Installing Apache server.

[r3d5k1]

I tried to install apache server in my computer to see how it works.I installed,but when I go to Control Panel and I try to start it it fails,saying that "apache invalid user name".
I'm using Mandrake Linux 8.2.I also installed the documentation in html but I cant find it.Any idea about this,thanks a lot for your time.
-r5-

[flw]

Have you tried just uninstalling it and reinstalling it? All I see is a similar error msg if your using ssl or some java stuff which your most likely not since you just installed it.

Did you ever get the defualt page to display at least once?

[r3d5k1]

I never got it to start.I dont know whats wrong.
Thanks a lot anyway.
-r5-

[jasonlambert]

Edit your httpd.conf file.

Depending on your setup, this will most likely be in either:
/usr/local/apache/conf
/usr/local/apache2/conf
/etc/

When you have found it, open it in your favourite text editor, and look for section that determines which username and group apache will run as. Make sure these are valid users and groups on your system, ie, they have matching entries in the passwd and groups files.

Jason

[r3d5k1]

Here is the file:

### Main Configuration Section
### You really shouldn't change these settings unless you're a guru
###
ServerType standalone
ServerRoot /etc/httpd
#ServerName localhost
#LockFile /etc/httpd/httpd.lock
PidFile /var/run/httpd.pid
ScoreBoardFile /etc/httpd/httpd.scoreboard
ErrorLog logs/error_log
LogLevel warn
ResourceConfig /dev/null
AccessConfig /dev/null
DocumentRoot /var/www/html


### Dynamic Shared Object (DSO) Support
### 
###
#LoadModule mmap_static_module modules/mod_mmap_static.so
LoadModule env_module         modules/mod_env.so
LoadModule config_log_module  modules/mod_log_config.so
LoadModule agent_log_module   modules/mod_log_agent.so
LoadModule referer_log_module modules/mod_log_referer.so
#LoadModule mime_magic_module  modules/mod_mime_magic.so
LoadModule mime_module        modules/mod_mime.so
LoadModule negotiation_module modules/mod_negotiation.so
LoadModule status_module      modules/mod_status.so
LoadModule info_module        modules/mod_info.so
LoadModule includes_module    modules/mod_include.so
LoadModule autoindex_module   modules/mod_autoindex.so
LoadModule dir_module         modules/mod_dir.so
LoadModule cgi_module         modules/mod_cgi.so
LoadModule asis_module        modules/mod_asis.so
LoadModule imap_module        modules/mod_imap.so
LoadModule action_module      modules/mod_actions.so
#LoadModule speling_module     modules/mod_speling.so
LoadModule userdir_module     modules/mod_userdir.so
LoadModule proxy_module       modules/libproxy.so
LoadModule alias_module       modules/mod_alias.so
LoadModule rewrite_module     modules/mod_rewrite.so
LoadModule access_module      modules/mod_access.so
LoadModule auth_module        modules/mod_auth.so
LoadModule anon_auth_module   modules/mod_auth_anon.so
#LoadModule dbm_auth_module    modules/mod_auth_dbm.so
#LoadModule db_auth_module     modules/mod_auth_db.so
LoadModule digest_module      modules/mod_digest.so
#LoadModule cern_meta_module   modules/mod_cern_meta.so
LoadModule expires_module     modules/mod_expires.so
LoadModule headers_module     modules/mod_headers.so
LoadModule usertrack_module   modules/mod_usertrack.so
#LoadModule example_module     modules/mod_example.so
#LoadModule unique_id_module   modules/mod_unique_id.so
LoadModule setenvif_module    modules/mod_setenvif.so
LoadModule vhost_alias_module	modules/mod_vhost_alias.so

#  Reconstruction of the complete module list from all available modules
#  (static and shared ones) to achieve correct module execution order.
#  [WHENEVER YOU CHANGE THE LOADMODULE SECTION ABOVE UPDATE THIS, TOO]
ClearModuleList
#AddModule mod_mmap_static.c
AddModule mod_env.c
AddModule mod_log_config.c
AddModule mod_log_agent.c
AddModule mod_log_referer.c
#AddModule mod_mime_magic.c
AddModule mod_mime.c
AddModule mod_negotiation.c
AddModule mod_status.c
AddModule mod_info.c
AddModule mod_include.c
AddModule mod_autoindex.c
AddModule mod_dir.c
AddModule mod_cgi.c
AddModule mod_asis.c
AddModule mod_imap.c
AddModule mod_actions.c
#AddModule mod_speling.c
AddModule mod_userdir.c
AddModule mod_proxy.c
AddModule mod_alias.c
AddModule mod_rewrite.c
AddModule mod_access.c
AddModule mod_auth.c
AddModule mod_auth_anon.c
#AddModule mod_auth_dbm.c
#AddModule mod_auth_db.c
AddModule mod_digest.c
#AddModule mod_cern_meta.c
AddModule mod_expires.c
AddModule mod_headers.c
AddModule mod_usertrack.c
#AddModule mod_example.c
#AddModule mod_unique_id.c
AddModule mod_so.c
AddModule mod_setenvif.c
AddModule mod_vhost_alias.c

###
### Global Configuration
###
# We now support multiple apache configurations on the same server. In 
# common.conf, we put all directives that are common to all implementations
# (httpd, httpd-perl, etc.)
Include conf/commonhttpd.conf


