IBM HTTP Server Version 6.1

Getting Started


Note

Before using this information, be sure to read the general information under Appendix A. Notices.

Compilation date: 19 Oct 2006
Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2004, 2006. All rights reserved.
US Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

Contents

How to send your comments
Migrating from previous releases of IBM HTTP Server
Installing IBM HTTP Server
Mounting CD-ROMS on AIX, HP-UX, Linux and Solaris systems
Installing IBM HTTP Server with a non-administrator user ID
Creating multiple instances of IBM HTTP Server on Windows operating systems
Installing IBM HTTP Server silently
Uninstalling IBM HTTP Server
Appendix A. Notices
Appendix B. Trademarks and service marks

How to send your comments

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Migrating from previous releases of IBM HTTP Server

This section provides information on what to look for when you are migrating IBM HTTP Server V6.0 and later from a previous release.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of IBM HTTP Server and you want to install the new version in the same directory location, you must first uninstall the previous version of IBM HTTP Server.

Consider the following items when upgrading IBM HTTP Server.

Installing IBM HTTP Server

This article describes installing IBM HTTP Server using the launchpad.

  1. Prepare your operating platform for installing IBM HTTP Server as you would for installing any of the installable components on the product disc.
  2. Insert the product disc and mount the disc if necessary.

    [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] See Mounting CD-ROMS on AIX, HP-UX, Linux and Solaris systems for information about mounting the product disc.

  3. Start the installation with the launchpad command:

    You can also start the installation using the /IHS/install command, where IHS is the installable component directory on the product disc.

    When using the launchpad, launch the Installation wizard for IBM HTTP Server.

    After launching the Installation wizard from the launchpad or from the command line, the ISMP wizard initializes and then presents the Welcome panel.

  4. Click Next to display the License agreement panel.
  5. Accept the license agreement and click Next to display the operating system prerequisites check panel.
  6. Click Next to display the installation root directory panel.
  7. Specify the root directory information and click Next to display the port specification panel. The port specification panel enables you to modify the ports to use for IBM HTTP Server and the IBM HTTP administration server. The default port values are 80 for IBM HTTP Server and 8008 for the IBM HTTP administration module. Specify unique port values if the default ports are already in use by another application.
    Tip:
    Issue netstat -an from the command prompt to display a list of active ports.
  8. [Windows] Click Next to display the Windows Service Definition panel. You have the option to create a Windows service for IBM HTTP Server and the IBM HTTP administration server on this panel. You can configure the services to run as Local System account or a user ID that you specify. The user ID requires the following advanced user rights:
  9. Click Next to display the HTTP Administration Server Authentication panel. If selected, this panel creates a user ID and password to authenticate to the IBM HTTP administration server using the WebSphere Application Server administrative console. This user ID and password can optionally be created after installation using the htpasswd utility .
  10. [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] Click Next to display the IBM HTTP Administration Server setup panel. This panel collects information to enable the installation to grant a user ID write access to the necessary IBM HTTP Server and plug-in configuration files. The IBM HTTP administration server runs as the specified user ID.
  11. Click Next to display the IBM HTTP Server Plug-in for WebSphere Application Server panel. This panel collects information to install the WebSphere Application Server Plug-in into a directory that is relative to the IBM HTTP Server installation location, using the remote setup type.
    Important:
    If the plugin directory does not exist at the same level as the IBM HTTP Server directory, the prompt panel for selecting the plug-ins installer does not display.
  12. Click Next to review the confirmation panel to verify your selections. Click Back to change any of your specifications.
  13. Click Next to begin installing IBM HTTP Server.

After displaying installation status, the wizard displays the completion status panel that indicates a successful installation.

Important:
Restrict the characters that you use in installation directory names to printable US ASCII characters.

[AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] The {}`!&*()|:^;<>?"\,=+ characters and spaces are not allowed.

[Windows] The {}:;*??<>|%,=+&?#^!`$[] characters are not allowed, but spaces are allowed.

For information on problems when using non-US-ASCII directory names, search for Technote 1237598 on the WebSphere Application Server support page at: http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/support.html.

Set up IBM HTTP Server administration authentication, using the htpasswd utility.

You can get started using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections by making only a few configuration changes.

[AIX] [Windows] You can configure the Fast Response Cache Accelerator to boost performance.

You can also make many other configuration changes with Apache directives.

Mounting CD-ROMS on AIX, HP-UX, Linux and Solaris systems

This section describes how to mount the CD-ROM for IBM HTTP Server on AIX, HP-UX, Linux and Solaris operating systems.

After inserting a CD-ROM into a drive, some operating systems require you to mount the drive.

Use these procedures to mount the product discs for IBM HTTP Server.

Return to the installation procedure to continue.

Installing IBM HTTP Server with a non-administrator user ID

The common way to install IBM HTTP Server is to run the installation program using an administrator user ID. However, it is sometimes necessary to install IBM HTTP Server using a non-administrator (non-root) user ID.

