configure - Configure the source tree

Theconfigure script configures the source tree for compiling and installing the Apache HTTP Server on your particular platform. Various options allow the compilation of a server corresponding to your personal requirements.

This script, included in the root directory of the source distribution, is for compilation on Unix and Unix-like systems only. For other platforms, see theplatform documentation.

• Synopsis
• Options
• Environment variables

See also

• Compiling and Installing
• Comments

Synopsis

You should call theconfigure script from within the root directory of the distribution.

./configure [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...

To assign environment variables (e.g.CC,CFLAGS ...), specify them asVAR=VALUE. Seebelow for descriptions of some of the useful variables.

Options

• Configuration options
• Installation directories
• System types
• Optional features
• Options for support programs

Configuration options

The following options influence the behavior ofconfigure itself.

-C

--config-cache

This is an alias for--cache-file=config.cache

--cache-file=FILE

The test results will be cached in fileFILE. This option is disabled by default.

-h

--help [short|recursive]

Output the help and exit. With the argumentshort only options specific to this package will displayed. The argumentrecursive displays the short help of all the included packages.

-n

--no-create

Theconfigure script is run normally but does not create output files. This is useful to check the test results before generating makefiles for compilation.

-q

--quiet

Do not printchecking ... messages during the configure process.

--srcdir=DIR

Defines directoryDIR to be the source file directory. Default is the directory whereconfigure is located, or the parent directory.

--silent

Same as--quiet

-V

--version

Display copyright information and exit.

Installation directories

These options define the installation directory. The installation tree depends on the selected layout.

--prefix=PREFIX

Install architecture-independent files inPREFIX. By default the installation directory is set to/usr/local/apache2.

--exec-prefix=EPREFIX

Install architecture-dependent files inEPREFIX. By default the installation directory is set to thePREFIX directory.

By default,make install will install all the files in/usr/local/apache2/bin,/usr/local/apache2/lib etc. You can specify an installation prefix other than/usr/local/apache2 using--prefix, for instance--prefix=$HOME.

Define a directory layout

--enable-layout=LAYOUT

Configure the source code and build scripts to assume an installation tree based on the layoutLAYOUT. This allows you to separately specify the locations for each type of file within the Apache HTTP Server installation. Theconfig.layout file contains several example configurations, and you can also create your own custom configuration following the examples. The different layouts in this file are grouped into<Layout FOO>...</Layout> sections and referred to by name as inFOO. The default layout isApache.

Fine tuning of the installation directories

For better control of the installation directories, use the options below. Please note that the directory defaults are set byautoconf and are overwritten by the corresponding layout setting.

--bindir=DIR

Install user executables inDIR. The user executables are supporting programs likehtpasswd,dbmmanage, etc. which are useful for site administrators. By defaultDIR is set toEPREFIX/bin.

--datadir=DIR

Install read-only architecture-independent data inDIR. By defaultdatadir is set toPREFIX/share. This option is offered byautoconf and currently unused.

--includedir=DIR

Install C header files inDIR. By defaultincludedir is set toEPREFIX/include.

--infodir=DIR

Install info documentation inDIR. By defaultinfodir is set toPREFIX/info. This option is currently unused.

--libdir=DIR

Install object code libraries inDIR. By defaultlibdir is set toEPREFIX/lib.

--libexecdir=DIR

Install the program executables (i.e., shared modules) inDIR. By defaultlibexecdir is set toEPREFIX/modules.

--localstatedir=DIR

Install modifiable single-machine data inDIR. By defaultlocalstatedir is set toPREFIX/var. This option is offered byautoconf and currently unused.

--mandir=DIR

Install the man documentation inDIR. By defaultmandir is set toEPREFIX/man.

--oldincludedir=DIR

Install C header files for non-gcc inDIR. By defaultoldincludedir is set to/usr/include. This option is offered byautoconf and currently unused.

--sbindir=DIR

Install the system administrator executables inDIR. Those are server programs likehttpd,apachectl,suexec, etc. which are necessary to run the Apache HTTP Server. By defaultsbindir is set toEPREFIX/sbin.

--sharedstatedir=DIR

Install modifiable architecture-independent data inDIR. By defaultsharedstatedir is set toPREFIX/com. This option is offered byautoconf and currently unused.

--sysconfdir=DIR

Install read-only single-machine data like the server configuration fileshttpd.conf,mime.types, etc. inDIR. By defaultsysconfdir is set toPREFIX/conf.

System types

These options are used to cross-compile the Apache HTTP Server to run on another system. In normal cases, when building and running the server on the same system, these options are not used.

--build=BUILD

Defines the system type of the system on which the tools are being built. It defaults to the result of the scriptconfig.guess.

--host=HOST

Defines the system type of the system on which the server will run.HOST defaults toBUILD.

--target=TARGET

Configure for building compilers for the system typeTARGET. It defaults toHOST. This option is offered byautoconf and not necessary for the Apache HTTP Server.

Optional Features

These options are used to fine tune the features your HTTP server will have.

General syntax

Generally you can use the following syntax to enable or disable a feature:

--disable-FEATURE

Do not includeFEATURE. This is the same as--enable-FEATURE=no.

--enable-FEATURE[=ARG]

IncludeFEATURE. The default value forARG isyes.

--enable-MODULE=shared

The corresponding module will be built as a DSO module. By default enabled modules are linked dynamically.

--enable-MODULE=static

The corresponding module will be linked statically.

Choosing modules to compile

Most modules are compiled by default and have to be disabled explicitly or by using the keywordfew (see--enable-modules,--enable-mods-shared and--enable-mods-static below for further explanation) or--enable-modules=none to be removed as a group.

