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basic apache installation from source code

If you need SSL support, stop here and read the mod SSL guide now. It is the only part of my guides for apache that needs to be done prior to the basic apache install.

If you are planning on a very basic server without ssl, you might think about just installing the rpm files for the components that you need. You should be able to install apache, mod perl, php, SSI and other modules from rpm format. I like using source code instead of rpms because source code is created and ready to compile. The rpm file for whatever you need to install may be a few versions befind the source code as someone needs to create the rpm files from the source code. Sometimes a module that you want is not available in rpm. Using source allows you to be more current on your versions sometimes and allows for more customization and control of your project sometimes as well. So enough intro, here are the instructions.

get the source code - http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/
Create a directory to work from and download the above into that directory then untar:
# tar -zxvf apache_1.3.xx.tar.gz
This will decompress the archive and create a new directory "apache_1.3.xx".

configure and install apache.
# cd apache_1.3.xx
# ./configure --enable-module=all --enable-shared=max
# make all
# make install
Apache will be installed in /usr/local/apache. Exploring the directory is a good idea.

test apache Start apache now to see that it runs
# /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start
# /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl --help will show options for apache.
On another computer or in X Windows launch netscape and enter the ip address of the machine running apache. If you see a test page your good. If you installed OpenSSL and ModSSL the test page should indicate that they are installed.