitting APR from Apache 2.0 was motivated by the fact that other non-ASF projects are starting to use APR, for example, the Subversion project.


In the news

Apache Toolbox

One of the biggest complaints we hear at Apache Week is how difficult it is to build Apache together with all the useful extras such as SSL, PHP, and MySQL. Apache Toolbox is a Swiss army knife of a script, providing a customisable, menu-driven interface to downloading and compiling a complete installation. The Apache Toolbox has out of the box support for:

  • Apache
  • SSL - Secure Sockets Layer for secure web server interactions based on OpenSSL and mod_ssl
  • PHP, mod_perl, and mod_fastcgi - for speedy scripting language support
  • MySQL - the ubiquitous fast database server
  • OpenLDAP, mod_auth_ldap, mod_auth_radius, mod_auth_pop3, mod_auth_sys and mod_accessref - various means of authentication and authorisation
  • WebDAV and mod_layout - for simple, yet powerful Web design functionality
  • mod_dynvhost, mod_throttle, mod_gzip, and mod_bandwidth - for efficient hosting and server control
  • Apache Toolbox is customisable and has support (it's just a shell script after all) for anything else you'd care to plug in.

Apache Toolbox comes in two different flavours: a) just the script, which will download the various component sources as needed, or b) the full package, including the script and all required sources. The toolbox even catches RPM conflicts should they arise.

Find out more from the O'Reilly Network Apache DevCenter or the Apache Toolbox site. The Apache Toolbox is not an official project of the Apache Software Foundation.


Featured articles

In this section we highlight some of the articles on the web that are of interest to Apache users.

After the tutorial on PHP and OOP (Object-Oriented Programming), the Developer Shed provides yet another article on OOP. This time it is "Object-Oriented Programming In Perl" which touches on some basic OO concepts in Perl.

Apache Today brings you a cure for arachnophobia with "Apache Guide: Spiders and Robots". It weighs the pros and cons of "bots" and gives some tips on protecting your web site from them. Next, Ryan Bloom investigates writing an input filter for Apache 2.0 and shows the power of input filters with mod_apachecon as an example.


Apache-related jobs

This occasional section contains short announcements of jobs that require significant Apache experience. To see more jobs or find out how to submit your vacancy visit the Apache Week Jobs section.

Chair, E-Commerce/Networking Programs (International Academy of Design, Toronto, Canada)
We are looking for casual/part-time/full-time instructors with experience in Apache Server Administration or E-Commerce/Web Development. We have a very flexible environment; most courses can be scheduled when you are available to teach. Great opportunity for independant consultants and contractors!