ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu<!DOCTYPE manualpage SYSTEM "/style/manualpage.dtd">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="/style/manual.en.xsl"?>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu<manualpage metafile="windows.xml.meta">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <parentdocument href="./">Platform Specific Notes</parentdocument>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <title>Using Apache HTTP Server on Microsoft Windows</title>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <summary>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>This document explains how to install, configure and run

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Apache 2.&httpd.minor; under Microsoft Windows. If you have questions after

a604cbad8e2202147b5c6bb9f2e06ae61162d654Felix Gabriel Mance reviewing the documentation (and any event and error logs), you

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu should consult the peer-supported

be2439588008221e691321fdf4f75432cfb72878Felix Gabriel Mance <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/userslist.html">users' mailing

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu list</a>.</p>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

fc05327b875b5723b6c17849b83477f29ec12c90Felix Gabriel Mance <p>This document assumes that you are installing a binary

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu distribution of Apache. If you want to compile Apache yourself

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu (possibly to help with development or tracking down bugs),

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu see <a href="win_compiling.html">Compiling Apache for Microsoft

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Windows</a>.</p>

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder </summary>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

e0f1794e365dd347e97b37d7d22b2fce27296fa1Christian Maeder <section id="req">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <title>Operating System Requirements</title>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>The primary Windows platform for running Apache 2.&httpd.minor; is Windows

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu 2000 or later. Always obtain and

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu install the current service pack to avoid operating system bugs.</p>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <note>Apache HTTP Server versions later than 2.2 will not run on any

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu operating system earlier than Windows 2000.</note>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu </section>

27fdf879983dd28e211b41f3be6c0e930b7c816bFelix Gabriel Mance

431571057e88a650a974adec93ea4bb5173b6213Felix Gabriel Mance <section id="down">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <title>Downloading Apache for Windows</title>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>The Apache HTTP Server Project itself does not provide binary releases of

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu software, only source code. If you cannot compile the Apache HTTP Server

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu yourself, you can obtain a binary package from numerous binary distributions

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu available on the Internet.</p>

b84c87f199dc287d235d7dad6ea344f6912ef531Christian Maeder </section>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <section id="cust">

be00381168b3f10192afabbba136fb06d3a9f358Christian Maeder <title>Customizing Apache for Windows</title>

be00381168b3f10192afabbba136fb06d3a9f358Christian Maeder

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>Apache is configured by the files in the <code>conf</code>

27fdf879983dd28e211b41f3be6c0e930b7c816bFelix Gabriel Mance subdirectory. These are the same files used to configure the Unix

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu version, but there are a few different directives for Apache on

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Windows. See the <a href="/mod/directives.html">directive index</a>

27fdf879983dd28e211b41f3be6c0e930b7c816bFelix Gabriel Mance for all the available directives.</p>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>The main differences in Apache for Windows are:</p>

27fdf879983dd28e211b41f3be6c0e930b7c816bFelix Gabriel Mance <ul>

d0f58d27c2536eba454d8f77de8617bc6a2c99cdFelix Gabriel Mance <li><p>Because Apache for Windows is multithreaded, it does not

d0f58d27c2536eba454d8f77de8617bc6a2c99cdFelix Gabriel Mance use a separate process for each request, as Apache can on Unix.

d0f58d27c2536eba454d8f77de8617bc6a2c99cdFelix Gabriel Mance Instead there are usually only two Apache processes running: a

d0f58d27c2536eba454d8f77de8617bc6a2c99cdFelix Gabriel Mance parent process, and a child which handles the requests. Within

431571057e88a650a974adec93ea4bb5173b6213Felix Gabriel Mance the child process each request is handled by a separate thread.

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu </p>

27fdf879983dd28e211b41f3be6c0e930b7c816bFelix Gabriel Mance

27fdf879983dd28e211b41f3be6c0e930b7c816bFelix Gabriel Mance <p>The process management directives are also different:</p>

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance <p><directive module="mpm_common">MaxConnectionsPerChild</directive>:

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder Like the Unix directive, this controls how many connections a single

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance child process will serve before exiting.

