Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3

Using Apache With Novell NetWare 5

This document explains how to install, configure and run Apache 1.3 under Novell NetWare 5. Please note that at this time, NetWare support is entirely experimental, and is recommended only for experienced users. The Apache Group does not guarantee that this software will work as documented, or even at all. If you find any bugs, or wish to contribute in other ways, please use our bug reporting page.

Warning: Apache on NetWare has not yet been optimized for performance. Apache still performs best, and is most reliable on Unix platforms. Over time we will improve NetWare performance. Folks doing comparative reviews of webserver performance are asked to compare against Apache on a Unix platform such as Solaris, FreeBSD, or Linux.

Most of this document assumes that you are installing Apache from a binary distribution. If you want to compile Apache yourself (possibly to help with development, or to track down bugs), see the section on Compiling Apache for NetWare below.

Requirements
Downloading Apache for NetWare
Installing Apache for NetWare
Running Apache for NetWare
Using Apache for NetWare
Compiling Apache for NetWare

Requirements

Apache 1.3 is designed to run on NetWare 5.0 and 5.1.

If running on NetWare 5.0 you must install Service Pack 4.

Service pack 4 is available here.

Downloading Apache for NetWare 5

Information on the latest version of Apache can be found on the Apache web server at http://www.apache.org/. This will list the current release, any more recent alpha or beta-test releases, together with details of mirror web and anonymous ftp sites.

Installing Apache for NetWare

There is no Apache install program for NetWare currently. You will need to compile apache and copy the files over to the server manually. An install program will be posted at a later date.

Follow these steps to install Apache on NetWare (assuming you will install to sys:/apache):

Create a directory called Apache on a NetWare volume
Copy Apache.nlm, Apachec.nlm, htdigest.nlm, and htpasswd.nlm to sys:/apache
Create a directory under sys:/Apache called conf
Copy all the *.conf-dist-nw files to the sys:/apache/conf directory and rename them all as *.conf files
Copy the mime.types and magic files to sys:/apache/conf directory
Copy all files and subdirectories of \apache-1.3\htdocs to sys:/apache/htdocs and rename the proper index file (index.html.en) to index.html
Copy all files and subdirectories in \apache-1.3\icons to sys:/apache/icons
Create the directory sys:/apache/logs on the server
Create the directory sys:/apache/cgi-bin on the server
Create the directory sys:/apache/modules and copy all nlm modules built into the modules directory
Edit the httpd.conf file setting ServerRoot and ServerName to reflect your correct server settings
Add sys:/apache to the search path. EXAMPLE: search add sys:\apache

Apache may be installed to other volumes besides the default sys volume.

Running Apache for NetWare

To start Apache just type apache at the console. This will load apache in the OS address space. If you prefer to load Apache in a protected address space you may specify the address space with the load statement as follows:

    load address space = apache apache

This will load Apache into an address space called apache. Running multiple instances of Apache concurrently on NetWare is possible by loading each instance into its own protected address space.

After starting Apache it will be listening to port 80 (unless you changed the Port, Listen or BindAddress directives in the configuration files). To connect to the server and access the default page, launch a browser and enter the server's name or address. This should respond with a welcome page, and a link to the Apache manual. If nothing happens or you get an error, look in the error_log file in the logs directory.

Once your basic installation is working, you should configure it properly by editing the files in the conf directory.

To unload Apache running in the OS address space just type the following at the console:

    unload apache

If apache is running in a protected address space specify the address space in the unload statement:

    unload address space = apache apache

When working with Apache it is important to know how it will find the configuration files. You can specify a configuration file on the command line in two ways:

-f specifies a path to a particular configuration file

    apache -f "vol:/my server/conf/my.conf"

    apache -f test/test.conf

In these cases, the proper ServerRoot should be set in the configuration file.

If you don't specify a configuration file name with -f, Apache will use the file name compiled into the server, usually "conf/httpd.conf". Invoking Apache with the -V switch will display this value labeled as SERVER_CONFIG_FILE. Apache will then determine its ServerRoot by trying the following, in this order:

A ServerRoot directive via a -C switch.
The -d switch on the command line.
Current working directory
The server root compiled into the server.

The server root compiled into the server is usually "sys:/apache". invoking apache with the -V switch will display this value labeled as HTTPD_ROOT.

Configuring Apache for NetWare

Apache is configured by files in the conf directory. These are the same as files used to configure the Unix version, but there are a few different directives for Apache on NetWare. See the Apache documentation for all the available directives.

The main differences in Apache for NetWare are:

Because Apache for NetWare is multithreaded, it does not use a separate process for each request, as Apache does with Unix. Instead there are only threads running: a parent thread, and a child which handles the requests. Within the child each request is handled by a separate thread.
So the "process"-management directives are different:
MaxRequestsPerChild - Like the Unix directive, this controls how many requests a process will serve before exiting. However, unlike Unix, a process serves all the requests at once, not just one, so if this is set, it is recommended that a very high number is used. The recommended default, MaxRequestsPerChild 0, does not cause the process to ever exit.
ThreadsPerChild - This directive is new, and tells the server how many threads it should use. This is the maximum number of connections the server can handle at once; be sure and set this number high enough for your site if you get a lot of hits. The recommended default is ThreadsPerChild 50.
ThreadStackSize - This directive tells the server what size of stack to use for the individual threads. The recommended default is ThreadStackSize 65536.
The directives that accept filenames as arguments now must use NetWare filenames instead of Unix ones. However, because Apache uses Unix-style names internally, you must use forward slashes, not backslashes. Volumes can be used; if omitted, the drive with the Apache executable will be assumed.
Apache for NetWare contains the ability to load modules at runtime, without recompiling the server. If Apache is compiled normally, it will install a number of optional modules in the \Apache\modules directory. To activate these, or other modules, the new LoadModule directive must be used. For example, to active the status module, use the following (in addition to the status-activating directives in access.conf):
```
    LoadModule status_module modules/status
```
Information on creating loadable modules is also available.

Compiling Apache for NetWare

Compiling Apache requires MetroWerks CodeWarrior 5 to be properly installed.

First, unpack the Apache distribution into an appropriate directory. Then go to the src subdirectory of the Apache distribution and unzip ApacheNW.mcp.gz. You may use a recent version of WinZip to accomplish this or gzip for Windows. The main Metrowerks project file for Apache (ApacheNW.mcp) is now ready to use. Just double click on it from within explorer and it should automatically launch MetroWerks CodeWarrior.

All major pieces of Apache may be built using the ApacheNW.mcp project file. This includes modules such as status, info, and proxy. In addition, the following project files have been provided as well:

   
       /apache-1.3/src/support/htpasswd.mcp.gz
       /apache-1.3/src/support/htdigest.mcp.gz

htpasswd.mcp.gz and htdigest.mcp.gz will also need to be unzipped before they can be used with MetroWerks CodeWarrior.

Once Apache has been compiled, it needs to be installed in its server root directory. The default is the sys:/Apache directory.

Before running the server you must fill out the conf directory. Copy the *.conf-dist-nw from the distribution conf directory and rename *.conf. Edit the ServerRoot entries to your actual server root (for example "sys:/apache"). Copy over the conf/magic and conf/mime.types files as well.

Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3