Apache on Windows Rich Bowen Part I: Installing, configuring, and running Apache on your Windows machines. ApacheCon :30pm, March 9th, 2000 Orlando, Florida

History October, Apache #13b2 There were some ports available before that

“entirely experimental” Please note that at this time, Windows support is entirely experimental, and is recommended only for experienced users. … Warning: Apache on NT has not yet been optimized for performance. Apache still performs best, and is most reliable on Unix platforms.

In spite of this warning, I have found that, at least in the conditions where I use it, Apache works on NT as well as any of the alternatives. And, if you take administrator frustration into account, much better. ;-)

What are the alternatives? IIS Netscape WebSite Dozens of others Apache is newer to NT than many of the alternatives, but is based on a much more mature code base.

But IIS is better, right? Having long been told that IIS is a better server on NT, I’ve always had my doubts. Using Perl, I did some benchmarking. These results should not be taken as scientific, but are believable to me, at least.

Benchmarking: Apache vs IIS D:\Apachecon>perl benchmark.pl GET Benchmark: timing 2000 iterations of Apache, IIS... Apache: 34 wallclock secs ( 6.50 usr sys = CPU) IIS: 31 wallclock secs ( 6.65 usr sys = CPU) CGI Benchmark: timing 2000 iterations of Apache, IIS... Apache: 63 wallclock secs ( 5.73 usr sys = 9.54 CPU) IIS: 64 wallclock secs ( 6.15 usr sys = CPU)

And, in case you care... use Benchmark; use LWP::Simple; print "GET\n\n"; timethese(2000, { 'Apache' => 'get (" 'IIS' => 'get (" }); print "CGI\n\n"; timethese(2000, { 'Apache' => 'get (" 'IIS' => 'get (" });

Other places where Apache is different from (better than) IIS Configuration –IIS lets you configure a small set of things. –Apache lets you configure everything. And what you can’t configure, you can change in the source. Extensible –Apache is, IIS isn’t Authentication –IIS does authentication against the NT users database. That is, you have to create an NT user to password protect part of your public web site.

What other servers are there for NT? See for a large list.

Differences between Apache on Unix and NT Architecture Configuration differences Authentication

Architecture Unix has one parent process, and forks multiple child processes as needed. NT has one parent process, and one child process that is multi-threaded.

Configuration General configuration tips –File paths, drive letters, etc. –/ vs \ –Where to install it (not a problem any more, just a habit).

Configuration directives AccessConfig and ResourceConfig AccessFileName LoadModule MaxRequestsPerChild MaxSpareServers and MinSpareServers ScriptInterpreterSource

Configuration directives UserDir XBitHack ServerType

Authentication Unix uses Unix crypt, by default NT uses MD5 by default

Running as an NT service –What are NT services? –Installing Apache as a service apache -i -n Apache -f c:/httpd/conf/httpd.conf (Or just select it from your Start menu) apache -u -n Apache (to uninstall)

NT service –Starting and stopping the service Services dialog (click start or stop) From the command line: apache -n “Apache” -k start apache -n “Apache” -k restart apache -n “Apache” -k shutdown Or, the NT ‘net’ command: net start Apache net stop Apache

Console application Running as a console application –Starting and stopping the console app It’s in your Start menu, in the Apache folder To stop, open another DOS window, and type: apache -k shutdown -- or -- apache -k restart

But there’s no GUI!! We don’t need no stinkin’ GUI! But if you really do, use Comanche –A GUI is important on NT, because Windows users expect to have a GUI. Having on goes a long way towards convincing them that this is a real piece of software. Open Source advocacy is largely about perception, not about reality.

Apache modules on NT Apache modules provided as DLLs (rather like the shared objects option under Unix) LoadModule –LoadModule speling_module modules/ApacheModuleSpeling.dll mod_perl - get it at ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/other/

The future of Apache on Windows That’s what Bill is here for

For more information