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mod_perl-2.0.9
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/ Configuring

NAME

Configuring mod_perl 2.0 for Win32

Description

This document discusses how to configure mod_perl 2.0.

Configuration

Add this line to C:/Apache2/conf/httpd.conf:

LoadModule perl_module modules/mod_perl.so

Be sure that the path to your Perl binary (eg, C:/Perl/bin) is in your PATH environment variable. This can be done either by editing C:\AutoExec.bat, if present, or through the Environment Variables option of the Advanced tab of the System area of the Control Panel. Especially when running Apache as a service, you may also want to add the directive

LoadFile "/Path/to/your/Perl/bin/perl5x.dll"

to httpd.conf, before loading mod_perl.so, to load your Perl dll.

You may also want to use a start-up script to load commonly used modules; this can be done with a directive as, eg,

PerlRequire "C:/Apache2/conf/extra.pl"

where a sample start-up script C:/Apache2/conf/extra.pl is

use ModPerl::Util ();
use Apache2::RequestRec ();
use Apache2::RequestIO ();
use Apache2::RequestUtil ();
use Apache2::ServerRec ();
use Apache2::ServerUtil ();
use Apache2::Connection ();
use Apache2::Log ();
use Apache2::Const -compile => ':common';
use APR::Const -compile => ':common';
use APR::Table ();
use Apache2::compat ();
use ModPerl::Registry ();
use CGI ();
1;

Apache2::compat is used to provide backwards compatibility with mod_perl 1.0. ModPerl::Registry, named so as not to conflict with Apache::Registry of mod_perl 1.0, is used for registry scripts.

Registry scripts

Using ModPerl::Registry to speed up cgi scripts may be done as follows. Create a directory, for example, C:/Apache2/perl/, which will hold your scripts, such as

##  printenv -- demo CGI program which just prints its environment
##
use strict;
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "<HTML><BODY><H3>Environment variables</H3><UL>";
foreach (sort keys %ENV) {
  my $val = $ENV{$_};
  $val =~ s|\n|\\n|g;
  $val =~ s|"|\\"|g;
  print "<LI>$_ = \"${val}\"</LI>\n";
}
#sleep(10);
print "</UL></BODY></HTML>";

Note that Apache takes care of using the proper line endings when sending the Content-type header. Next, insert in C:/Apache2/conf/httpd.conf the following directives:

Alias /perl/ "/Apache2/perl/"
<Location /perl>
   SetHandler perl-script
   PerlResponseHandler ModPerl::Registry
   Options +ExecCGI
   PerlOptions +ParseHeaders
</Location>

whereby the script would be called as

http://localhost/perl/name_of_script

The PerlOptions +ParseHeaders directive is needed when the script sends the header (in mod_perl 1.0, this was given as PerlSendHeader ON).

As an illustration of how mod_perl 2.0 addresses the issues raised in the discussion of issues in multithread win32 concerning the threading limitations of mod_perl 1.0 on Win32, consider the printenv script above with the sleep(10) line uncommented. Using the Apache benchmarking tool ab of the Apache 2.0 Win32 distribution:

C:\Apache2\bin> ab -n 5 -c 5 http://localhost/perl/printenv

to make 5 concurrent requests, we find the following results. For mod_perl 1.0/Apache 1.3:

Server Software:        Apache/1.3.23
Concurrency Level:      5
Time taken for tests:   50.51972 seconds

while for mod_perl 2.0/Apache 2.0:

Server Software:        Apache/2.0.45
Concurrency Level:      5
Time taken for tests:   13.729743 seconds

The dramatic difference is due to the fact that in Apache 1.3/mod_perl 1.0 a given request has to finish (taking essentially 10 seconds, due to the sleep(10) call) before the next request is processed, whereas on Apache 2.0/mod_perl 2.0 the requests are processed as they arrive.

Hello World

As you will discover, there is much to mod_perl beyond simple speed-up of cgi scripts. Here is a simple Hello, World example that illustrates the use of mod_perl as a content handler. Create a file Hello.pm as follows:

package Apache2::Hello;
use strict;

use Apache2::RequestRec ();  # for $r->content_type
use Apache2::RequestIO ();   # for $r->puts
use Apache2::Const -compile => ':common';

sub handler {
    my $r = shift;
    my $time = scalar localtime();
    my $package = __PACKAGE__;
    $r->content_type('text/html');
    $r->puts(<<"END");
<HTML><BODY>
<H3>Hello</H3>
Hello from <B>$package</B>! The time is $time.
</BODY></HTML>
END
    return Apache2::Const::OK;
}

1;

and save it in, for example, the C:/Perl/site/lib/Apache2/ directory. Next put the following directives in C:/Apache2/conf/httpd.conf:

PerlModule Apache2::Hello
<Location /hello>
  SetHandler modperl
  PerlResponseHandler Apache2::Hello
</Location>

With this, calls to

http://localhost/hello

will use Apache2::Hello to deliver the content.

See Also

The directions for installing mod_perl 2.0 on Win32, the mod_perl documentation, http://perl.apache.org/, http://httpd.apache.org/, http://www.activestate.com/, and the FAQs for mod_perl on Win32. Help is also available through the archives of and subscribing to the mod_perl mailing list.

Maintainers

Maintainer is the person(s) you should contact with updates, corrections and patches.

  • Randy Kobes <randy@theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca>

Authors

  • Randy Kobes <randy@theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca>

Only the major authors are listed above. For contributors see the Changes file.