Apache Web Server Tips for the System Administrator

Glossary

Term	Definition
Certficate Signing Request (CSR)
Private Key
SSLeay

Locations

/etc//httpd/conf --> location of Apache configuration file
/var/www/html --> default location of html web content
/var/www/cgi-bin --> default location of cgi content

Starting/Stopping

/etc/init.d/httpd start
/etc/init.d/httpd stop
/etc/init.d/httpd restart

Apache version 1.3 and above:
apachectl stop
apachectl start

Starting and stopping Apache using ssl:
apachectl sslstart
apachectl sslstop

Configuring Automatic Startup on Reboot

cd /etc/rcd.3
ln -s /path_to_apache/bin/apachectl S99httpd

cp apachectl /etc/rc.d/init.d
cd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/apachectl S99apache
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/apachectl K99apache

Accessing via a Browser

A browser will be accessing the file system as an anonymous user - the user "nobody" in the /etc/passwd file.

/var/www/html by default has the proper permissions to allow an anonymous user to see and execute content, but not to change it.

If you add additional content at other places in the filesystem, then you will need to ensure that the permissions are open enough for the user "nobody" to be able to read and execute content. This is usually accomplished by chmod of at least 755 to the file structure.

Creating a Directory Alias

Modify the httpd.conf file:

Alias <path of alias from document root> "<path on file system>

Alias /icons "/usr/local/apache/icons/"
Alias /icons/ "/usr/local/apache/icons/" <-- NOTE: This alias requires the trailing / and is /icons/ only, not /icons.

SSL

Checking certificate information
openssl x509 -in <ceritificate in PEM format> -noout -text
PEM format:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----