Ansible Role apache_httpd

This role installs and configures a CIS-compliant Apache httpd.

What this Role does

This role configures Apache using a Debian-style layout with conf-available/conf-enabled, mods-available/mods-enabled, and sites-available/sites-enabled directories. On Red Hat-based systems, this means a significant restructuring of the default Apache configuration. The goal is to make adding and removing mods, virtual hosts, and extra configuration directives as flexible as possible, regardless of the underlying platform.

The config is split into several files forming the configuration hierarchy outlined below, all located in the /etc/httpd/ directory:

/etc/httpd/
`-- httpd.conf
`-- conf-available/
`-- conf-enabled/
`-- mods-available/
`-- mods-enabled/
`-- sites-available/
`-- sites-enabled/

We avoid using <IfModule> in vHost definitions and in the global httpd.conf to facilitate debugging. Without <IfModule>, a missing module causes a clear startup error instead of silently dropping configuration. <IfModule> is only used in mods-available/ and conf-available/ where it is necessary to guard module-specific configuration.

For flexibility, use the raw variable to configure the following topics (have a look at the „Apache vHost Configs“ section for some examples):

  • SSL/TLS Certificates.

  • Quality of Service (mod_qos directives).

  • Proxy passing rules.

  • Any other configuration instructions not covered in the „Role Variables“ chapters.

If you want to check Apache with our STIG audit script, run it like this:

  • Apache Application Server:
    ./audit.py --lengthy --profile-name='CIS Apache HTTP Server 2.4' --profile-version='v2.0.0' --hostname=web --control-name-exclude='2\.4|2\.6|2\.8|5\.7|6\.6|6\.7

  • Apache Reverse Proxy Server:
    ./audit.py --lengthy --profile-name='CIS Apache HTTP Server 2.4' --profile-version='v2.0.0' --hostname=proxy --control-name-exclude='2\.4|2\.6|2\.8|5\.7

What this Role doesn’t do

  • PHP: This role prefers the use of PHP-FPM over PHP, but it does not install either.

  • SELinux: Use specialized roles to set specific SELinux Booleans, Policies etc.

Platform-Specific Behavior

This role supports both Red Hat and Debian-based systems. Paths and service names differ between platforms:

  • Config path: Red Hat /etc/httpd, Debian /etc/apache2

  • Service name: Red Hat httpd, Debian apache2

  • User/Group: Red Hat apache/apache, Debian www-data/www-data

  • PHP-FPM socket: Red Hat /run/php-fpm/www.sock, Debian /run/php/www.sock

These differences are handled automatically. All documentation below uses Red Hat paths.

Config Examples for vHosts

See EXAMPLES.md.

Mandatory Requirements

Optional Requirements

Tags

apache_httpd

  • Installs base packages and Apache packages/modules.

  • Creates the conf-available/conf-enabled, mods-available/mods-enabled, sites-available/sites-enabled directory structure.

  • Creates symlink for the log directory.

  • Sets ownership on the document root (chown -R apache:apache).

  • Hardens permissions on the config directory (chmod -R g-w).

  • Ensures httpd service is in the desired state.

  • Triggers: httpd.service reload.

apache_httpd:config

  • Creates or updates the global Apache configuration (httpd.conf).

  • Removes rpmnew/rpmsave files (and Debian equivalents).

  • Removes, creates, disables, and enables conf-available configs.

  • Triggers: httpd.service reload.

apache_httpd:htpasswd

  • Creates or updates htpasswd flat-files for basic authentication.

  • Triggers: none.

apache_httpd:matomo

  • Deploys Matomo Log Analytics Python Script to /usr/local/sbin/import_logs.py.

  • Triggers: none.

apache_httpd:mod_security_coreruleset

  • Installs tar.

  • Downloads and verifies the OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS).

  • Extracts the archive and creates a symlink to the CRS directory.

  • Copies the default crs-setup.conf.example to crs-setup.conf.

  • Triggers: none.

apache_httpd:mods

  • Installs base packages and Apache packages/modules.

  • Creates the conf-available/conf-enabled, mods-available/mods-enabled, sites-available/sites-enabled directory structure.

  • Removes, creates, disables, and enables mods-available configs.

  • Triggers: httpd.service reload.

apache_httpd:state

  • Ensures httpd service is in the desired state.

  • Triggers: none.

apache_httpd:vhosts

  • Disables and removes sites-available vHosts.

