Apache Cookbook, 2nd Edition

8.20. Getting mod_perl to Handle All Perl Scripts

Problem

You want all .pl files to always be executed by mod_perl.

Solution

Place this line near the top of your httpd.conf file, after the module declaration and activation sections:

PerlModule Apache::Registry

Place this code in the section of your httpd.conf file which includes the scope where you want this behavior to occur (such as within a <Directory> container:

<FilesMatch \.pl$>
    SetHandler perl-script
    PerlHandler Apache::Registry
</FilesMatch>

Be sure that you have the Apache module mod_perl installed and activated.

Discussion

The PerlModule directive ensures that the necessary bits from mod_perl are available. The <FilesMatch> applies to every file ending in .pl and instructs the server to treat it as a script to be handled as CGI scripts by the Apache::Registry package.

More information can be found at the mod_perl Web site (http://perl.apache.org).

These directives will result in all .pl files being treated as CGI scripts, whether they are or not. If the server tries to execute a non-CGI script using this method, the end-user will get an error page and an entry will be made in the server’s error log. The most common error logged refers to “Premature end of script headers,” which is a pretty sure indicator of either a broken CGI script or a completely non-CGI script being treated like one.

See Also

• The mod_perl Web site at http://perl.apache.org

• mod_perl Developer’s Cookbook, by Geoffrey Young et al., which can be accessed at http://modperlcookbook.org/ ...