« Apache/mod_perl »

Although webCal can be run as a pure CGI application, it requires a powerful server to be realistically usable. To run webCal comfortably on a common off the shelf webserver, it is highly recommended it be run under apache/mod_perl.

Unfortunately install and configure apache/mod_perl is system dependent and is not at all trivial. Even for experienced system administrators, it is still quite a challange. If you encounter mod_perl installation problems, a great deal of helpful information can be found at mod_perl site. The webCal mailing list archive also contains some useful info regarding mod_perl configuration.

WebCal is known to run under both mod_perl1 and mod_perl2.

The following instructions applies only to Rehat Linux 7.2. For other systems, only the principle idea applies. The details will surely be different.

Install Apache/mod_perl

The two rpm packages I used are: 
   apache-1.3.19-5.i386.rpm 
   apache-modperl-1.3.19_1.25-0.i386.rpm
They can be find on many of the rpm databases on the net. For example, Rpmfind.net. To install these packages, run the following commands as root. 
redhat7.2# rpm -i apache-1.3.19-5.i386.rpm 
redhat7.2# rpm -i --force apache-modperl-1.3.19_1.25-0.i386.rpm
redhat7.2# modperl-install install
If you encounter failed dependencies, you need to fetch and install the required packages. For example, I had to install db31-3.1.17-1.i386.rpm first before installing any of the apache packages.

For RedHat 7.2, the apache document root is /var/www, configuration files are in /etc/httpd/conf, log files are in /var/log/httpd and apache modules are in /usr/lib/apache. The apache startup file is /etc/init.d/httpd. The owner of apache is apache.

To test your apache/mod_perl installation, run /etc/init.d/httpd start and check your apache error log /var/log/httpd/error_log. It should contain a line similar to the following. 

[Mon Sep 2 12:42:28 2002] [notice] Apache/1.3.19 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux) mod_perl/1.25 configured

Install WebCalendar

First, fetch the current webCalendar distribution from ftp://ftp.ma.utexas.edu/pub/mzou/webCal/, and unpack it. 
redhat7.2# wget ftp://ftp.ma.utexas.edu/pub/mzou/webCal/webCal-latest.tgz
redhat7.2# gzip -dc webCal-latest.tgz | tar xvf -
It will create a directory webCal*.*.*. Change to this directory. A customized version of the installation script install.pl_redhat-7.2 is provided in the distribution. Load this file in your favoriate editor, read it carefully and modify it if needed. Then run 
redhat7.2# perl install.pl_redhat-7.2
This script will install webCalendar under the subtree /var/www/webcal.

Configure Apache/mod_perl

You'll have to tell apache/mod_perl server about webCalendar before you can use it. Append the following code to the main apache configuration file is /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf. 

#==webcal==Bgn==
#
<IfModule mod_perl.c>
  Alias /y/ /var/www/webcal/bin/
  <Location /y>
    AllowOverride All
    SetHandler perl-script
    PerlHandler Apache::Registry
    PerlSendHeader On
    PerlRequire "/var/www/webcal/bin/startup.pl"
    Options +ExecCGI
  </Location>
</IfModule>

Alias /i/ "/var/www/webcal/webcal_icons/"

<Directory "/var/www/webcal/webcal_icons">
    Options Indexes MultiViews
    AllowOverride All
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>
#
#==webcal==End==

Save your change and restart your apache server. 

redhat7.2# /etc/init.d/httpd stop
redhat7.2# /etc/init.d/httpd start
If everything goes well, you can now access your webCal server at http://localhost/y/x. Try create a calendar (to be used as admin later if necessary).

More Info

Some sample configuration files are provided in the distribution, in the examples subdirectory.



Documentation is still incomplete. If you are willing to help, please let me know.
Last updated: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 12:25:44 CDT
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