Configuring mod_perl 2.0 for Win32
This document discusses how to configure mod_perl 2.0.
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
PATH
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.
Apache2::compat
ModPerl::Registry
Apache::Registry
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).
PerlOptions +ParseHeaders
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:
printenv
sleep(10)
ab
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.
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.
Apache2::Hello
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.
Maintainer is the person(s) you should contact with updates, corrections and patches.
Randy Kobes <randy@theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca>
Only the major authors are listed above. For contributors see the Changes file.
To install Configuring, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Configuring
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Configuring
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.