Apache configuration file

You have to edit your Apache's httpd.conf file if you want to create things like directories with access and authentication controls, or add features like the PHP interpreter, or handle additional languages in multi-views. There are also a few parameters that you will almost certainly want to change from their default values (as obtained from the distribution version of the httpd.conf file).

This page simply provides a few pointers into an actual httpd.conf file from a Window NT installation. It shows you some of the things that you might wish to change.

Read the documentation that comes with Apache, and with extra components such as PHP, before making any changes to a httpd.conf file. Remember the apachectl configtest command, it allows you to check whether an edited httpd.conf file contains any syntax errors.

• Global environment
  The global environment contains data such as ServerRoot, the value of this parameter is the pathname of the directory where your Apache is installed. Most of the parameters in this section should have appropriate values set either from the default or by the actual configuration process.
  There are a few parameters, e.g. the Timeout parameters that you might wish to adjust.
• Load modules
  Your Windows Apache comes preconfigured with the most useful modules installed. There are a few extras that you can add, e.g. the "speling" module (the one that checks for near misses in the names of requested resource). In Windows Apace, these are available as dynamic link modules. If you want one of these extra, uncomment the appropriate LoadModule line.
• Main configuration
  This contains data like the port that Apache is to use, webmaster's email addres, and one that you may need to change the ServerName
  A couple of Directory directives follow. The first prohibits access to all files other than those explicitly enable by overriding directives. This helps prevent curious hackers from exploring your file space. The second sets up controls on the main htdocs directory of your Apache. This example provides you with a model of the directive that you should copy when creating subdirectories with different control options.
  There follow a number of directives setting defaults for names of control files etc; it is unlikely that you would want to change any of these.
  The next element of interest is a Files
  directive. This is used to specify a control that restricts access to all files with names that match a given pattern. The example Files directive in the default httpd.conf file probibits access to any .htacces control files that may exist in subdirectories.
  Several more standard parameters follow. For example HostnameLookups; if set to true, the web server will do a reverse DNS lookup on the IP address of each client so as to obtain the client's hostname (for logging etc). Other directives in this section set up log files and so forth.
• Main configuration continued
  The next part of this main configuration section contains ScriptAlias directive(s); the main one identifies the cgi-bin directory with the CGI scripts.
  The following directives control how Apache will list directories (where this is permitted); the generated HTML files with directory listings can contain little icons that distinguish different file types. The necessary data are defined here. (You would very rarely need to change anything, but it is possible that you might want to add a new file type and distinctive icon.)
• Main configuration continued!
  The next part of this configuration section contains AddLanguage directives that match standard language codes (as used in browsers) to file extensions.
  Then there are AddType and AddHandler (and later Action) directives. These are needed to add things like PHP interpretation, processing of server side includes, recognition of scripts in directories other than the cgi-bin directory. You will need to make some changes here to enable PHP; follow the instructions at the PHP site.
• Main configuration continued!!
  The next element of interest is probably the Location directives that allow access to the server status and server info reports. These will be commented out. You can enable them, and fill in the missing domain data of IP address.
• Virtual hosts and proxy server
  The final section has controls that allow an Apache to act as a proxy for clients not allowed direct access to the Internet, and controls that set up virtual hosting. You can't play with any of these (well you could if you run an isolated little subnet with your own DNS server and so forth).