Configuring Apache HTTP Server V2.2 or V2.4

This topic describes how to change configuration settings for Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2 or 2.4.

Before you begin

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] Install Apache Version 2.2 or 2.4 and the latest version of the web server plug-ins. After you install the web server plug-ins, you can use the Web Server Plug-ins Configuration Tool to configure a web server plug-in.

Apache HTTP Server is different from IBM® HTTP Server (powered by Apache). Apache HTTP Server is not supported on IBM i.

Avoid trouble: If you are running IBM HTTP Server (powered by Apache) on IBM i, you can use the manual configuration steps outlined in the following procedure. However, it is recommended that you use the IBM Web Administration for IBM i GUI.

This topic describes how to configure the Apache HTTP Server web server. Other procedures in Editing web server configuration files describe configuring other supported web servers.

Avoid trouble:

If you are using an Apache HTTP Server that supports 64-bit addressing, you must use the 64-bit CD provided with the WebSphere® Application Server product to install the Apache Web Server plug-in binaries. If you use the 32-bit CD, you will receive an error message indicating that the plug-in binaries did not load.
If you are using an Apache HTTP Server that supports 32-bit addressing, you must use the 32-bit CD provided with the WebSphere Application Server product to install the Apache Web Server plug-in binaries. If you use the 64-bit CD, you will receive an error message indicating that the plug-in binaries did not load.

A sample error message follows:

httpd: Syntax error on line XXX of /home/apache/conf/httpd.conf: Cannot 
load /home/apache/Plugins/mod_was_ap22_http.sl into server: Invalid argument

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] The plug-in was tested with the threaded worker multi-processing module (MPM) on all platforms except Windows. The plug-in was tested with the default threaded MPM on Windows.

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] The plug-in works with the Apache 2.2 or 2.4 prefork MPM but works best with the worker MPM. The plug-in maintains connection pools to backend WebSphere Application Servers and uses in-memory caching. These plug-in functions perform most efficiently when Apache is configured to use a single child process with the ThreadsPerChild value equal to the MaxClients value. The plug-in can be used with the prefork MPM or the worker MPM that is configured with multiple child processes, but at reduced efficiency.

About this task

Examples and messages are shown on more than one line for clarity. Place each directive in a web server configuration file on one line.

Local file path means a file path to the plugin-cfg.xml file on an application server that is on the same machine as the web server. Remote file path means the file path to the plugin-cfg.xml file when the application server is on a remote machine.

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] The Web Server Plug-ins Configuration Tool installs a dummy plugin-cfg.xml file during installation, but this file requires periodic propagation from the real file on the application server machine.

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] The node_name in the following application server local file paths is web_server_name_node for a standalone application server or managed_node_name for a managed node.

The name of the web server definition in the following steps is webserver1.

Procedure

Configure entries in the httpd.conf file.

It is recommended that you use the IBM Web Administration for IBM i GUI to configure the httpd.conf file.

Local distributed example (Network Deployment only - the web server is configured in a managed node):

WebSpherePluginConfig /QIBM/UserData/WebSphere/AppServer/V85/
   ND/profiles/profile1/config/cells/my_cell/nodes/
   my_managednode/servers/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml

Local standalone example:

WebSpherePluginConfig /QIBM/UserData/WebSphere/AppServer/V85/
   ND/profiles/profile1/config/cells/my_cell/nodes/
   webserver1_node/servers/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml

Remote example:

WebSpherePluginConfig /QIBM/UserData/WebSphere/AppServer/V85/
   ND/profiles/httpprofile1/config/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml

Configure entries in the httpd.conf file.

Use the following examples of the LoadModule and the WebSpherePluginConfig directives as models for configuring your file:

Apache 2.2:

LoadModule 
     was_ap22_module /usr/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/mod_was_ap22_http.so

Apache 2.4:

LoadModule 
     was_ap24_module /usr/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/mod_was_ap24_http.so

Local distributed example:

WebSpherePluginConfig
     profile_root/config/cells/
        dmgrcell/nodes/managednode/servers/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml

Configure entries in the httpd.conf file.
Use the following examples of the LoadModule and the WebSpherePluginConfig directives as models for configuring your file:
- Apache 2.2:
```
LoadModule 
     was_ap22_module /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/mod_was_ap22_http.so
```
- Apache 2.4:
```
LoadModule 
     was_ap24_module /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/mod_was_ap24_http.so
```
Local distributed example:
```
WebSpherePluginConfig 
     profile_root/config/cells/
        dmgrcell/nodes/managednode/servers/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml
```
On the Solaris SPARC 64-bit platform, the Web Server Plug-ins Configuration Tool installs both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the plug-in for Apache 2.2 and 2.4, however it configures the web server to use the 32-bit plug-in only. If the web server is 64-bit, you need to configure the LoadModule directive in the httpd.conf file to use the 64-bit plug-in, for example:
```
LoadModule 
     was_ap22_module /usr/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/64bits/mod_was_ap22_http.so
```

Configure entries in the httpd.conf file.

Use the following examples of the LoadModule and the WebSpherePluginConfig directives as models for configuring your file:

Apache 2.2:

LoadModule 
     was_ap22_module /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/mod_was_ap22_http.sl

Apache 2.4:

LoadModule 
     was_ap24_module /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins/bin/mod_was_ap24_http.sl

Local distributed example:

WebSpherePluginConfig 
     profile_root/config/cells/
        dmgrcell/nodes/managednode/servers/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml

Configure entries in the httpd.conf file.

Use the following examples of the LoadModule and the WebSpherePluginConfig directives as models for configuring your file:

Apache 2.2:

LoadModule was_ap22_module 
     drive:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\bin\mod_was_ap22_http.dll

Apache 2.4:

LoadModule was_ap24_module 
     drive:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins\bin\mod_was_ap24_http.dll

Local distributed example:

WebSpherePluginConfig 
     profile_root\config\cells\
        dmgrcell\nodes\managednode\servers\webserver1\plugin-cfg.xml

What to do next

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] The native GSKIT Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption library is used. Installing the web server plug-ins installs the GSKIT SSL encryption library at the required level if it is not installed. If you manually copy the plug-in to a new machine, you might not have the required GSKIT libraries for encrypting back-end connections.

After configuring a web server, you can install applications on it. See the Applications section of the documentation for more information.

Tip: To unconfigure a web server, reverse the manual steps and remove what was manually added in this procedure.