Compiling and Installing

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+ + +

This document covers compilation and installation of the Apache HTTP Server + on Unix and Unix-like systems only. For compiling and + installation on Windows, see Using Apache HTTP Server with Microsoft + Windows and Compiling Apache for Microsoft Windows. + For other platforms, see the platform documentation.

+ +

Apache httpd uses libtool and autoconf + to create a build environment that looks like many other Open Source + projects.

+ +

If you are upgrading from one minor version to the next (for + example, 2.4.8 to 2.4.9), please skip down to the upgrading section.

+ +

Overview for the + impatient
Requirements
Download
Extract
Configuring the source tree
Build
Install
Customize
Test
Upgrading
Third-party packages

Overview for the + impatient

+ +

Installing on Fedora/CentOS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux

sudo yum install httpd
+sudo systemctl enable httpd
+sudo systemctl start httpd

+ + +

Newer releases of these distros use + dnf rather than yum. See the + Fedora project's documentation for platform-specific notes.

Installing on Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install apache2
+sudo service apache2 start

+ + +

See Ubuntu's documentation for platform-specific notes.

+ +

Installing from source

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Download	Download the latest release from http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi +
Extract	`$ gzip -d httpd-NN.tar.gz + $ tar xvf httpd-NN.tar + $ cd httpd-NN`
Configure	`$ ./configure --prefix=PREFIX` +
Compile	`$ make`
Install	`$ make install`
Customize	`$ vi PREFIX/conf/httpd.conf`
Test	`$ PREFIX/bin/apachectl -k start` +

+ +

NN must be replaced with the current version + number, and PREFIX must be replaced with the + filesystem path under which the server should be installed. If + PREFIX is not specified, it defaults to + /usr/local/apache2.

+ +

Each section of the compilation and installation process is + described in more detail below, beginning with the requirements + for compiling and installing Apache httpd.

+ +

Don't see your favorite platform mentioned + here? Come help us + improve this doc.

+ +

Requirements

+ +

The following requirements exist for building Apache httpd:

+ +

APR and APR-Util: Make sure you have APR and APR-Util already installed on + your system. If you don't, or prefer to not use the system-provided + versions, download the latest versions of both APR and APR-Util + from Apache APR, unpack + them into /httpd_source_tree_root/srclib/apr and /httpd_source_tree_root/srclib/apr-util + (be sure the directory names do not have version numbers; for example, + the APR distribution must be under /httpd_source_tree_root/srclib/apr/) and use + ./configure's --with-included-apr + option. On some platforms, you may have to install the + corresponding -dev packages to allow httpd to build + against your installed copy of APR and APR-Util.
Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions Library (PCRE): This library is required but not longer bundled with httpd. + Download the source code from http://www.pcre.org, + or install a Port or Package. If your build system can't find + the pcre-config script installed by the PCRE build, point to it + using the --with-pcre parameter. On some platforms, + you may have to install the corresponding -dev + package to allow httpd to build against your installed copy + of PCRE.
Disk Space: Make sure you have at least 50 MB of temporary free disk + space available. After installation the server occupies + approximately 10 MB of disk space. The actual disk space + requirements will vary considerably based on your chosen + configuration options, any third-party modules, and, of course, + the size of the web site or sites that you have on the server.
ANSI-C Compiler and Build System: Make sure you have an ANSI-C compiler installed. The GNU C + compiler (GCC) from the Free Software Foundation (FSF) + is recommended. If you don't have GCC + then at least make sure your vendor's compiler is ANSI + compliant. In addition, your PATH must contain + basic build tools such as make.
Accurate time keeping: Elements of the HTTP protocol are expressed as the time of + day. So, it's time to investigate setting some time + synchronization facility on your system. Usually the + ntpdate or xntpd programs are used for + this purpose which are based on the Network Time Protocol (NTP). + See the NTP + homepage for more details about NTP software and public + time servers.
Perl 5 + [OPTIONAL]: For some of the support scripts like apxs or dbmmanage (which are + written in Perl) the Perl 5 interpreter is required (versions + 5.003 or newer are sufficient). If no Perl 5 interpreter is found by the + configure script, you will not be able to use + the affected support scripts. Of course, you will still be able to + build and use Apache httpd.

Download

+ +

The Apache HTTP Server can be downloaded from the Apache HTTP Server + download site, which lists several mirrors. Most users of + Apache on unix-like systems will be better off downloading and + compiling a source version. The build process (described below) is + easy, and it allows you to customize your server to suit your needs. + In addition, binary releases are often not up to date with the latest + source releases. If you do download a binary, follow the instructions + in the INSTALL.bindist file inside the distribution.

+ +

After downloading, it is important to verify that you have a + complete and unmodified version of the Apache HTTP Server. This + can be accomplished by testing the downloaded tarball against the + PGP signature. Details on how to do this are available on the download + page and an extended example is available describing the use of + PGP.

+ +

Extract

+ +

Extracting the source from the Apache HTTP Server tarball is a + simple matter of uncompressing, and then untarring:

+ +

+$ gzip -d httpd-NN.tar.gz +$ tar xvf httpd-NN.tar +

+ +

This will create a new directory under the current directory + containing the source code for the distribution. You should + cd into that directory before proceeding with + compiling the server.

Configuring the source tree

+ +

The next step is to configure the Apache source tree for your + particular platform and personal requirements. This is done using + the script configure included in + the root directory of the distribution. (Developers downloading + an unreleased version of the Apache source tree will need to have + autoconf and libtool installed and will + need to run buildconf before proceeding with the next + steps. This is not necessary for official releases.)

