Getting Started with mod_perl in 30 Minutes Page 2

Now we download the latest source distributions of Apache and mod_perl. If you have the LWP module installed (also known as libwww and available from CPAN), you should have the lwp-download utility that partly imitates your favorite browser by allowing you to download files from the Internet. You can use any other method to retrieve these files. Just make sure that you save both files in the /usr/src directory, as this will make it easier for you to follow the example installation process. Of course you can install both packages anywhere on your file system:

  % lwp-download http://www.apache.org/dist/apache_1.3.12.tar.gz
  % lwp-download http://perl.apache.org/dist/mod_perl-1.24.tar.gz




 You can make sure that you're downloading the latest stable versions by
visiting the following distribution directories:
http://www.apache.org/dist/ and
http://perl.apache.org/dist/. As you
have guessed already, the former URL is the main Apache distribution directory,
the latter is the same thing for mod_perl. 


Untar both sources. You have to uncompress and untar the files. In addition
to its main usage for tarring and untarring files, the GNU tar
utility is able to uncompress files compressed by the gzip
utility, when the -z option is used:
  % tar -zvxf apache_1.3.12.tar.gz
  % tar -zvxf mod_perl-1.24.tar.gz




 If you have a non-GNU tar utility, chances are that it will be
unable to decompress, so you need to do it in two steps. First uncompress the
packages with: 
  % gzip -d apache_1.3.12.tar.gz
  % gzip -d mod_perl-1.24.tar.gz




 Then untar them with: 
  % tar -xvf apache_1.3.12.tar
  % tar -xvf mod_perl-1.24.tar




 If you don't have tar or gzip utilities
available, either install them or use their equivalents. 


 Now go into the mod_perl source distribution directory: 
  % cd mod_perl-1.24




 The next step is to create the Makefile: 
  % perl Makefile.PL APACHE_SRC=../apache_1.3.12/src     DO_HTTPD=1 USE_APACI=1 PERL_MARK_WHERE=1 EVERYTHING=1




 mod_perl accepts a variety of parameters, in this scenario we are going to
use those that will allow you to do almost everything with mod_perl. Once you
learn more about mod_perl you will be able to fine tune the list of parameters
passed to Makefile.PL. In future articles I'll go through all the
available options. 


 perl Makefile.PL ... execution will check for prerequisites
and tell you which required software packages are missing from your system. If
you don't have some of the Perl packages installed, you will have to install
these before you proceed. They all are available from CPAN and can be easily
downloaded and installed. 


 If you choose to install mod_perl with help of the
CPAN.pmmodule, it will install all the missing modules for you. To
do so, tell CPAN.pm to install the
Bundle::Apachebundle. 


 This step also executes the ./configure script from Apache's
source distribution directory (absolutely transparently for you), which
prepares the Apache build configuration files. If you need to pass parameters
to Apache's ./configurescript, just pass them as options to
perl Makefile.PL .... In future articles we will talk about all
the available options. 


 Now you should build the httpd executable by using the
make utility: 

  % make