Installing libapreq on Jaguar: An Update
by David Wheeler02/07/2003
In part
one of this series, I identified the lack of support for Mac OS X by the
libapreq library (which includes the Apache::Request and Apache::Cookie Perl
modules) as a reason to build your own Apache/mod_perl server. Although the
other issues I identified with Apple's default Apache installation remain, the
libapreq issue is no longer quite as relevant.
As of version 1.1, libapreq formally supports Mac OS X 10.2. This means
that those of us running Jaguar can now use libapreq without compiling support
for it directly into Apache. Mac OS X 10.1 users must still apply this
workaround, and the patch is now included in the libapreq distribution itself
(see INSTALL.MacOSX in the distribution for details). But Mac OS
X 10.2 users are now free to use libapreq as it was intended, including with
Apple's Apache installation, should the mood strike.
That said, installing libapreq on Jaguar is still a bit different than
doing so on other platforms. Rather than the usual approach for installing
Perl modules, the libapreq installation is a two-step process. So I thought it
only fair to provide a quick update to guide you through the installation
process. Note that if you're going to follow this procedure, you'll need to
recompile Apache/mod_perl without the patch. Just follow the instructions in
the article, only don't download and apply the libapreq patch. Once you've
tested that Apache and mod_perl are working again, return here to install
libapreq 1.1.
Installing libapreq
First, we'll need to download libapreq. The latest version can always be
found on the libapreq home
page. It's also available on CPAN, but don't use the Perl CPAN module to
install it, because, as I said, libapreq requires a special installation
process on Mac OS X, and the CPAN module doesn't know that.
% cd /usr/local/src
% curl -O http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/libapreq/libapreq-1.1.tar.gz
% tar zxvf libapreq-1.1.tar.gz
% cd libapreq-1.1Here I follow the familiar pattern of using curl to download
the sources, and then tar to unpack them. Then I change into the
new libapreq-1.1 directory. As I said, installing libapreq on Mac OS X is a
two-step process; first we need to build and install the C library that the Perl
modules rely on, and later we'll install the Perl modules themselves.
% ./configure --with-apache-includes=/usr/local/apache/include
% make
% sudo make installThe --with-apache-includes=/usr/local/apache/include option
tells configure where to find the include files for our new
Apache installation. Then make and make install, of
course, compile and install the libapreq C library. If you wanted to use
libapreq with Apple's Apache installation, you'd just need to change
the configure command to point to the appropriate include
directory, /usr/include/httpd, instead.
Next, we need to build the libapreq Perl modules. These follow the usual
Perl module installation procedure:
% perl Makefile.PL
% make
% sudo make test
% sudo make install|
Related Reading 
The Unix CD Bookshelf |
The Makefile.PL script will ask a series of questions and then
build the Makefile that will allow us to build the Perl modules. Be sure you
enter the proper location for your new Apache server when prompted;
Makefile.PL will most likely find Apple's Apache at
/usr/sbin/httpd, and, unless you're installing libapreq to use
with Apple's Apache, you'll need to enter
/usr/local/apache/bin/httpd instead. On the other hand, if
you are installing libapreq for use with Apple's Apache, you need to
make sure that you use Apple's build of Perl. That usually means
executing /usr/bin/perl5.6.0 Makefile.PL, since simply
using perl will most likely use your shiny new Perl 5.8.0
installation.
Of course, make compiles the modules, while make
test and make install test and install Apache::Request and
Apache::Cookie. Be aware that make test will only work if you
entered correct information when prompted by Makefile.PL and when
the Perl modules LWP and URI have been installed from CPAN. The great thing
about make test, in this case, is that it actually uses our
Apache/mod_perl server to test the new Perl modules. This means that, if all
of the tests passed, then Apache::Request and Apache::Cookie will be in complete
working order and ready to use.
And that's all there is to it. Kudos to the libapreq development team for
getting it working on Mac OS X. Now, get back to your Apache/mod_perl
development work!
David Wheeler is a developer at Portland, Oregon-based Values of n, where he writes the code that makes Stikkit's little yellow notes think.
Return to the Mac DevCenter.