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance However, unlike on Unix, a replacement process is not instantly

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance available. Use the default <code>MaxConnectionsPerChild 0</code>,

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu unless instructed to change the behavior to overcome a memory leak

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu in third party modules or in-process applications.</p>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance <note type="warning"><strong>Warning: The server configuration

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu file is reread when a new child process is started. If you have

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu modified <code>httpd.conf</code>, the new child may not start or

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance you may receive unexpected results.</strong></note>

9475501a6acf48434052d9e6f4a05ed6681eaaabFrancisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p><directive module="mpm_common">ThreadsPerChild</directive>:

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu This directive is new. It tells the server how many threads it

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance should use. This is the maximum number of connections the server

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance can handle at once, so be sure to set this number high enough for

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance your site if you get a lot of hits. The recommended default is

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder <code>ThreadsPerChild 150</code>, but this must be adjusted to

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder reflect the greatest anticipated number of simultaneous

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance connections to accept.</p></li>

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder <li><p>The directives that accept filenames as arguments must use

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Windows filenames instead of Unix ones. However, because Apache

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu may interpret backslashes as an "escape character" sequence, you

d0f58d27c2536eba454d8f77de8617bc6a2c99cdFelix Gabriel Mance should consistently use forward slashes in path names, not

60f30f0eeeacdfc1e0dfe39664373ddf5a0675adFelix Gabriel Mance backslashes.</p></li>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <li><p>While filenames are generally case-insensitive on

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Windows, URLs are still treated internally as case-sensitive

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu before they are mapped to the filesystem. For example, the

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <directive module="core" type="section">Location</directive>,

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <directive module="mod_alias">Alias</directive>, and <directive

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu module="mod_proxy">ProxyPass</directive> directives all use

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu case-sensitive arguments. For this reason, it is particularly

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu important to use the <directive module="core"

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu type="section">Directory</directive> directive when attempting

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu to limit access to content in the filesystem, since this

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu directive applies to any content in a directory, regardless of

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu how it is accessed. If you wish to assure that only lowercase

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu is used in URLs, you can use something like:</p>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <highlight language="config">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae BungiuRewriteEngine On

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae BungiuRewriteMap lowercase int:tolower

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae BungiuRewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} [A-Z]

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae BungiuRewriteRule (.*) ${lowercase:$1} [R,L]

31e9d2a02e15b7dbc157e0d3fb3b84f6c8666482Christian Maeder </highlight></li>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <li><p>When running, Apache needs write access only to the logs

656f17ae9b7610ff2de1b6eedeeadea0c3bcdc8dChristian Maeder directory and any configured cache directory tree. Due to the

d3cb3401882f6956de016f8eecbec1cd3b868acbFelix Gabriel Mance issue of case insensitive and short 8.3 format names, Apache must

d3cb3401882f6956de016f8eecbec1cd3b868acbFelix Gabriel Mance validate all path names given. This means that each directory

d3cb3401882f6956de016f8eecbec1cd3b868acbFelix Gabriel Mance which Apache evaluates, from the drive root up to the directory

d3cb3401882f6956de016f8eecbec1cd3b868acbFelix Gabriel Mance leaf, must have read, list and traverse directory permissions.

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu If Apache2.&httpd.minor; is installed at C:\Program Files, then the root

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu directory, Program Files and Apache2.&httpd.minor; must all be visible

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu to Apache.</p></li>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <li><p>Apache for Windows contains the ability to load modules at

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu runtime, without recompiling the server. If Apache is compiled

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu normally, it will install a number of optional modules in the

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <code>\Apache2.&httpd.minor;\modules</code> directory. To activate these or

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu other modules, the new <directive module="mod_so">LoadModule</directive>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu directive must be used. For example, to activate the status

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder module, use the following (in addition to the status-activating

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu directives in <code>access.conf</code>):</p>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <highlight language="config">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu LoadModule status_module modules/mod_status.so

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu </highlight>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

06acd8a23b2f06e7b2373d53f738cf56c7f03223Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>Information on <a href="/mod/mod_so.html#creating">creating

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu loadable modules</a> is also available.</p></li>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <li><p>Apache can also load ISAPI (Internet Server Application

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Programming Interface) extensions such as those used by Microsoft

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu IIS and other Windows servers. <a href="/mod/mod_isapi.html">More

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu information is available</a>. Note that Apache <strong>cannot</strong>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu load ISAPI Filters, and ISAPI Handlers with some Microsoft feature

be00381168b3f10192afabbba136fb06d3a9f358Christian Maeder extensions will not work.</p></li>

0dd6e7830de0887c9a12356447975a826b3b3db2Christian Maeder

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <li><p>When running CGI scripts, the method Apache uses to find

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu the interpreter for the script is configurable using the

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <directive module="core">ScriptInterpreterSource</directive>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu directive.</p></li>

b84c87f199dc287d235d7dad6ea344f6912ef531Christian Maeder

b84c87f199dc287d235d7dad6ea344f6912ef531Christian Maeder <li><p>Since it is often difficult to manage files with names

b84c87f199dc287d235d7dad6ea344f6912ef531Christian Maeder like <code>.htaccess</code> in Windows, you may find it useful to