  • Creates DocumentRoot directories for all vHosts.

  • Creates and enables sites-available vHosts.

  • Supports apache_httpd__limit_vhosts to deploy only specific vHosts.

  • Triggers: httpd.service reload.

Tip:

Skip Variables

This role is used in several playbooks that provide skip variables to disable specific dependencies. See the playbooks documentation for details:

Mandatory Role Variables - Global Apache Config (core)

apache_httpd__conf_server_admin

Example:

# mandatory
apache_httpd__conf_server_admin: 'webmaster@example.com'

Optional Role Variables - Global Apache Config (core)

apache_httpd__conf_add_default_charset

apache_httpd__conf_document_root

apache_httpd__conf_enable_send_file

apache_httpd__conf_error_log

  • See ErrorLog.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'syslog:local1'

apache_httpd__conf_hostname_lookups

apache_httpd__conf_keep_alive

apache_httpd__conf_keep_alive_timeout

  • See KeepAliveTimeout.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set it above 15 seconds.

  • Default: 5

apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_body

  • See LimitRequestBody.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set it above 102400.

  • Default: 102400

apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_field_size

  • See LimitRequestFieldSize.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set it above 1024 - but this might be too small for any modern application which sets cookies in its Header.

  • Default: 8190

apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_fields

apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_line

  • See LimitRequestLine.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set it above 512 - but this might be too small for any modern application which sets cookies in its Header.

  • Default: 8190

apache_httpd__conf_log_level

  • See LogLevel.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'warn'

apache_httpd__conf_max_keep_alive_requests

apache_httpd__conf_server_name

  • See ServerName.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'localhost'

apache_httpd__conf_timeout

  • See Timeout.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set it above 10 seconds.

  • Default: 10

apache_httpd__conf_trace_enable

  • See TraceEnable.

  • Type: String.

  • CIS: Do not set it to 'On'.

  • Default: 'Off'

Example:

# optional - core
apache_httpd__conf_add_default_charset: 'UTF-8'
apache_httpd__conf_document_root: '/var/www/html'
apache_httpd__conf_enable_send_file: 'On'
apache_httpd__conf_error_log: 'syslog:local1'
apache_httpd__conf_hostname_lookups: 'Off'
apache_httpd__conf_keep_alive: 'On'
apache_httpd__conf_keep_alive_timeout: 5
apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_body: 102400
apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_field_size: 8190
apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_fields: 100
apache_httpd__conf_limit_request_line: 8190
apache_httpd__conf_log_level: 'warn'
apache_httpd__conf_max_keep_alive_requests: 500
apache_httpd__conf_server_name: 'localhost'
apache_httpd__conf_timeout: 10
apache_httpd__conf_trace_enable: 'Off'

Optional Role Variables - Specific to this role

apache_httpd__conf__group_var / apache_httpd__conf__host_var

  • conf-available/conf-enabled files. See example below.

  • Type: List of dictionaries.

  • Default: See defaults/main.yml

  • Subkeys:

    • enabled:

      • Optional. Creates a symlink to conf-available/filename.conf in conf-enabled (true), otherwise the link is removed (false).

      • Type: Bool.

      • Default: true

    • filename:

      • Mandatory. Destination filename in conf-available/, normally equal to the name of the source template used. Suffixed with .conf.

      • Type: String.

    • state:

      • Optional. conf-available/filename.conf is created (present), otherwise file is removed (absent).

      • Type: String.

    • template:

      • Mandatory. Name of the Jinja template source file to use.

      • Type: String.

apache_httpd__htpasswd__group_var / apache_httpd__htpasswd__host_var

  • Create and update flat-files for basic authentication of HTTP users.

  • Type: List of dictionaries.

  • Default: []

  • Subkeys:

    • password:

      • Mandatory. Password.

      • Type: String.

    • path:

      • Optional. Path to the htpasswd file.

      • Type: String.

      • Default: '/etc/httpd/.htpasswd'

    • state:

      • Optional. Either present or absent.

      • Type: String.

      • Default: 'present'

    • username:

      • Mandatory. Username.

      • Type: String.

apache_httpd__limit_vhosts

  • Checks if the conf_server_name is in the list and only deploys those. Can be used on the CLI to speed up the deployment on large proxy servers, e.g. --extra-vars='apache_httpd__limit_vhosts=["test.example.com"]'.

  • Type: List.

  • Default: unset

apache_httpd__mods__group_var / apache_httpd__mods__host_var

  • mods-available/mods-enabled files. See example below.