Launching the IBM HTTP Server installation program is done the same way for a non-root installation as it is for a root installation, but there are several installation steps that require root privileges that cannot be completed or must be completed separately. Complete the installation steps as follows:

Uninstall a non-root installation of IBM HTTP as follows:

[AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris]

<ihs_install_directory>/uninstall/uninstall
[Windows]
<ihs_install_directory>\uninstall\uninstall.exe

Creating multiple instances of IBM HTTP Server on Windows operating systems

On Windows operating systems, you can create multiple instances of IBM HTTP Server by manually creating additional service names.

When you install IBM HTTP Server, you create one IBM HTTP Server as a Windows service with a default name. If you need to run with more than one IBM HTTP Server instance, you can manually create additional service names.

  1. Install a new service name. Use the apache.exe program, which is located in the bin directory of the IBM HTTP Server installation. The command syntax for installing a new service name is:
    apache -k install -n <new_service_name> -f 
       <path_to_new_configuration_file> 
    This command allows you to associate a unique configuration file with each service name.
  2. Specify different IP addresses or ports in the Listen directives of each configuration file and specify different log file names.
  3. Optional: Change settings of the new service using the Windows Services control panel. The new service name will have "Log On" set to "Local System Account" and will have "Startup Type" set to "Automatic." You can change these default settings using the Windows Services control panel. It might be necessary to change the "Log On" setting of the new service name to match the "Log On" of the main installation in order to ensure that file permissions will allow the new service name to run.
  4. Disable the Fast Response Cache Accelerator (FRCA). When running multiple instances of IBM HTTP Server, you must disable the FRCA (AFPA directives) in all configuration files.

After creating a new service name, you can add it to the WebSphere Administration Server administrative console by creating a new Web server definition and specifying the new service name and the path to the new configuration file.

The syntax for uninstalling an existing service name is:

apache -k uninstall -n <service_name>

Installing IBM HTTP Server silently

A silent installation uses the installation wizard to install the product in silent mode, without the graphical user interface. Instead of displaying a wizard interface, the silent installation enables the installation program to read all of your responses from a file that you provide.

Installing IBM HTTP Server using silent installation refers to using a file to supply installation options without user interaction. To configure the installation, change the options in the response file before you issue the installation command. Silent installation mode does not accept interactive installation options. To specify non-default options during a silent installation, you must use the response file. To install silently, you must accept the license agreement in the agreement option.

Verify that the required disk space is available.

See Preparing the operating system for product installation for more information. Do not use the default response file that is shipped on the product disc to install the product, because the value of the silentInstallLicenseAcceptance bean is "false". Copy the file to change the value to "true".

  1. [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] Log on as root.
  2. [Windows] Log on as a member of the administrator group. Considerations for Windows operating systems follow:
  3. Copy the responsefile.txt file to your disk drive and rename it, for example myoptionsfile.txt. You can now customize it. Accept the IBM HTTP Server license by setting -W silentInstallLicenseAcceptance.value="true" in your response file.
  4. Issue the proper command to use your custom response file. For example, issue one of the following commands:

    [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] To silently install IBM HTTP Server, the X Windows software must be installed on the system.

    You can find the sample options response file in the IBM HTTP Server directory on the product CD.

The installation of the IBM HTTP Server product is successful with no error messages.

[Linux] The IBM HTTP Server installation may hang during the silent install of GSKit. The following message displays in the installConfig.log file:

<message>error: failed to stat /mnt/xxx: Stale NFS file handle</message>

This problem might occur if the system has an unresponsive Network File System (NFS) mount,then the Linux rpm command, which is used to install the GSKit, attempts to query the unresponsive file system mount until it times out. To work around this problem, unmount the stale NFS mount, and then mount it again.

Uninstalling IBM HTTP Server

This section contains procedures for uninstalling the IBM HTTP Server. The uninstaller program is customized for each product installation, with specific disk locations and routines for removing installed features. The uninstaller program does not remove configuration and log files.

  1. Stop IBM HTTP Server.
  2. Go to the directory where you installed the IBM HTTP Server. Change to the uninstall directory located in the root directory.
  3. Double-click uninstall to launch the uninstallation program. You can also choose to do a silent uninstall by running the uninstall -silent command.

    [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] The uninstall process does not automatically uninstall the GSKit. You have to uninstall the GSKit manually by using the native uninstall method.

  4. Click Next to begin uninstalling the product.The Uninstaller wizard displays a Confirmation panel that lists the product and features that you are uninstalling.
  5. Click Next to continue uninstalling the product.The Uninstaller wizard deletes existing profiles first. After deleting profiles, the Uninstaller wizard deletes core product files by component.
  6. Click Finish to close the wizard after the wizard removes the product.

The IBM HTTP Server uninstallation is now complete. The uninstallation is logged in the log.txt file in the <ihs_install_directory>/logs/uninstall directory.

Appendix A. Notices

References in this publication to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that IBM intends to make these available in all countries in which IBM operates. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only IBM's product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any of IBM's intellectual property rights may be used instead of the IBM product, program, or service. Evaluation and verification of operation in conjunction with other products, except those expressly designated by IBM, is the user's responsibility.

IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to the following address:

    IBM Director of Licensing
    IBM Corporation
    500 Columbus Avenue
    Thornwood, New York  10594
    USA

Appendix B. Trademarks and service marks

For trademark attribution, visit the IBM Terms of Use Web site (http://www.ibm.com/legal/us/).