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apxs(8apache2)





NAME

       apxs - APache eXtenSion tool


SYNOPSIS

       apxs -g [ -S variable=value ] -n name

       apxs -q [ -S variable=value ] query ...

       apxs  -c  [ -S variable=value ] [ -o dsofile ] [ -I incdir ] [ -D vari-
       able[=value] ] [ -L libdir ] [ -l libname ] [  -Wc,compiler-flags  ]  [
       -Wl,linker-flags ] files ...

       apxs -i [ -S variable=value ] [ -n name ] [ -a ] [ -A ] dsofile ...

       apxs -e [ -S variable=value ] [ -n name ] [ -a ] [ -A ] dsofile ...


DESCRIPTION

       apxs  is  a  tool for building and installing extension modules for the
       Apache HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server. This is  achieved  by
       building  a  Dynamic  Shared  Object  (DSO)  from one or more source or
       object files which then can be loaded into the Apache server under run-
       time via the LoadModule directive from mod_so.

       So  to  use  this extension mechanism, your platform has to support the
       DSO feature and your Apache httpd binary  has  to  be  built  with  the
       mod_so  module.   The  apxs tool automatically complains if this is not
       the case.  You can check this yourself by manually running the command

         $ httpd -l

       The module mod_so should be part  of  the  displayed  list.   If  these
       requirements  are fulfilled, you can easily extend your Apache server's
       functionality by installing your own modules with the DSO mechanism  by
       the help of this apxs tool:

         $ apxs -i -a -c mod_foo.c
         gcc -fpic -DSHARED_MODULE -I/path/to/apache/include -c mod_foo.c
         ld -Bshareable -o mod_foo.so mod_foo.o
         cp mod_foo.so /path/to/apache/libexec/mod_foo.so
         chmod 755 /path/to/apache/libexec/mod_foo.so
         [activating module `foo' in /path/to/apache/etc/httpd.conf]
         $ apachectl restart
         /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd not running, trying to start
         [Tue Mar 31 11:27:55 1998] [debug] mod_so.c(303): loaded module foo_module
         /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd started
         $ _

       The  arguments  files can be any C source file (.c), a object file (.o)
       or even a library archive (.a). The apxs tool automatically  recognizes
       these extensions and automatically uses the C source files for compila-
       tion while it just uses the object and archive files  for  the  linking
       phase.  But  when  using  such pre-compiled objects, make sure they are
       compiled for Position Independend Code (PIC) to be able to use them for
       a  DSO.  For  instance with GCC you always just have to use -fpic.  For
       other C compilers please consult its manual page or watch for the flags
       apxs uses to compile the object files.

       For more details about DSO support in Apache, first read the background
       information about DSO in htdocs/manual/dso.html, then read the documen-
       tation of mod_so.


OPTIONS

       Common options:

       -n name     This  explicitly  sets the module name for the -i (install)
                   and -g (template generation) option. Use this to explicitly
                   specify  the  module name.  For option -g this is required,
                   for option -i the apxs tool tries  to  determine  the  name
                   from  the source or (as a fallback) at least by guessing it
                   from the filename.

       Query options:

       -q          Performs a query for apxs's knowledge  about  certain  set-
                   tings.  The query parameters can be one or more of the fol-
                   lowing variable names:
                     CC              TARGET
                     CFLAGS          SBINDIR
                     CFLAGS_SHLIB    INCLUDEDIR
                     LD_SHLIB        LIBEXECDIR
                     LDFLAGS_SHLIB   SYSCONFDIR
                     LIBS_SHLIB      PREFIX
                   Use this for manually determining  settings.  For  instance
                   use
                     INC=-I`apxs -q INCLUDEDIR`
                   inside  your  own  Makefiles  if  you need manual access to
                   Apache's C header files.

       Configuration options:

       -S variable=value
                   This option changes the apxs settings described above.

       Template Generation options:

       -g          This generates a subdirectory  name  (see  option  -n)  and
                   there   two  files:  A  sample  module  source  file  named
                   mod_name.c which can be used as  a  template  for  creating
                   your  own  modules or as a quick start for playing with the
                   apxs mechanism.  And a corresponding Makefile for even eas-
                   ier building and installing of this module.

       DSO compilation options:

       -c          This indicates the compilation operation. It first compiles
                   the C source files (.c) of files into corresponding  object
                   files  (.o)  and  then  builds  a DSO in dsofile by linking
                   these object files plus the remaining object files (.o  and
                   .a)  of  files If no -o option is specified the output file
                   is guessed from the first filename in files and  thus  usu-
                   ally defaults to mod_name.so

       -o dsofile  Explicitly  specifies the filename of the created DSO file.
                   If not specified and the name cannot be  guessed  from  the
                   files list, the fallback name mod_unknown.so is used.