  • Type: List of dictionaries.

  • Default: See defaults/main.yml

  • Subkeys:

    • enabled:

      • Optional. Creates a symlink to mods-available/filename.mods in mods-enabled (true), otherwise the link is removed (false).

      • Type: Bool.

      • Default: true

    • filename:

      • Mandatory. Destination filename in mods-available/, normally equal to the name of the source template used. Suffixed with .conf.

      • Type: String.

    • state:

      • Optional. mods-available/filename.conf is created (present), otherwise file is removed (absent).

      • Type: String.

    • template:

      • Optional. Name of the Ansible Jinja template source file to use. If omitted, filename is used.

      • Type: String.

apache_httpd__packages__group_var / apache_httpd__packages__host_var

  • Packages to install using the OS package manager. Packages are removed first and then added.

  • Type: List of dictionaries.

  • Default: See defaults/main.yml

  • Subkeys:

    • name:

      • Mandatory. The package name.

      • Type: String.

    • state:

      • Optional. State of the package, one of present, absent.

      • Type: String.

apache_httpd__skip_document_root_chown

  • Set to true to skip the chown -R apache:apache of the document root.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: false

apache_httpd__skip_php_fpm

  • Skip PHP-FPM configuration globally and in each vHost within Apache. When set to false (default), the role automatically injects PHP-FPM ProxyPass directives into app, localhost, and wordpress vHosts.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: false

apache_httpd__systemd_enabled

  • Whether the Apache webserver service should start on boot (true) or not (false).

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: true

apache_httpd__systemd_state

  • Make sure Apache webserver service is in a specific state. Possible options: reloaded, restarted, started, stopped.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'started'

Example:

# optional - role-specific
apache_httpd__conf__host_var:
  - filename: 'deflate'
    enabled: true
    state: 'present'
    template: 'deflate'
apache_httpd__htpasswd__host_var:
  - username: 'test-user'
    password: 'linuxfabrik'
    state: 'present'
apache_httpd__limit_vhosts:
    - 'test.example.com'
apache_httpd__mods__host_var:
  - filename: 'alias'
    enabled: true
    state: 'present'
    template: 'alias'
  - filename: 'authn_core'
    enabled: false # overwrite the default
    state: 'absent' # overwrite the default
    template: 'authn_core'
apache_httpd__packages__host_var:
  - name: 'mod_qos'
    state: 'present'
apache_httpd__skip_document_root_chown: true
apache_httpd__skip_php_fpm: false
apache_httpd__systemd_enabled: true
apache_httpd__systemd_state: 'started'

Mandatory Role Variables - vHosts

apache_httpd__vhosts__group_var / apache_httpd__vhosts__host_var

  • vHost definitions for Apache. See the „Optional Role Variables - vHosts“ section below for all available subkeys.

  • Type: List of dictionaries.

  • Subkeys:

    • conf_server_name:

      • Mandatory. Set this variable for each vHost definition. Although this is just best practice, we would never use a vHost without a ServerName.

      • Type: String.

Example:

# mandatory
apache_httpd__vhosts__host_var:
  # Application vHosts
  - template: 'app'
    conf_server_name: 'myapp.example.com'

Optional Role Variables - vHosts

Using apache_httpd__vhosts__group_var or apache_httpd__vhosts__host_var (which are dictionaries), you define vHosts for Apache. The example below shows a complete example, use this as a starting point.

Types of vHosts:

  • app: A hardened vHost running an application like Nextcloud, Wordpress etc. with the most common options. Can be extended by using the raw variable.

  • localhost: A hardened, pre-defined VirtualHost just listening on https://localhost, and only accessible from localhost. Due to its naming, it is the first defined vHost. Can be extended by using the raw variable. The following URLs are pre-configured and only accessible from localhost:

    • /fpm-ping - PHP-FPM health check

    • /fpm-status - PHP-FPM status page

    • /monitoring.php - Linuxfabrik monitoring endpoint

    • /server-info - Apache server info (mod_info required)

    • /server-status - Apache server status (mod_status required)

  • proxy: A typical hardened reverse proxy vHost. Can be extended by using the raw variable. This proxy vHost definition prevents Apache from functioning as a forward proxy server (inside > out).

  • raw: If none of the above vHost templates fit, use the raw one and define everything except <VirtualHost> and </VirtualHost> completely from scratch.

