Apache uses .htaccess files as a way to make configuration changes on a per-directory (and subdirectories) basis. They are a powerful tool when it comes to moving folders of changed files or in my case domain name rewriting.

Currently I am using a short domain name (prsos.co.uk) as a redirect to a specific page on the full domain name petrescuesos.co.uk. In the past I've even used ColdFusion to do by putting something along the lines in my Application.cfm.

This still gives the browser/spider the correct http header but why waste cpu styles on even doing this when the web-server can handle it natively. Below is the Apache .htaccess I've just put in place.

Please update your bookmarks and feeds for my site.

I now have a Mango Blog at:

http://www.andyjarrett.com/blog

Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/andyjarrett

Before there was mod_gzip but now in Apache 2 there is mod_deflate. Its pretty much the same, and included with the default source package now. The syntax is pretty much the same. You can set it across the board or on a MIME type basis.

Check out the Apache docs for a proper understanding. Currently I am still testing my setup and on my Ubuntu installation I edited the following configuration to add some MIME Type rules

The following rules I am using are

Do read the docs though, as not all browsers can handle this but there are ways to get around that.

I'll be honest, I don't have much linux experience. I've always liked the idea of Linux and a command line driven OS but as soon as I see the GUI I tend point and click, which means I don't learn anything new. Then comes along JeOS (Just enough OS, pronounced as "juice") from Ubuntu which doesn't give you a GUI, it just gives you the bare minimum to run a server. It's designed for VM's and perfect for running a Subversion server on your local machine in the background. The specs are:

• Less than 100Mb ISO image
• Less than 300Mb installed footprint
• Specialised -virtual Kernel 2.6.24
• Optimised for VMWare ESX, VMWare Server and KVM
  
• Intel or AMD x86 architecture
• Minimum memory 128M
• No graphical environment preloaded as it is aimed at server virtual appliance

So with JeOS and VMWare Fusion armed I was ready to setup a light-weight Subversion and Apache server. Below documents what I did to get a single SVN repository up and running. Im not installing Trac or SSL with this just so you know. I might try and cover them later, along with multiple repositories.

Setting up JeOS with VMWare fusion is no different than setting up any other VM so I won't go over that here. I'll assume that you can do that, and have done that and now at the command prompt.

Obviously because there is no GUI supplied all commands have to be run from the Command Line/Terminal. This also means editing txt files from the terminal too. If you've never used VIMM you might want to have the following URL handy www.gnulamp.com/vi.html

First things first, lets make sure your install is up-to-date.

We're going to get curl to help with HTML checking later

We need vim to edit some files (If you need help with Vi check out http://www.gnulamp.com/vi.html)

Install Apache

To view this from this from outside of the VM i.e. your host machine, you need to get the IP address which you can do with the following command.

Install SVN

Install LibApach2

Note: For neatness we could of written the above to lines as

Create SVN folders

Set up SVN folders

Create a password file Replace {your name here} with your name i.e. andy

No we configure Apache by editing the following file with Vim that we installed at the beginning

Restart Apache

Thats it, you're done. You can get to your repository via your hosts browser by going to http://{your VM IP}/svn. You should get a username/password dialog which to enter the details you created in.

The final size of my VM is 1.02GB, but with no graphical UI it is only using 25MB of real memory, so leaving it running on a low end machine, which is what I intend will be easy.

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Ok Below is a rough guide to get anyone up and going when it comes to building and installing Apache 2 from source. We're gonna do this all from the Terminal found in /Applications/Utilities/Termain.app.

Please note that '$' means new line, don't type this character If you want to know about any of the commands we make from the terminal you can always type "man + command" e.g.

curl is a tool to transfer data from or to a server, using one of the supported protocols (HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, GOPHER, DICT, TELNET, LDAP or FILE). The command is designed to work without user interaction.

This will also detail the options I use.

1: Download Apache 2 from source. Now you can do this from the browser by simply going to http://httpd.apache.org/ but where is the fun in that :o) From the Termainal type:

2: Building
Our installation of Apache2 is going to be stored on the root i.e. /apache2

3: Installing

4: Starting and Stopping Apache 2 Apache 2 should now be installed.

To start Apache 2:

To restart Apache 2:

To stop Apache 2:

That's all you need to get it installed. Once you are at this point the next move is to edit the httpd.conf file, which you can find at /apache2/conf/httpd.conf

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Host files used in windows to describe many-to-one mapping of device names to IP addresses. Using this file is helpful when developing locally as it allows you to assign the URL of the site to a local IP.

First, find you host file:
Windows NT/2000/XP Pro c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Windows XP Home c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

The HOST file doesn't have an extention and can be opened with notepad.

You should see something like:

As with SQL '#' mean comments, so the only active line there is

What does that mean. Well everytime you access localhost (like in a browser, or PING'd from a command line) you are acutally accessing the IP address 127.0.0.1. So lets say i'm developing a new blog. In Apache (or any web server) i'd set up the IP address 127.0.0.2 to look at my document root. Then in the HOST file i'd have

Alternatively I could just point the host to 127.0.0.1 instead of setting up a new IP. What you cannot do is map to a IP and port i.e. 127.0.0.1:8080

By the way, if you're wondering why i've changed the URL to have www2 as the prefix? It's that the HOST file is used first when going to a domain. For example try out the following

then goto www.google.co.uk.

N.B. If you use a proxy then you will need to bypass the proxy server for local addresses

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Im currently running two seperate installs of CFMX, both 6.1 and 7 with apache as my local server. To do this ensure in your httpd.conf file you have the following

Also to make my life easier (though not as easy as i first thought it would but thats for another post) i'm using System Manager

ZDnet is reporting that Apache is going to create, from scratch, an open source implementation of J2SE, and has Sun's approval to do so

The implementation which is (at the moment) welcomed by Sun, might even have Sun helping them out. Though don't get too excited analysts are expecting it to take 3-5 years

A stright forward guide to the initial set up of Subversion (on Apache)

better-scm.berlios.de/subversion/Svn-Win32-Inst-Guide.html

Here mainly because i forget this. If you want to set up a new VirtualHost ,on your Apache Server,on new port i.e. 81 just add this to your HTTPD.conf file

but before you restart the services don't forget to make Apache Listen on that port as well by adding the following under "LISTEN 80"

Without this Apache will not be listening on PORT 81, and you'll be sitting in front of your box wondering what you've missed - you'll realise - then you'll blog about it ;o)