In this issue

The hot topic on the development list this week was the recommended command used to start the web server in 2.0. A number of changes since 1.3 mean that (at least on some platforms) starting the server is no longer as simple as running bin/httpd from a freshly installed binary build. Several proposals were made to remedy the situation; integration of apachectl's start/stop/restart functionality into the httpd binary itself proved popular.

Only one major problem has been found in the 2.0.36 release completed last week; problems with semaphore handling (BZ#8124) which mean that mod_ssl will stop serving requests after a period of time. (The bug also affects mod_rewrite if RewriteLogLevel is set above 0). Other changes committed since 2.0.36 include:

• SSL CONNECT tunnelling has been fixed in mod_proxy (BZ#8903)
• fix for using mod_userdir and ScriptAlias to enable CGI in home directories (BZ#8841)
• improvements to mod_isapi on Win32
• the SSLLog and SSLLogLevel directives have been deprecated, mod_ssl now follows the normal logging directives
• fix for corrupted output from mod_deflate (BZ#9014)

Apache Week visited the NetWorld+Interop show last week and found updated releases of Apache-based commercial products from Covalent and Red Hat, both aimed at enterprise users.

Covalent announced the release of their Enterprise Ready Server built on Apache 2.0. searchWebManagement.com take it out for a test drive.

Meanwhile, Red Hat launched their latest Enterprise release of open source Stronghold based on Apache 1.3. Red Hat are running a webcast on the 22nd May with more details.

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

"Using Zope With Apache" lists the pros of implementing Apache as Zope's HTTP server, and shows you a few methods on how to connect them such as by using persistent CGI, mod_rewrite, mod_fastcgi, mod_proxy, and Zap (a package created by Zope.org). Zope installation is not covered as it assumes that Zope is already setup on your machine.

This month, UnixReview.com reviews the Sair 202 Apache/Webservers Exam which is one of the three electives you have to pass to obtain the Sair Linux and GNU Level II (Engineer) certification. It tabulates the topics covered and provides links to information you'll need to know in order to sit for the exam confidently.

In his quest for a good book on how to administer Apache on a Linux server which doesn't touch on how to write web applications, Jeff Durham pops down to his local bookstore and compares 5 Apache books. In "Apache roundup", he presents his findings and picks "Linux Apache Web Server Administration" from the lineup as his first choice.

If you are a beginner when it comes to administering an Apache web server on a Linux machine, you may be interested to read "Tips on basic Linux server security". This article advises you to set a complicated password, disable services that are not required, limit access to certain people, check the integrity of your files regularly, and check the system logs frequently too.