Webserver use, configuration and management Unit WUCM1

Setting up Apache

Download and installation

You can get and install Apache in a number of different ways:

1. If you are using one of many Linux distros, you probably have it installed already.
2. If you have a LAMP/WAMP/XAMPP installation on your machine, you will already have it.
3. You can download an installation from http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi
   1. Usually, download and install the "best available" version (not beta)
   2. If you are installing to MS-Windows, easiest is to use the Win32 binary MSI installer
   3. You can, if you really, really want to, install from source

However you install it, there will be an installation directory. On Windows, this is often in C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation.

Documentation and help

Read the excellent documentation that comes with Apache. In particular, the "How to" and users' guides. The Directive Quick Reference will tell you what each directive means.

Things to try

Over the next couple of weeks:

1. Setting up your website to refer to a different folder (e.g. something in "My Documents" rather than in the default webroot).
2. Set up a secure website using both user-based and IP-based access control.
3. Set up a dynamic website that uses CGI (or alternatively set up a Java application using NetBeans and Tomcat).
4. Explore the different options about configuring log files.