installing www server (apache)

installing www server (apache)

See also Apache topics.  There are more recent apache articles there.

See also Front Page Extensions – security considerations for details on securing FrontPage.

2 August 1998

I want to install a www server on my machine. So I looked at Apache, which is highly regarded.  And free.  I started about 10am.

Installing Apache

First I found out that Apache comes in many flavours.  I wanted the one with the MS FrontPage extensions already installed.  That’s because this website is written using FrontPage.  Through my friend, the mailing list archives, I found a reference to the Apache Server w/FrontPage Module.  I just followed the steps listed on that page and installed it.  

But wait!  There’s more…

I had downloaded that file to /usr/local.  Then did the untar via  tar -xzf apache-fp.131.tgz.  Next was the make install.  That’s when I was told:

WARNING: MS FrontPage Extentions require the DES Library
WARNING: Install the DES Library, then build apach-fp

And yes, that is how they spell extensions.

So, off to install DES I went.  But I didn’t get very far.

8:30pm – What?  DES is installed

I’ve concluded that DES is actually installed.  I checked the Recognizing your crypt mechanism section of the FreeBSD handbook.  From the details on that page, I conclude that DES is installed.   Namely, the following is what I find:

$ cd /usr/lib
$ ls -l /usr/lib/libcrypt*
lrwxr-xr-x  1 bin  bin  13 Sep  5 12:50 libcrypt.a -> 
                                           libdescrypt.a
lrwxr-xr-x  1 bin  bin  18 Sep  5 12:50 libcrypt.so.2.0 -> 
                                           libdescrypt.so.2.0
lrwxr-xr-x  1 bin  bin  15 Sep  5 12:50 libcrypt_p.a -> 
                                           libdescrypt_p.a

So off to the #FreeBSD on irc.ais.net, where the suggestion is made that I install the ports instead.  So, following the Compiling ports from the Internet section from the FreeBSD handbook, I started to install the ports version of Apache.  For what it’s worth, I was just told that using ports was the lazy way to go.  It seems easy enough.   When I’ve followed the instructions above, I’ve rarely had a port go wrong.

9:40pm – Apache is installed. How do I run it?

The install has completed.  My first task is to find httpd.  So I decide to learn more about the find command.  From the manual pages, I discover that:

find / -name "httpd"

will find all examples of files named "httpd".  I find what I want in /usr/local/sbin.   From there I execute the command:

./httpd

The response I get is:

httpd: cannot determine local host name.
Use ServerName to set it manually.

I locate the file /usr/local/etc/apache/httpd.conf and edit it.  I locate the line which contains ServerName.  I amend to line to refer to the FreeBSD box.  I restart httpd using the command above.

WOO HOO!

The daemon starts and I get no nasty replies.  A quick ps -auwd reveals that the process is indeed running.  I swap to my NT1 box and plug in the IP address of my FreeBSD box.  IT WORKS!

10:00pm – Apache is running. How do I provide access to the outside world?

Well, luckily, I’ve already tried this one.  In my /etc/rc.firewall file, I’ve disallowed access to port 80, which is the port for http.  I enabled this, restarted the firewall filters, and all went well.

The next step is to publish something over there.

Well, that worked. WOO HOO!  Apache is up and running!