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu change the name of this per-directory configuration file using

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu the <directive module="core">AccessFilename</directive>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu directive.</p></li>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <li><p>Any errors during Apache startup are logged into the

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu Windows event log when running on Windows NT. This mechanism

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu acts as a backup for those situations where Apache is not yet

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu prepared to use the <code>error.log</code> file. You can

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance review the Windows Application Event Log by using the Event Viewer,

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance e.g. Start - Settings - Control Panel - Administrative Tools

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance - Event Viewer.</p></li>

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance </ul>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu </section>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <section id="winsvc">

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <title>Running Apache as a Service</title>

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>Apache comes with a utility called the Apache Service Monitor.

b84c87f199dc287d235d7dad6ea344f6912ef531Christian Maeder With it you can see and manage the state of all installed Apache

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance services on any machine on your network. To be able to manage an

be00381168b3f10192afabbba136fb06d3a9f358Christian Maeder Apache service with the monitor, you have to first install the

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance service (either automatically via the installation or manually).

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance </p>

624f8c31bd8d6746b93f4b5966aa6fc7680fefc5Felix Gabriel Mance

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu <p>You can install Apache as a Windows NT service as follows from

ee93ea764a2b8189253e912c8447f9419033f6d4Francisc Nicolae Bungiu the command prompt at the Apache <code>bin</code> subdirectory:</p>

d0f58d27c2536eba454d8f77de8617bc6a2c99cdFelix Gabriel Mance

431571057e88a650a974adec93ea4bb5173b6213Felix Gabriel Mance <example>

431571057e88a650a974adec93ea4bb5173b6213Felix Gabriel Mance httpd.exe -k install

</example>

<p>If you need to specify the name of the service you want to

install, use the following command. You have to do this if you

have several different service installations of Apache on your

computer. If you specify a name during the install, you have to

also specify it during any other -k operation.</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k install -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

<p>If you need to have specifically named configuration files for

different services, you must use this:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k install -n "MyServiceName" -f "c:\files\my.conf"

</example>

<p>If you use the first command without any special parameters except

<code>-k install</code>, the service will be called <code>Apache2.&httpd.minor;</code>

and the configuration will be assumed to be <code>conf\httpd.conf</code>.

</p>

<p>Removing an Apache service is easy. Just use:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k uninstall

</example>

<p>The specific Apache service to be uninstalled can be specified by using:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k uninstall -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

<p>Normal starting, restarting and shutting down of an Apache

service is usually done via the Apache Service Monitor, by using

commands like <code>NET START Apache2.&httpd.minor;</code> and <code>NET STOP

Apache2.&httpd.minor;</code> or via normal Windows service management. Before

starting Apache as a service by any means, you should test the

service's configuration file by using:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -n "MyServiceName" -t

</example>

<p>You can control an Apache service by its command line switches,

too. To start an installed Apache service you'll use this:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k start -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

<p>To stop an Apache service via the command line switches, use

this:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k stop -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

<p>or</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k shutdown -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

<p>You can also restart a running service and force it to reread

its configuration file by using:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k restart -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

<p>By default, all Apache services are registered to run as the

system user (the <code>LocalSystem</code> account). The

<code>LocalSystem</code> account has no privileges to your network

via any Windows-secured mechanism, including the file system, named

pipes, DCOM, or secure RPC. It has, however, wide privileges locally.

</p>

<note type="warning"><strong>Never grant any network privileges to

the <code>LocalSystem</code> account! If you need Apache to be able

to access network resources, create a separate account for Apache as

noted below.</strong></note>

<p>It is recommended that users create a separate account for running

Apache service(s). If you have to access network resources via Apache,

this is required.</p>

<ol>

<li>Create a normal domain user account, and be sure to

memorize its password.</li>

<li>Grant the newly-created user a privilege of <code>Log on

as a service</code> and <code>Act as part of the operating

system</code>. On Windows NT 4.0 these privileges are granted via

User Manager for Domains, but on Windows 2000 and XP you probably

want to use Group Policy for propagating these settings. You can

also manually set these via the Local Security Policy MMC snap-in.