+ +

To configure the source tree using all the default options, + simply type ./configure. To change the default + options, configure accepts a variety of variables + and command line options.

+ +

The most important option is the location --prefix + where Apache is to be installed later, because Apache has to be + configured for this location to work correctly. More fine-tuned + control of the location of files is possible with additional configure + options.

+ +

Also at this point, you can specify which features you + want included in Apache by enabling and disabling modules. Apache comes with a wide range of modules + included by default. They will be compiled as + shared objects (DSOs) which can be loaded + or unloaded at runtime. + You can also choose to compile modules statically by using the option + --enable-module=static.

+ +

Additional modules are enabled using the + --enable-module option, where + module is the name of the module with the + mod_ string removed and with any underscore converted + to a dash. Similarly, you can disable modules with the + --disable-module option. Be careful when + using these options, since configure cannot warn you + if the module you specify does not exist; it will simply ignore the + option.

+ +

In addition, it is sometimes necessary to provide the + configure script with extra information about the + location of your compiler, libraries, or header files. This is + done by passing either environment variables or command line + options to configure. For more information, see the + configure manual page. Or invoke + configure using the --help option.

+ +

For a short impression of what possibilities you have, here + is a typical example which compiles Apache for the installation + tree /sw/pkg/apache with a particular compiler and flags + plus the two additional modules mod_ldap and + mod_lua:

+ +

+ $ CC="pgcc" CFLAGS="-O2" \ + ./configure --prefix=/sw/pkg/apache \ + --enable-ldap=shared \ + --enable-lua=shared +

+ +

When configure is run it will take several minutes to + test for the availability of features on your system and build + Makefiles which will later be used to compile the server.

+ +

Details on all the different configure options are + available on the configure manual page.

Build

+ +

Now you can build the various parts which form the Apache + package by simply running the command:

+ +

$ make

+ +

Please be patient here, since a base configuration takes + several minutes to compile and the time will vary widely + depending on your hardware and the number of modules that you + have enabled.

Install

+ +

Now it's time to install the package under the configured + installation PREFIX (see --prefix option + above) by running:

+ +

$ make install

+ +

This step will typically require root privileges, since + PREFIX is usually a directory with restricted write + permissions.

+ +

If you are upgrading, the installation will not overwrite + your configuration files or documents.

Customize

+ +

Next, you can customize your Apache HTTP server by editing + the configuration files under + PREFIX/conf/.

+ +

$ vi PREFIX/conf/httpd.conf

+ +

Have a look at the Apache manual under + PREFIX/docs/manual/ or consult http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/ for the most recent + version of this manual and a complete reference of available configuration directives.

Test

+ +

Now you can start your Apache + HTTP server by immediately running:

+ +

$ PREFIX/bin/apachectl -k start

+ +

You should then be able to request your first document + via the URL http://localhost/. The web page you see is located + under the DocumentRoot, + which will usually be PREFIX/htdocs/. + Then stop the server again by + running:

+ +

$ PREFIX/bin/apachectl -k stop

Upgrading

+ +

The first step in upgrading is to read the release announcement + and the file CHANGES in the source distribution to + find any changes that may affect your site. When changing between + major releases (for example, from 2.0 to 2.2 or from 2.2 to 2.4), + there will likely be major differences in the compile-time and + run-time configuration that will require manual adjustments. All + modules will also need to be upgraded to accommodate changes in the + module API.

+ +

Upgrading from one minor version to the next (for example, from + 2.2.55 to 2.2.57) is easier. The make install + process will not overwrite any of your existing documents, log + files, or configuration files. In addition, the developers make + every effort to avoid incompatible changes in the + configure options, run-time configuration, or the + module API between minor versions. In most cases you should be able to + use an identical configure command line, an identical + configuration file, and all of your modules should continue to + work.

+ +

To upgrade across minor versions, start by finding the file + config.nice in the build directory of + your installed server or at the root of the source tree for your + old install. This will contain the exact + configure command line that you used to + configure the source tree. Then to upgrade from one version to + the next, you need only copy the config.nice file to + the source tree of the new version, edit it to make any desired + changes, and then run:

+ +

+ $ ./config.nice + $ make + $ make install + $ PREFIX/bin/apachectl -k graceful-stop + $ PREFIX/bin/apachectl -k start +

+ +

You should always test any new version in your + environment before putting it into production. For example, you + can install and run the new version along side the old one by + using a different --prefix and a + different port (by adjusting the Listen directive) to test for any + incompatibilities before doing the final upgrade.

+ +

You can pass additional arguments to config.nice, + which will be appended to your original configure + options:

+ +

+ $ ./config.nice --prefix=/home/test/apache --with-port=90 +

Third-party packages

+ +

A large number of third parties provide their own packaged + distributions of the Apache HTTP Server for installation on + particular platforms. This includes the various Linux distributions, + various third-party Windows packages, Mac OS X, Solaris, and many + more.

+ +

Our software license not only permits, but encourages, this kind + of redistribution. However, it does result in a situation where the + configuration layout and defaults on your installation of the server + may differ from what is stated in the documentation. While + unfortunate, this situation is not likely to change any time + soon.

+ +

A description + of these third-party distributions is maintained in the HTTP + Server wiki, and should reflect the current state of these + third-party distributions. However, you will need to familiarize + yourself with your particular platform's package management and + installation procedures.

+ +

Compiling and Installing

See also

Overview for the + impatient

Requirements

Download

Extract

Configuring the source tree

Build

Install

Customize

Test

Upgrading

Third-party packages

Comments