  • redirect: A vHost that redirects from one port (default „80“) to another (default „443“). Custom redirect rules can be provided using the raw variable.

  • wordpress: A special vHost just for deploying WordPress instances.

„Hardened“ means among other things:

  • Old HTTP protocol (< HTTP/1.1) versions are disallowed.

  • IP address based requests are disallowed.

  • Number of bytes that are allowed in a request are limited.

  • Access to dotfiles (files starting with .) is blocked, except .well-known (for ACME/Let’s Encrypt challenges).

  • Forbidden HTTP methods return a 405 Method Not Allowed via RewriteRule.

This role creates a vHost named localhost by default. See defaults/main.yml

allow_accessing_dotfiles

  • app-vHosts block access to files that begin with a period. With this setting you can disable this behavior.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: false

allow_requests_without_hostname

  • app-vHosts forbid accessing them without a hostname / just by IP. With this setting you can disable this behavior.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: false

allowed_file_extensions

  • app- and localhost-vHosts block ALL file extensions by default, unless specifically allowed. The patterns use Apache regex syntax (e.g. html? matches both html and htm, jpe?g matches both jpeg and jpg). Files and folders starting with a dot are always forbidden. Use skip_allowed_file_extensions to allow all file extensions.

  • To compile a list of file extensions present in your application, run: find {{ apache_httpd__conf_document_root }} -type f -name '*.*' | awk -F. '{print $NF }' | sort --unique | sed -e 's/^/- \x27/' -e 's/$/\x27/'

  • Type: List.

  • Default: app/localhost ['css', 'gif', 'html?', 'ico', 'jpe?g', 'js', 'pdf', 'php', 'png', 'svg', 'ttf', 'txt', 'woff2?']

allowed_http_methods

  • Restrict allowed HTTP methods. Only the explicitly listed ones are allowed; all others return 405 Method Not Allowed. This does not disable TRACE. Always enable GET and OPTIONS at least. For an OPTIONS request, Apache always returns Allow: GET,POST,OPTIONS,HEAD, no matter what. We are NOT using LimitExcept, because this directive is not allowed in a VirtualHost context. Use skip_allowed_http_methods to allow all HTTP methods.

  • Available HTTP methods:

    • CONNECT, DELETE, GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, PATCH, POST, PUT

  • Available WebDAV methods:

    • COPY, LOCK, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, UNLOCK

  • Type: List.

  • Default: app/localhost/proxy ['GET', 'OPTIONS']

authz_document_root

  • Authorization statement for the DocumentRoot {{ apache_httpd__conf_document_root }}/{{ conf_server_name }} directive.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost 'Require all granted'

by_role

  • If defined it results in a comment # Generated by Ansible role: {{ by_role }} at the beginning of a vHost definition.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: unset

comment

  • Describes the vHost and results in a comment right above the <VirtualHost> section.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'no description available'

conf_allow_override

  • Will be set in the <Directory> directive of the vHost. See AllowOverride.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost 'None'

conf_custom_log

  • The log format has to be one of: agent, combined, combinedio, common, debug, fail2ban, linuxfabrikio, matomo, referer, vhost_common. See CustomLog.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost/proxy 'logs/{{ conf_server_name }}-access.log linuxfabrikio'

conf_directory_index

  • See DirectoryIndex.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app {{ apache_httpd__mod_dir_directory_index }}

conf_document_root

  • See DocumentRoot.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost '{{ apache_httpd__conf_document_root }}/{{ conf_server_name }}'

conf_error_log

  • See ErrorLog.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost/proxy 'logs/{{ conf_server_name }}-error.log'

conf_keep_alive_timeout

  • See KeepAliveTimeout.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set it above 15 seconds.

  • Default: 5

conf_log_level

  • See LogLevel.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'notice core:info'

conf_options

  • Sets the Options for the <Directory> directive. See Options.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost 'None'

conf_proxy_error_override

  • If you want to have a common look and feel on the error pages seen by the end user, set this to „On“ and define them on the reverse proxy server. See ProxyErrorOverride.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: proxy 'On'

conf_proxy_preserve_host

  • When enabled, this option will pass the Host: line from the incoming request to the proxied host, instead of the hostname specified in the ProxyPass line. See ProxyPreserveHost.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'Off'

conf_proxy_timeout

conf_request_read_timeout

  • See RequestReadTimeout.

  • Type: Number.

