The FreeBSD Diary

1. Installing FreeBSD
2. Getting cvsup
3. make world
4. installing Apache

http://www.westbend.net/~hetzels/mod_apache.tgz

My main resource for this whole procedure is a message I found in the FreeBSD Mailing List Archives.

As root, I just grabbed the above tarball and untarred it in my home directory:

# cd home
# mkdir ports
# cd ports
# fetch http://www.westbend.net/~hetzels/mod_apache.tgz
# tar xvfz mod_apache.tgz

A port is simple.   That's why we have ports: to make it simple, easy, and convenient to install a port.  It is neither simple nor convenient to install software from sources.  If I had to select a single aspect of FreeBSD which stood out as it's strongest point, I think I'd chose the ports system.  In other systems, you have to track down the sources, read the install instructions, compile, make mistakes, re-read, ask questions, and then perhaps get it all running after a few days of trying.  That's not the case with ports: make install.  That's it.  You're running.  Easy?  You bet!

[root@buff:/home/ports/apache13] # make
-: You need to define PORTNAME and PORTVERSION instead of PKGNAME.
(This port is too old for your bsd.port.mk.)
*** Error code 1

Stop.

:Luckily, this is easy to fix.  Just edit each Makefile and make a simple change.   Here is a before and after for apache13/Makefile:

Before	After
DISTNAME= apache_${VERSION_APACHE} #PKGNAME= apache-${VERSION_APACHE}	DISTNAME= apache_${VERSION_APACHE} #PKGNAME= apache-${VERSION_APACHE} PORTNAME= apache PORTVERSION= ${VERSION_APACHE}

You should make similar changes for each Makefile.  You'll find one in each directory from the tarball.  I changed the following files:

• apache13/Makefile
• mod_ssl/Makefile
• mod_frontpage/Makefile
• mod_php3/Makefile

I have a patch file which will make these changes for you.  To apply this patch, copy it to the same directory as the main tarball (which was /home/ports in my example) and issue the following command:

patch < mod_apache.diff

www:*:99:99::0:0:apache Daemon:/nonexistent:/sbin/nologin

Then I added this to /etc/group:

www:*:99:

After making the above changes, I was ready to modify apache13/Makefile.  I located the following lines

# cd apache13
# make all install

I selected both the tuning and des cript thingy.

The first time I tried this, I encountered this error:

No descrypt library installed.
*** Error code 1

Hmmm.  I thought about this for a bit.  I had just installed FreeBSD from CD.   I concluded the crypto stuff was not installed as part of that process (possibly due to export restrictions).  So I did what I planned to do anyway: upgrade to stable.  That process is documented elsewhere.

# /usr/local/sbin/apachectl start
Syntax error on line 1342 of /usr/local/etc/apache/apache.conf:
2 missing </ifmodule< directives at end-of-file
/usr/local/sbin/apachectl start: httpd could not be started

The error is easily fixed, but it wasn't so easy to find.  It took me twenty minutes of trial and error to locate it.  Edit /usr/local/etc/apache/apache.conf and locate the following (possibly around line 465):

<IfModule mod_php4.c>
  DirectoryIndex index.html index.php3 index.php4
<IfModule>

There is a missing / on the last line.  Each <IfModule> needs a </IfModule>.  Just modify the second <IfModule> to be </IfModule>.

Then I started Apache:

# /usr/local/sbin/apachectl start
/usr/local/sbin/apachectl start: httpd started

WARNING: Note that you should fix this error regardless.  It will not show up after you install php3.  The problem you will encounter will be a DirectoryIndex problem.  Namely, index.php3 will not be picked up by Apache.  Instead you will see a directory listing when you browse to a directory which contains an index.php3.

# cd mod_php3
# make all install    

Then I stopped Apache and then started it.

# /usr/local/sbin/apachectl stop
/usr/local/sbin/apachectl stop: httpd stopped
# /usr/local/sbin/apachectl start
Syntax error on line 721 of /usr/local/etc/apache/apache.conf:
Invalid command '</IfModule', perhaps mis-spelled or defined by
a module not included in the server configuration
/usr/local/sbin/apachectl start: httpd could not be started

Again, this problem is easily solved.  Note, your line number may differ.   Line 721 looks like this:

</IfModule mod_php3.c>

And it should look like this:

</IfModule>

<html>
<body>
Hi <i>mom</i>!
<?
echo "<br>hi son";
?>
</body>
<html>

Then I broswed to this page on my server: http://myserver.org/test.php3, where I saw this:

Hi mom!
hi son

Good.  That's php3 going!

# cd mod_ssl
# make all install    

Then I stopped Apache and then started it.  That's where I stopped with SSL.   I don't actually need SSL, but if anyone wishes to document how to get it running, I'll add it here.  Thanks.

# cd mod_frontpage
# make all install    

Then I stopped Apache and then started it.  That's where I stopped with SSL.   I don't actually need SSL, but if anyone wishes to document how to get it running, I'll add it here.  Thanks.

During the install process, you will be asked various questions.  Before you answer any questions, make sure the appropriate values are set in your /usr/local/etc/apache/apache.conf.  My suggested values are in [square brackets].

• User [www]
• Group [www]
• ServerName [server.yourdomain.org]  <== this occurs in various places in the file
• ServerAdmin [webmaster@yourdomain.org] <== this occurs in various places in the file

For an example of how to answer these questions, see my examples.   Although they may be some what dated, they might prove useful.

And then install Front Page extensions for those virtual hosts.