Webmaster in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Running CGI Scripts with mod_perl

What most people want to do with mod_perl is improve CGI performance. The mod_perl installation assumes this request by enabling the PerlHandler callback hook by default and by installing the Apache::Registry module. PerlHandler is the handler used for the content retrieval stage of the server transaction. Apache::Registry is the Perl module that emulates the CGI environment so you can use “standard” Perl CGI scripts with mod_perl without having to rewrite them (much). This is by far the cheapest way to get improved CGI performance.

With Apache::Registry, each individual CGI program is compiled and cached the first time it is called (or whenever it is changed) and remains available for all subsequent instances of that CGI script. This process avoids the costs of startup time.

Whereas most CGI scripts are kept in /cgi-bin/, scripts that use Apache::Registry are placed in a separate directory, e.g., /perl-bin/. The access.conf Apache configuration file needs to point to this directory by setting an alias and defining a handler for this new location:

Alias /perl-bin/ /usr/local/apache/perl-bin/

<Location /perl-bin>
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::Registry
PerlSendHeader On
Options ExecCGI
</Location>

Instead of the cgi-script handler, use the perl-script handler to give control to mod_perl. Next, the PerlHandler directive tells mod_perl that the Apache::Registry module should be used for serving all files in that directory. PerlSendHeader ...