Contents
Abstract
With a share of more than 70%, the Apache HTTP Server (Apache) is the world's most widely-used Web server according to the Survey from http://www.netcraft.com/. Apache, developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/), is available for most operating systems. openSUSE® includes Apache version 2.2. In this chapter, learn how to install, configure and set up a Web server; how to use SSL, CGI, and additional modules; and how to troubleshoot Apache.
With the help of this section, quickly set up and start Apache. You must
be root to install and configure Apache.
Make sure that the following requirements are met before trying to set up the Apache Web server:
The machine's network is configured properly. For more information about this topic, refer to Chapter 21, Basic Networking.
The machine's exact system time is maintained by synchronizing with a time server. This is necessary because parts of the HTTP protocol depend on the correct time. See Chapter 25, Time Synchronization with NTP to learn more about this topic.
The latest security updates are installed. If in doubt, run a YaST Online Update.
The default Web server port (port 80) is opened in the firewall. For this, configure the SUSEFirewall2 to allow the service in the external zone. This can be done using YaST. Section “Configuring the Firewall with YaST” (Chapter 14, Masquerading and Firewalls, ↑Security Guide) gives details.
Apache on openSUSE is not installed by default. To install it, start YaST and select +. Now choose + and select under . Confirm the installation of the dependent packages to finish the installation process.
Apache is installed with a standard, predefined configuration that runs
“out of the box”. The installation includes the
multiprocessing module apache2-prefork as well
the PHP5 module. Refer to Section 28.4, “Installing, Activating, and Configuring Modules” for more
information about modules.
To start Apache and make sure that it is automatically started during boot, start YaST and select +. Search for apache2 and the service. The Web server starts immediately. By saving your changes with , the system is configured to automatically start Apache in runlevels 3 and 5 during boot. For more information about the runlevels in openSUSE and a description of the YaST runlevel editor, refer to Section 16.2.3, “Configuring System Services (Runlevel) with YaST”.
To start Apache using the shell, run rcapache2 start. To make sure that Apache is automatically started during boot in runlevels 3 and 5, use chkconfig -a apache2.
If you do not receive error messages when starting Apache, the Web server should be running. Start a browser and open http://localhost/. You should see an Apache test page stating “It works!”. If you do not see this page, refer to Section 28.8, “Troubleshooting”.
Now that the Web server is running, you can add your own documents, adjust the configuration according to your needs, or add functionality by installing modules.