  • CIS: Do not set the Timeout Limits for Request Headers above 40. Do not set the Timeout Limits for the Request Body above 20.

  • Default: 'header=20-40,MinRate=500 body=20,MinRate=500'

conf_server_admin

  • See ServerAdmin.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: {{ apache_httpd__conf_server_admin }}

conf_server_alias

  • Set this only if you need more than one conf_server_name. See ServerAlias.

  • Type: List.

  • Default: unset

conf_server_name

conf_timeout

  • See Timeout.

  • Type: Number.

  • Default: {{ apache_httpd__conf_timeout }}

enabled

  • Enable this vHost.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: true

filename

  • The filename of the vHost definition. If not set it defaults to the conf_server_name variable. The filename is automatically suffixed by .virtualhost_port.conf.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: conf_server_name.virtualhost_port.conf

php_set_handler

  • Set the handler for PHP. Socket-based: SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php-fpm/www.sock|fcgi://localhost". Network-based: SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000/".

  • Type: String.

  • Default: app/localhost 'SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php-fpm/www.sock|fcgi://localhost"'

raw

  • It is sometimes desirable to pass variable content that Jinja would handle as variables or blocks. The best and safest solution is to declare raw variables as !unsafe, to prevent templating errors and information disclosure.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: unset

skip_allowed_file_extensions

  • Skips checking file extensions in app- and localhost-vHosts, allowing essentially all file extensions.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: false

skip_allowed_http_methods

  • Skips checking the HTTP methods in app-, localhost-, proxy-, wordpress-vHosts, allowing essentially all HTTP methods.

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: false

state

  • Should the vhost definition file be created (present) or deleted (absent).

  • Type: String.

  • Default: localhost 'present', others unset

template

  • See the „Types of vHosts“ section above.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: unset

virtualhost_ip

  • Used within the <VirtualHost {{ virtualhost_ip }}:{{ virtualhost_port }}> directive.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: '*'

virtualhost_port

  • Used within the <VirtualHost {{ virtualhost_ip }}:{{ virtualhost_port }}> directive.

  • Type: Number.

  • Default: 443, redirect 80

Example: See EXAMPLES.md.

Optional Role Variables - mod_dir

apache_httpd__mod_dir_directory_index

  • See DirectoryIndex.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'index.html index.htm index.txt'

Example:

# optional - mod_dir
apache_httpd__mod_dir_directory_index: 'index.html'

Optional Role Variables - mod_log_config

This module is for flexible logging of client requests. Logs are written in a customizable format, and may be written directly to a file, or to an external program. Conditional logging is provided so that individual requests may be included or excluded from the logs based on characteristics of the request.

apache_httpd__mod_log_config_custom_log

  • Global log directive that applies to requests not handled by any vHost. Each vHost defines its own log via conf_custom_log. One of: agent, combined, combinedio, common, debug, fail2ban, linuxfabrikio, matomo, referer, vhost_common. See CustomLog.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: unset

Example:

# optional - mod_log_config
apache_httpd__mod_log_config_custom_log: 'logs/access.log combined'

Optional Role Variables - mod_security (security2)

apache_httpd__mod_security_coreruleset_url

  • The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) Download URL. Change this if you are running your own mirror servers.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: 'https://github.com/coreruleset/coreruleset/archive'

apache_httpd__mod_security_coreruleset_version

  • The OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS) version number without „v“.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: '4.24.1'

apache_httpd__skip_mod_security_coreruleset

  • Skip the installation of the OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS).

  • Type: Bool.

  • Default: true

Example:

# optional - mod_security
apache_httpd__mod_security_coreruleset_url: 'https://github.com/coreruleset/coreruleset/archive'
apache_httpd__mod_security_coreruleset_version: '4.24.1'
apache_httpd__skip_mod_security_coreruleset: true

Optional Role Variables - mod_ssl

apache_httpd__mod_ssl_ssl_use_stapling

Example:

# optional - mod_ssl
apache_httpd__mod_ssl_ssl_use_stapling: 'on'

Optional Role Variables - mpm_common

apache_httpd__mpm_common_listen

  • See Listen.

  • Type: List of numbers or strings.

