Intro to Apache Web Server Administration — A 2 day course

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 Closed In-House Course

Synopsis

An Apache webserver training course which provides a technical introduction to installing, configuring and managing the Apache web server and to supporting CGI programming on the Apache server.

This Apache course is delivered over two days in our public schedule, but a selected subset of the course can be delivered to experienced development teams on an in-house basis.

It is common for such in-house apache training courses to select particular families of Apache modules and application servers to focus on. For example, Java oriented development teams will typically create a Tomcat training course focusing on the tomcat servlet container, excluding less relevant topics like mod_perl and including material from our Java programming courses.

Perl programmers will typically ignore tomcat and may want to add Perl programming topics from elsewhere. Something similar may apply for PHP shops.

This is an instructor-led, hands-on Apache webserver course, organised around practical tasks in web server configuration and administration.

Suitable For

Software developers

Webmasters

Technical and support staff in electronic commerce

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Web-based Application Service Providers (ASPs)

This Apache webserver course was originally devised to meet the needs of developers and technical support staff at the UK's largest business ISP. The design of the hands-on exercises in this Apache course and in our other Apache courses draws heavily on their experience and that of our own ecommerce consultants.

Prerequisites

Awareness of the basic principles behind the exchange of information between the webserver and web clients (browsers) using HTTP requests and responses

A basic understanding of TCP/IP protocols

Competent use of a text editor

Knowledge of programming or shell scripting techniques is required, although a high level of practical programming competence is not

Publicly scheduled dates, locations, and prices

Contents

Getting started

• Apache
• Webservers
• Apache features
• Apache versions
• Installing Apache
• Installing XAMPP
• Compiling Apache
• Running Apache
• Running Apache automatically: Unix/Linux & MS Windows
• Checking Apache is running
• Serving webpages
• Location of the apache configuration file
• Setting the document root
• Applying configuration changes after testing
• A little HTTP: GET, POST & status codes
• Accessing a Web Server with the Telnet Program
• HTTP 1.1: persistent connections, chuncked transfers, byte serving, ETags, modified dates & conditional transfers, HTTP Pipelineing
• Googles SPDY — HTTP on Steroids, how it works & implementations

Basic configuration

• Configuring Apache
• Directives
• Modules
• Enabling/disabling modules in Debian
• Checking configurations
• Logging
• Configuring log-file contents
• Specifying log-files
• Logging errors
• Browser error messages
• Custom error pages
• Server and directory index pages
• Custom index pages
• Forbidding index pages
• Trailing slashes in directory paths
• Directory paths without trailing slashes
• Per-directory configuration <Location> example
• Other directives affecting where settings apply
• Wildcards & Regular expressions in container specifications
• Containers & Case insensitive file systems
• Order of merging of containers
• Context for container directives
• Accessing files from the network
• Per-directory configuration outside httpd.conf .htaccess file configuration
• Protecting files with passwords
• Creating a password file
• Maintaining an ht-password file
• Password authentication example
• Password authentication details
• When authentication fails — generating errors
• Authentication Information in Databases
• Restricting access by IP address
• Listening only on specific IP addresses
• Restricting access by IP address
• allow,deny and deny,allow
• Address and password authentication
• Character Sets and Human Languages
• Character Set
• Setting Content MIME Type
• Content Expirey
• Directory Options
• The different MPMs (Multi Processing Modules) available
• Tunable Parameters for Performance
• Enabling KeepAlive

Serving multiple sites with virtual hosts

• Multiple sites on a server
• Setting up virtual host names
• Testing host names
• Enabling virtual hosts
• Defining virtual hosts
• Configuring vitual hosts
• Using virtual hosts
• Host aliases
• Managing many hosts

Dynamic pages with CGI, Perl and PHP

• Dynamic pages
• CGI
• CGI programs
• Sample Unix shell CGI script
• Sample Perl CGI script
• Running CGI programs with Apache
• CGI parameters
• Perl CGI parameter example
• CGI issues
• PHP scripts
• Using mod_php
• PHP configuration
• PHP compiled code caching, persistent database connections
• Sample PHP scripts mod_perl
• Installing and using mod_perl
• Using ModPerl::Registry and ModPerl::PerlRun ModPerl::Registry v CGI Perl, speedup comparison
• Perl persistent database connections
• Other mod_perl features

Using modules

• Modules
• Loading modules mod_speling
• Which Modules Got Loaded ? mod_rewrite
• Why use mod_rewrite ?
• Rewrite Flags
• Rewrite Flags Flow Control
• Rewrite Flags Affect What is Sent to the Browser
• Rewrite Flags Affect Processing on the Server
• Internal Rewriting v Redirection
• Forcing Redirection
• Transforming URLs
• Conditional Rewrites RewriteCond File Tests
• When RewriteCond is done RewriteCond Browser-Dependent Pages RewriteCond Canonical URLS
• Preventing hot/deep linking
• Force use of SSL
• Time based access RewriteMap RewriteMap Example
• When Container tests and Rewrites are performed
• Deploying mod_rewrite
• Redirecting: mod_alias
• Per User Directories: mod_userdir
• Per User Directories: Better Security
• Directory Listings: mod_autoindex
• Directory Listings: IndexOptions
• Monitor Apache Performance with mod_status

Web Proxy with mod_proxy

mod_proxy

• Forward Proxy
• Reverse Proxy / Gateway
• mod_proxy Support
• Proxy Modules And Other Related Modules
• Configuring a Forward Proxy
• Storage of Cached Pages
• Conguring What to Proxy Where
• Configuring a Reverse Proxy
• Basic Reverse Proxy Config
• Load Balancing with mod_proxy_balancer, worked example mod_proxy_balancer cluster manager
• Proxying by Rewriting
• Backend Optimisations
• Access to the Proxy Server

Tomcat with mod_jk connector

• Tomcat overview
• J2EE platform overview
• Apache JServ Protocol (Ajp)
• Installing Tomcat with Apache
• Testing Tomcat, Welcome Page
• Connecting Apache and Tomcat
• Using the Proxy connector
• Using the mod_jk connector
• Dynamic pages, servlets and JSP
• Java Servlets
• Servlet/JSP Containers
• Servlets v CGI
• Sample JSP

Serving pages using HTTPS with mod_ssl

• HTTP security
• HTTPS
• Installing mod_ssl
• Getting a certificate
• Configuring mod_ssl
• HTTP and HTTPS sites cohabiting
• HTTP and HTTPS virtual hosts