</li>

<li>Confirm that the created account is a member of the Users

group.</li>

<li>Grant the account read and execute (RX) rights to all document

and script folders (<code>htdocs</code> and <code>cgi-bin</code>

for example).</li>

<li>Grant the account change (RWXD) rights to the

Apache <code>logs</code> directory.</li>

<li>Grant the account read and execute (RX) rights to the

<code>httpd.exe</code> binary executable.</li>

</ol>

<note>It is usually a good practice to grant the user the Apache

service runs as read and execute (RX) access to the whole Apache2.&httpd.minor;

directory, except the <code>logs</code> subdirectory, where the

user has to have at least change (RWXD) rights.</note>

<p>If you allow the account to log in as a user and as a service,

then you can log on with that account and test that the account has

the privileges to execute the scripts, read the web pages, and that

you can start Apache in a console window. If this works, and you

have followed the steps above, Apache should execute as a service

with no problems.</p>

<note><strong>Error code 2186</strong> is a good indication that

you need to review the "Log On As" configuration for the service,

since Apache cannot access a required network resource. Also, pay

close attention to the privileges of the user Apache is

configured to run as.</note>

<p>When starting Apache as a service you may encounter an error

message from the Windows Service Control Manager. For example,

if you try to start Apache by using the Services applet in the

Windows Control Panel, you may get the following message:</p>

<example>

Could not start the Apache2.&httpd.minor; service on \\COMPUTER <br />

Error 1067; The process terminated unexpectedly.

</example>

<p>You will get this generic error if there is any problem with

starting the Apache service. In order to see what is really causing

the problem you should follow the instructions for Running Apache

for Windows from the Command Prompt.</p>

<p>If you are having problems with the service, it is suggested

you follow the instructions below to try starting httpd.exe from

a console window, and work out the errors before struggling to

start it as a service again.</p>

</section>

<section id="wincons">

<title>Running Apache as a Console Application</title>

<p>Running Apache as a service is usually the recommended way to

use it, but it is sometimes easier to work from the command line,

especially during initial configuration and testing.</p>

<p>To run Apache from the command line as a console application,

use the following command:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe

</example>

<p>Apache will execute, and will remain running until it is stopped

by pressing Control-C.</p>

<p>You can also run Apache via the shortcut Start Apache in Console

placed to <code>Start Menu --&gt; Programs --&gt; Apache HTTP Server

2.&httpd.minor;.xx --&gt; Control Apache Server</code> during the installation.

This will open a console window and start Apache inside it. If you

don't have Apache installed as a service, the window will remain

visible until you stop Apache by pressing Control-C in the console

window where Apache is running in. The server will exit in a few

seconds. However, if you do have Apache installed as a service, the

shortcut starts the service. If the Apache service is running

already, the shortcut doesn't do anything.</p>

<p>If Apache is running as a service, you can tell it to stop by opening another console

window and entering:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k shutdown

</example>

<p>Running as a service should be preferred over running in a

console window because this lets Apache end any current operations

and clean up gracefully.</p>

<p>But if the server is running in a console window, you can

only stop it by pressing Control-C in the same window.</p>

<p>You can also tell Apache to restart. This forces it to reread

the configuration file. Any operations in progress are allowed to

complete without interruption. To restart Apache, either press

Control-Break in the console window you used for starting Apache,

or enter</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -k restart

</example>

<p>if the server is running as a service.</p>

<note>Note for people familiar with the Unix version of Apache:

these commands provide a Windows equivalent to <code>kill -TERM

<em>pid</em></code> and <code>kill -USR1 <em>pid</em></code>. The

command line option used, <code>-k</code>, was chosen as a reminder

of the <code>kill</code> command used on Unix.</note>

<p>If the Apache console window closes immediately or unexpectedly

after startup, open the Command Prompt from the Start Menu --&gt;

Programs. Change to the folder to which you installed Apache, type

the command <code>httpd.exe</code>, and read the error message. Then

change to the logs folder, and review the <code>error.log</code>

file for configuration mistakes. Assuming httpd was installed into

<code>C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.&httpd.minor;\</code>,

you can do the following:</p>

<example>

c: <br />

cd "\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.&httpd.minor;\bin" <br />

httpd.exe

</example>

<p>Then wait for Apache to stop, or press Control-C. Then enter the

following:</p>

<example>

cd ..\logs <br />

more &lt; error.log

</example>

<p>When working with Apache it is important to know how it will

find the configuration file. You can specify a configuration file

on the command line in two ways:</p>

<ul>

<li><p><code>-f</code> specifies an absolute or relative path to

a particular configuration file:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -f "c:\my server files\anotherconfig.conf"

</example>

<p>or</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -f files\anotherconfig.conf

</example></li>

<li><p><code>-n</code> specifies the installed Apache service

whose configuration file is to be used:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -n "MyServiceName"