       -D variable[=value]
                   This  option  is directly passed through to the compilation
                   command(s).  Use this to add your own defines to the  build
                   process.

       -I incdir   This  option  is directly passed through to the compilation
                   command(s).  Use this to add your own  include  directories
                   to search to the build process.

       -L libdir   This  option  is directly passed through to the linker com-
                   mand.  Use this to add  your  own  library  directories  to
                   search to the build process.

       -l libname  This  option  is directly passed through to the linker com-
                   mand.  Use this to add your own libraries to search to  the
                   build process.

       -Wc,compiler-flags
                   This  option  passes  compiler-flags as additional flags to
                   the compiler command.  Use this to add local  compiler-spe-
                   cific options.

       -Wl,linker-flags
                   This  option passes linker-flags as additional flags to the
                   linker command.  Use  this  to  add  local  linker-specific
                   options.

       DSO installation and configuration options:

       -i          This  indicates the installation operation and installs one
                   or more DSOs into the server's libexec directory.

       -a          This activates the module by automatically adding a  corre-
                   sponding  LoadModule line to Apache's httpd.conf configura-
                   tion file, or by enabling it if it already exists.

       -A          Same as option -a but the created LoadModule  directive  is
                   prefixed with a hash sign (#), i.e. the module is just pre-
                   pared for later activation but initially disabled.

       -e          This indicates the editing operation,  which  can  be  used
                   with the -a and -A options similarly to the -i operation to
                   edit  Apache's  httpd.conf   configuration   file   without
                   attempting to install the module.


EXAMPLES

       Assume you have an Apache module named mod_foo.c available which should
       extend Apache's server functionality. To accomplish this you first have
       to compile the C source into a DSO suitable for loading into the Apache
       server under runtime via the following command:

         $ apxs -c mod_foo.c
         gcc -fpic -DSHARED_MODULE -I/path/to/apache/include -c mod_foo.c
         ld -Bshareable -o mod_foo.so mod_foo.o
         $ _

       Then you have to update the Apache configuration by making sure a Load-
       Module  directive  is  present  to load this DSO. To simplify this step
       apxs provides an automatic way to install  the  DSO  in  the  "libexec"
       directory  and  updating  the  httpd.conf file accordingly. This can be
       achieved by running:

         $ apxs -i -a mod_foo.c
         cp mod_foo.so /path/to/apache/libexec/mod_foo.so
         chmod 755 /path/to/apache/libexec/mod_foo.so
         [activating module `foo' in /path/to/apache/etc/httpd.conf]
         $ _

       This way a line named

         LoadModule foo_module libexec/mod_foo.so

       is added to the configuration file if still not present.  If  you  want
       to have this operation to be disabled, use the -A option, i.e.

         $ apxs -i -A mod_foo.c

       For  a  quick test of the apxs mechanism you can create a sample Apache
       module template plus a corresponding Makefile via:

         $ apxs -g -n foo
         Creating [DIR]  foo
         Creating [FILE] foo/Makefile
         Creating [FILE] foo/mod_foo.c
         $ _

       Then you can immediately compile this sample module into a DSO and load
       it into the Apache server:

         $ cd foo
         $ make all reload
         apxs -c mod_foo.c
         gcc -fpic -DSHARED_MODULE -I/path/to/apache/include -c mod_foo.c
         ld -Bshareable -o mod_foo.so mod_foo.o
         apxs -i -a -n "foo" mod_foo.so
         cp mod_foo.so /path/to/apache/libexec/mod_foo.so
         chmod 755 /path/to/apache/libexec/mod_foo.so
         [activating module `foo' in /path/to/apache/etc/httpd.conf]
         apachectl restart
         /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd not running, trying to start
         [Tue Mar 31 11:27:55 1998] [debug] mod_so.c(303): loaded module foo_module
         /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd started
         $ _

       You  can  even  use  apxs to compile complex modules outside the Apache
       source tree, like PHP3, because apxs automatically recognized C  source
       files and object files.

         $ cd php3
         $ ./configure --with-shared-apache=../apache-1.3
         $ apxs -c -o libphp3.so mod_php3.c libmodphp3-so.a
         gcc -fpic -DSHARED_MODULE -I/tmp/apache/include  -c mod_php3.c
         ld -Bshareable -o libphp3.so mod_php3.o libmodphp3-so.a
         $ _

       Only  C source files are compiled while remaining object files are used
       for the linking phase.


SEE ALSO

       apachectl(1), httpd(8).

                                 February 2004                         apxs(8)

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