Setup
=====
The scripts apache2ctl, a2enmod, a2ensite, ... and the init script have some
support for handling multiple instances of apache2 running on the same machine.
The basic idea is to copy /etc/apache2 to /etc/apache2-xxx. An example script
that demonstrates what else needs to be done can be found in
/usr/share/doc/apache2/examples/setup-instance. Use with:
sh /usr/share/doc/apache2/examples/setup-instance xxx
Adjust the configuration in /etc/apache2-xxx, especially the listen ports in
ports.conf and in the virtual host directives in
/etc/apache2-xxx/sites-enabled/*.
You can then use a2enmod-xxx, apache2ctl-xxx, ... as usual, and they
will affect the new instance of apache2.
If you use systemd, the service name of your new instance is
"apache2@xxx.service". Otherwise the script installed an init script
named /etc/init.d/apache2-xxx.
To start the new apache2 instance on boot, use
- if you use systemd, run:
systemctl enable apache2@xxx
- if you use sysv-init with dependency based boot sequence (the default):
If you don't have ssl keys with passphrases, you may want to set
'X-Interactive: false' in /etc/init.d/apache2-xxx to reduce boot time.
Then execute:
insserv apache2-xxx
- otherwise:
ln -s ../init.d/apache2-xxx /etc/rc2.d/S80apache2-xxx
To make 'apache2ctl-xxx status' work, you need to set APACHE_STATUSURL in
/etc/apache2-xxx/envvars.
Upgrades
========
Since only the configuration files in /etc/apache2 are in the package, the
configuration of other instances won't change if the default configuration
changes. Possibly ways to deal with this are:
- Use symlinks to the files in /etc/apache2 where possible instead of copying
the files.
- Don't modify /etc/apache2 at all but use it to track the default
configuration. You can then merge the changes into the /etc/apache2-xxx dirs.
It may be a good idea to use a version control system for /etc/apache2 to
keep track of the changes. See the package etckeeper for keeping the whole
/etc dir under version control.
An advanced scheme may be for every /etc/apache2* dir to be a separate git
repository so that you can easily pull/push changes from one dir to another.
Package removal
===============
The Apache 2 package will only remove the default configuration files and
directories.
htcacheclean service
====================
The apache-htcacheclean service can be handled in the same way as the
main apache2 script. You can create an
'apache-htcacheclean@instance.service' service under systemd or you can
copy /etc/init.d/apache-htcacheclean as
/etc/init.d/apache-htcacheclean-xxx under SystemV.
The parameters of the service can be customized with
/etc/default/apache-htcacheclean-xxx (that is created by the
setup-instance helper script).
Environment variables
=====================
The following environment variables can be used to influence many scripts. The
default apache2 configuration will make use of them, too. Most can be set in
/etc/apache2-xxx/envvars. Variables set in /etc/apache2-xxx/envvars must be
exported.
variable default value
-------- -------------
APACHE_CONFDIR /etc/apache2 or /etc/apache2-xxx
APACHE_ENVVARS $APACHE_CONFDIR/envvars
APACHE_HTTPD /usr/sbin/apache2
APACHE_ARGUMENTS empty if $APACHE_CONFDIR = /etc/apache2
"-d $APACHE_CONFDIR" otherwise
APACHE_RUN_USER www-data
APACHE_RUN_GROUP www-data
APACHE_PID_FILE /var/run/apache2/apache2.pid or /var/run/apache2-xxx/apache2.pid
APACHE_RUN_DIR /var/run/apache2 or /var/run/apache2-xxx
APACHE_LOCK_DIR /var/lock/apache2 or /var/lock/apache2-xxx
APACHE_LOG_DIR /var/log/apache2 or /var/log/apache2-xxx
APACHE_MODS_AVAILABLE $APACHE_CONFDIR/mods-available
APACHE_MODS_ENABLED $APACHE_CONFDIR/mods-enabled
APACHE_SITES_AVAILABLE $APACHE_CONFDIR/sites-available
APACHE_SITES_ENABLED $APACHE_CONFDIR/sites-enabled
APACHE_LYNX www-browser -dump
APACHE_STATUSURL http://localhost:80/server-status