  • Default: [80]

Example:

# optional - mpm_common
apache_httpd__mpm_common_listen:
  - 80
  - '192.0.2.10:80'

Optional Role Variables - mpm_event_module

TLDR: event MPM: A variant of the worker MPM with the goal of consuming threads only for connections with active processing. See: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/event.html

Event: Based on worker, this MPM goes one step further by optimizing how the parent process schedules tasks to the child processes and the threads associated to those. A connection stays open for 5 seconds by default and closes if no new event happens; this is the keep-alive directive default value, which retains the thread associated to it. The Event MPM enables the process to manage threads so that some threads are free to handle new incoming connections while others are kept bound to the live connections. Allowing re-distribution of assigned tasks to threads will make for better resource utilization and performance.

Best for PHP-FPM. Default.

apache_httpd__mpm_event_max_connections_per_child

apache_httpd__mpm_event_max_request_workers

apache_httpd__mpm_event_max_spare_threads

apache_httpd__mpm_event_min_spare_threads

apache_httpd__mpm_event_start_servers

apache_httpd__mpm_event_thread_limit

apache_httpd__mpm_event_threads_per_child

Example:

# optional - mpm_event_module
apache_httpd__mpm_event_max_connections_per_child: 0
apache_httpd__mpm_event_max_request_workers: 400
apache_httpd__mpm_event_max_spare_threads: 250
apache_httpd__mpm_event_min_spare_threads: 75
apache_httpd__mpm_event_start_servers: 3
apache_httpd__mpm_event_thread_limit: 64
apache_httpd__mpm_event_threads_per_child: 25

Optional Role Variables - mpm_prefork_module

TLDR: prefork MPM: Implements a non-threaded, pre-forking web server. See: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/prefork.html

Pre-fork: A new process is created for each incoming connection reaching the server. Each process is isolated from the others, so no memory is shared between them, even if they are performing identical calls at some point in their execution. This is a safe way to run applications linked to libraries that do not support threading—typically older applications or libraries.

NOTE: If enabling prefork, the httpd_graceful_shutdown SELinux boolean should be enabled, to allow graceful stop/shutdown.

This MPM is very self-regulating, so it is rarely necessary to adjust its configuration directives. Most important is that apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_request_workers be big enough to handle as many simultaneous requests as you expect to receive, but small enough to assure that there is enough physical RAM for all processes.

Best for Standard PHP running any version of mod_php. Does not work with http2.

apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_connections_per_child

apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_request_workers

apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_spare_servers

apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_min_spare_servers

apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_start_servers

Example:

# optional - mpm_prefork_module
apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_connections_per_child: 0
apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_request_workers: 256
apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_max_spare_servers: 10
apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_min_spare_servers: 5
apache_httpd__mpm_prefork_start_servers: 5

Optional Role Variables - mpm_worker_module

TLDR: worker MPM: Multi-Processing Module implementing a hybrid multi-threaded multi-process web server. See: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/worker.html

Worker: A parent process is responsible for launching a pool of child processes, some of which are listening for new incoming connections, and others are serving the requested content. Each process is threaded (a single thread can handle one connection) so one process can handle several requests concurrently. This method of treating connections encourages better resource utilization, while still maintaining stability. This is a result of the pool of available processes, which often has free available threads ready to immediately serve new connections.

The most important directives used to control this MPM are apache_httpd__mpm_worker_threads_per_child, which controls the number of threads deployed by each child process and apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_request_workers, which controls the maximum total number of threads that may be launched.

Best for mod_qos if you intend to use any connection level control directive („QS_Srv*“), which is normally done on a Reverse Proxy. Works with PHP-FPM, too.

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_connections_per_child

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_request_workers

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_spare_threads

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_min_spare_threads

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_start_servers

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_thread_limit

apache_httpd__mpm_worker_threads_per_child

Example:

# optional - mpm_worker_module
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_connections_per_child: 0
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_request_workers: 400
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_max_spare_threads: 250
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_min_spare_threads: 75
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_start_servers: 3
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_thread_limit: 64
apache_httpd__mpm_worker_threads_per_child: 25

Optional Role Variables - wsgi_python3_module

apache_httpd__wsgi_python_home

apache_httpd__wsgi_python_path

apache_httpd__wsgi_script_alias

  • See WSGIScriptAlias.

  • Type: String.

  • Default: '/ /var/www/html/python/index.py'

Example:

# optional - wsgi_python3_module
apache_httpd__wsgi_python_home: '/opt/python'
apache_httpd__wsgi_python_path: '/var/www/html/python/'
apache_httpd__wsgi_script_alias: '/ /var/www/html/python/index.py'

License

The Unlicense

Author Information

Linuxfabrik GmbH, Zurich