Apache Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Installing from Debian Packages

Problem

You have a computer running Debian, or one of the Debian-based distributions, such as Ubuntu, and wish to install Apache.

Solution

Using apt-get, install the apache2 package:

# apt-get install apache2-mpm-prefork

Discussion

As with any package-based Linux distribution, it’s usually best to stick with the packages supplied by that distribution in order to have ease of updates, and maximum interoperability with other packages installed on the same system. On Debian, this means using apt-get.

It’s a good idea to install the apache2-dev package as well, as it provides utilities, such as apxs, which will be useful in installing third-party modules, should the need arise.

Debian has its own unique arragement of configuration files, which is unlike that of any other distribution. Both modules and sites (virtual hosts) are arranged in subdirectories so that they can be enabled or disabled at will using utilities that come with Debian’s version of Apache. For example, to enable a particular module, you will use the a2enmod command, which makes the appropriate changes to the server configuration file to cause that module to be loaded. For example:

# a2enmod rewrite

For a full description of where Debian places its files and directories, you should consult http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DistrosDefaultLayout.

See Also

• http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DistrosDefaultLayout

• man a2enmod

• man apt-get