2. INTRODUCTION TO APACHE The Apache project started out to build a commercial grade, open source web server. As open source projects go, this one has done fantastically well, powering over 61% of the web servers on the Internet with Microsoft's IIS a distant second at 19%. This article will try to answer that and also take you through the installation and basic configuration of this great web server.
3. Apache is a web server. In fact Apache is the worlds most popular and dominating web server with over 61% of all Internet web servers running Apache. A far second is Microsoft IIS, with a measly 19% of market share. This is a true testament to Apache's popularity. (Statistics courtesy of http://www.netcraft.com) Apache actually stands for "A patchy server". Since the original Apache was built from "patching" the original NCSA HTTP daemon in early 1995. Apache is not owned by a single commercial entity (like IIS is owned by Microsoft, iPlanet is owned by Sun/Netscape Alliance) but rather, is developed by a loose knit team of voluntary programmers scattered across the globe, collaborating through the Internet. Today, development of Apache is coordinated by a non-profit organization called the Apache Foundation. ABOUT APACHE
4. INSTALLATION OF APACHE 1. Edit the http.conf file to process .php files correctly. The httpd.conf file can be found in /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf. Look for the following lines: #AddType application/x-httpd-php .php #AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps 2. Remove the #s from the beginning of these lines if they are found. If they are not in the file, then add them without the #s. This enables Apache to process and display php files correctly. 3. You can more fully configure your Apache server by editing the httpd.conf file in /usr/local/apache/conf. There is a great deal of documentation on the Internet about this topic.
5. CONFIGURATION OF APACHE Once you've got the files, you need to tell your machine where to find everything by configuring the source files. The easiest way is to accept all the defaults and just type: ./configure Of course, most people don't want to accept just the default choices. The most important option is the prefix= option. This specifies the directory where the Apache files will be installed. You can also set specific environment variables and modules. Some of the modules I like to have installed are: * mod_alias - to map different parts of the URL tree * mod_include - to parse Server Side Includes * mod_mime - to associate file extensions with its MIME-type * mod_rewrite - to rewrite URLs on the fly * mod_speling (sic) - to help your readers who might misspell URLs * mod_ssl - to allow for strong cryptography using SSL * mod_userdir - to allow system users to have their own Web page directories