</example>

</li>

</ul>

<p>In both of these cases, the proper

<directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive> should be set in

the configuration file.</p>

<p>If you don't specify a configuration file with <code>-f</code>

or <code>-n</code>, Apache will use the file name compiled into the

server, such as <code>conf\httpd.conf</code>. This built-in path

is relative to the installation directory. You can verify the compiled

file name from a value labelled as <code>SERVER_CONFIG_FILE</code> when

invoking Apache with the <code>-V</code> switch, like this:</p>

<example>

httpd.exe -V

</example>

<p>Apache will then try to determine its <directive module="core"

>ServerRoot</directive> by trying the following, in this order:</p>

<ol>

<li>A <directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive> directive

via the <code>-C</code> command line switch.</li>

<li>The <code>-d</code> switch on the command line.</li>

<li>Current working directory.</li>

<li>A registry entry which was created if you did a binary

installation.</li>

<li>The server root compiled into the server. This is <code>

/apache</code> by default, you can verify it by using <code>

httpd.exe -V</code> and looking for a value labelled as

<code>HTTPD_ROOT</code>.</li>

</ol>

<p>If you did not do a binary install, Apache will in some

scenarios complain about the missing registry key. This warning can

be ignored if the server was otherwise able to find its

configuration file.</p>

<p>The value of this key is the

<directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive> directory which

contains the <code>conf</code> subdirectory. When Apache starts it

reads the <code>httpd.conf</code> file from that directory. If

this file contains a <directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive>

directive which contains a different directory from the one

obtained from the registry key above, Apache will forget the

registry key and use the directory from the configuration file. If

you copy the Apache directory or configuration files to a new

location it is vital that you update the

<directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive> directive in the

<code>httpd.conf</code> file to reflect the new location.</p>

</section>

<section id="test">

<title>Testing the Installation</title>

<p>After starting Apache (either in a console window or as a

service) it will be listening on port 80 (unless you changed the

<directive module="mpm_common">Listen</directive> directive in the

configuration files or installed Apache only for the current user).

To connect to the server and access the default page, launch a

browser and enter this URL:</p>

<example>

http://localhost/

</example>

<p>Apache should respond with a welcome page and you should see

"It Works!". If nothing happens or you get an error, look in the

<code>error.log</code> file in the <code>logs</code> subdirectory.

If your host is not connected to the net, or if you have serious

problems with your DNS (Domain Name Service) configuration, you

may have to use this URL:</p>

<example>

http://127.0.0.1/

</example>

<p>If you happen to be running Apache on an alternate port, you

need to explicitly put that in the URL:</p>

<example>

http://127.0.0.1:8080/

</example>

<p>Once your basic installation is working, you should configure it

properly by editing the files in the <code>conf</code> subdirectory.

Again, if you change the configuration of the Windows NT service

for Apache, first attempt to start it from the command line to

make sure that the service starts with no errors.</p>

<p>Because Apache <strong>cannot</strong> share the same port with

another TCP/IP application, you may need to stop, uninstall or reconfigure

certain other services before running Apache. These conflicting

services include other WWW servers, some firewall implementations,

and even some client applications (such as Skype) which will use port

80 to attempt to bypass firewall issues.</p>

</section>

<section id="windrivemap">

<title>Configuring Access to Network Resources</title>

<p>Access to files over the network can be specified using two

mechanisms provided by Windows:</p>

<dl>

<dt>Mapped drive letters</dt>

<dd>e.g., <code>Alias /images/ Z:/</code></dd>

<dt>UNC paths</dt>

<dd>e.g., <code>Alias /images/ //imagehost/www/images/</code></dd>

</dl>

<p>Mapped drive letters allow the administrator to maintain the

mapping to a specific machine and path outside of the Apache httpd

configuration. However, these mappings are associated only with

interactive sessions and are not directly available to Apache httpd

when it is started as a service. <strong>Use only UNC paths for

network resources in httpd.conf</strong> so that the resources can

be accessed consistently regardless of how Apache httpd is started.

(Arcane and error prone procedures may work around the restriction

on mapped drive letters, but this is not recommended.)</p>

<example><title>Example DocumentRoot with UNC path</title>

<highlight language="config">

DocumentRoot //dochost/www/html/

</highlight>

</example>

<example><title>Example DocumentRoot with IP address in UNC path</title>

<highlight language="config">

DocumentRoot //192.168.1.50/docs/

</highlight>

</example>

<example><title>Example Alias and corresponding Directory with UNC path</title>

<highlight language="config">

Alias /images/ //imagehost/www/images/

&lt;Directory //imagehost/www/images/&gt;

#...

&lt;Directory&gt;

</highlight>

</example>

<p>When running Apache httpd as a service, you must create a

separate account in order to access network resources, as described

above.</p>

</section>

</manualpage>