###
### IP Address/Port and Proxied configuration section
###
# The APACHEPROXIED setting can be set in /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd if you
# are using a proxy or accelerator, like the Apache-SGI or khttpd, so that
# the fast web server serves static content while Apache handles the 
# cgi or php files

#BindAddress *
<IfDefine APACHEPROXIED>
    Port 8080
    Listen 8080
</IfDefine>
<IfDefine !APACHEPROXIED>
    Port 80
    Listen 80
</IfDefine>

# Likewise, we can set apache as the server by default and send perl
# requests via ProxyPass to apache-mod_perl. It increases performance
# since the perl interpreter is only used for perl and the standard apache
# does all the html and image files, with a smaller footprint.
#
# If you install apache and apache-mod_perl, this is the default config.
# If you don't want two web servers to use perl, uninstall apache, and
# apache-mod_perl will not be proxied.

<IfDefine PERLPROXIED>
    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteRule ^proxy&#58;.*  -  &#91;F&#93;
    RewriteRule ^&#40;.*\/perl\/.*&#41;$  http&#58;//%&#123;HTTP_HOST&#125;&#58;8200$1 &#91;P&#93;
    RewriteRule ^&#40;.*\/cgi-perl\/.*&#41;$  http&#58;//%&#123;HTTP_HOST&#125;&#58;8200$1 &#91;P&#93;
</IfDefine>

###
### Log configuration Section
###

#Single logfile with access, agent and referer information
#This is the default, if vlogs are not defined for the main server
CustomLog logs/access_log combined env=!VLOG
#If VLOG is defined in conf/vhosts/Vhost.conf, we use this entry
CustomLog "|/usr/sbin/advxsplitlogfile" vhost env=VLOG


###
### Virtual Hosts 
###
# We include different templates for Virtual Hosting. Have a look in the 
# vhosts directory and modify to suit your needs.
Include conf/vhosts/Vhosts.conf
#Include conf/vhosts/DynamicVhosts.conf
#Include conf/vhosts/VirtualHomePages.conf


###
### Performance settings Section
###
#
# Timeout&#58; The number of seconds before receives and sends time out.
#
Timeout 300

#
# KeepAlive&#58; Whether or not to allow persistent connections &#40;more than
# one request per connection&#41;. Set to "Off" to deactivate.
#
KeepAlive On

#
# MaxKeepAliveRequests&#58; The maximum number of requests to allow
# during a persistent connection. Set to 0 to allow an unlimited amount.
# We recommend you leave this number high, for maximum performance.
#
MaxKeepAliveRequests 100

#
# KeepAliveTimeout&#58; Number of seconds to wait for the next request from the
# same client on the same connection.
#
KeepAliveTimeout 15

#
# Server-pool size regulation.  Rather than making you guess how many
# server processes you need, Apache dynamically adapts to the load it
# sees --- that is, it tries to maintain enough server processes to
# handle the current load, plus a few spare servers to handle transient
# load spikes &#40;e.g., multiple simultaneous requests from a single
# Netscape browser&#41;.
#
# It does this by periodically checking how many servers are waiting
# for a request.  If there are fewer than MinSpareServers, it creates
# a new spare.  If there are more than MaxSpareServers, some of the
# spares die off.  The default values are probably OK for most sites.
#
MinSpareServers 4
MaxSpareServers 10

#
# Number of servers to start initially --- should be a reasonable ballpark
# figure.
#
StartServers 4

#
# Limit on total number of servers running, i.e., limit on the number
# of clients who can simultaneously connect --- if this limit is ever
# reached, clients will be LOCKED OUT, so it should NOT BE SET TOO LOW.
# It is intended mainly as a brake to keep a runaway server from taking
# the system with it as it spirals down...
#
MaxClients 150

#
# MaxRequestsPerChild&#58; the number of requests each child process is
# allowed to process before the child dies.  The child will exit so
# as to avoid problems after prolonged use when Apache &#40;and maybe the
# libraries it uses&#41; leak memory or other resources.  On most systems, this
# isn't really needed, but a few &#40;such as Solaris&#41; do have notable leaks
# in the libraries. For these platforms, set to something like 10000
# or so; a setting of 0 means unlimited.
#
# NOTE&#58; This value does not include keepalive requests after the initial
#       request per connection. For example, if a child process handles
#       an initial request and 10 subsequent "keptalive" requests, it
#       would only count as 1 request towards this limit.
#
MaxRequestsPerChild 500

I could not find the user stuff,It seems that I'm getting blind.

Thanks a lot.

[jasonlambert]

cool.

2 things...

which version of apache are you using?

can you paste here the exact output of the command below, which should show any config errors:

apachectrl configtest

[flw]

apachectrl configtest

Is that the cmd line for testing his config file for syntax errors? If so does it work in both 1.3 and 2.x versions?

[r3d5k1]

That cmd does not work, the command to start the server is httpd, if I try that cmd it says cmd not found.The version that I have it's kind of old :1.3.26(Mandrake Linux/6mdk)
Server Built Sep 6 2002.I just wanted to install it to have my first taste of it,but you see no everything is easy.Thanks a lot for your help.
-r5-

[flw]

I think j is trying to have you run a syntax checker for the apache configuration file. It comes with apache and will run if httpd is running.

Well have to wait till he responds. It's around 1:00 am in the U.K. now.

[r3d5k1]

I can wait,but my problem is that I cant get httpd to run,because the user name stuff.Thanks a lot.