Other modules are not compiled by default and have to be enabled explicitly or by using the keywordsall orreallyall to be available.

To find out which modules are compiled by default, run./configure -h or./configure --help and look underOptional Features. Suppose you are interested inmod_example1 andmod_example2, and you see this:

Optional Features:  ...  --disable-example1     example module 1  --enable-example2      example module 2  ...

Thenmod_example1 is enabled by default, and you would use--disable-example1 to not compile it.mod_example2 is disabled by default, and you would use--enable-example2 to compile it.

Multi-Processing Modules

Multi-Processing Modules, or MPMs, implement the basic behavior of the server. A single MPM must be active in order for the server to function. The list of available MPMs appears on themodule index page.

MPMs can be built as DSOs for dynamic loading or statically linked with the server, and are enabled using the following options:

--with-mpm=MPM

Choose the default MPM for your server. If MPMs are built as DSO modules (see--enable-mpms-shared), this directive selects the MPM which will be loaded in the default configuration file. Otherwise, this directive selects the only available MPM, which will be statically linked into the server.

If this option is omitted, thedefault MPM for your operating system will be used.

--enable-mpms-shared=MPM-LIST

Enable a list of MPMs as dynamic shared modules. One of these modules must be loaded dynamically using theLoadModule directive.

MPM-LIST is a space-separated list of MPM names enclosed by quotation marks. For example:

--enable-mpms-shared='prefork worker'

Additionally you can use the special keywordall, which will select all MPMs which support dynamic loading on the current platform and build them as DSO modules. For example:

--enable-mpms-shared=all

Third-party modules

To add additional third-party modules use the following options:

--with-module=module-type:module-file[,module-type:module-file]

Add one or more third-party modules to the list of statically linked modules. The module source filemodule-file will be searched in themodules/module-type subdirectory of your Apache HTTP server source tree. If it is not found thereconfigure is consideringmodule-file to be an absolute file path and tries to copy the source file into themodule-type subdirectory. If the subdirectory doesn't exist it will be created and populated with a standardMakefile.in.

This option is useful to add small external modules consisting of one source file. For more complex modules you should read the vendor's documentation.

Note

If you want to build a DSO module instead of a statically linked useapxs.

Cumulative and other options

--enable-maintainer-mode

Turn on debugging and compile time warnings and load all compiled modules.

--enable-mods-shared=MODULE-LIST

Defines a list of modules to be enabled and build as dynamic shared modules. This mean, these module have to be loaded dynamically by using theLoadModule directive.

MODULE-LIST is a space separated list of modulenames enclosed by quotation marks. The module names are given without the precedingmod_. For example:

--enable-mods-shared='headers rewrite dav'

Additionally you can use the special keywordsreallyall,all,most andfew. For example,

--enable-mods-shared=most

will compile most modules and build them as DSO modules,

--enable-mods-shared=few

will only compile a very basic set of modules.

The default set ismost.

TheLoadModule directives for the chosen modules will be automatically generated in the main configuration file. By default, all those directives will be commented out except for the modules that are either required or explicitly selected by a configure--enable-foo argument. You can change the set of loaded modules by activating or deactivating theLoadModule directives inhttpd.conf. In addition theLoadModule directives for all built modules can be activated via the configure option--enable-load-all-modules.

--enable-mods-static=MODULE-LIST

This option behaves similar to--enable-mods-shared, but will link the given modules statically. This mean, these modules will always be present while runninghttpd. They need not be loaded withLoadModule.

--enable-modules=MODULE-LIST

This option behaves like to--enable-mods-shared, and will also link the given modules dynamically. The special keywordnone disables the build of all modules.

--enable-v4-mapped

Allow IPv6 sockets to handle IPv4 connections.

--with-port=PORT

This defines the port on whichhttpd will listen. This port number is used when generating the configuration filehttpd.conf. The default is 80.

--with-program-name

Define an alternative executable name. The default ishttpd.

Optional packages

These options are used to define optional packages.

General syntax

Generally you can use the following syntax to define an optional package:

--with-PACKAGE[=ARG]

Use the packagePACKAGE. The default value forARG isyes.

--without-PACKAGE

Do not use the packagePACKAGE. This is the same as--with-PACKAGE=no. This option is provided byautoconf but not very useful for the Apache HTTP Server.

Specific packages

--with-apr=DIR|FILE

TheApache Portable Runtime (APR) is part of the httpd source distribution and will automatically be build together with the HTTP server. If you want to use an already installed APR instead you have to tellconfigure the path to theapr-config script. You may set the absolute path and name or the directory to the installed APR.apr-config must exist within this directory or the subdirectorybin.

--with-apr-util=DIR|FILE

The Apache Portable Runtime Utilities (APU) are part of the httpd source distribution and will automatically be build together with the HTTP server. If you want to use an already installed APU instead you have to tellconfigure the path to theapu-config script. You may set the absolute path and name or the directory to the installed APU.apu-config must exist within this directory or the subdirectorybin.

--with-ssl=DIR

Ifmod_ssl has been enabledconfigure searches for an installed OpenSSL. You can set the directory path to the SSL/TLS toolkit instead.

--with-z=DIR

configure searches automatically for an installedzlib library if your source configuration requires one (e.g., whenmod_deflate is enabled). You can set the directory path to the compression library instead.

Several features of the Apache HTTP Server, includingmod_authn_dbm andmod_rewrite's DBMRewriteMap use simple key/value databases for quick lookups of information. SDBM is included in the APU, so this database is always available. If you would like to use other database types, use the following options to enable them:

--with-gdbm[=path]

If nopath is specified,configure will search for the include files and libraries of a GNU DBM installation in the usual search paths. An explicitpath will causeconfigure to look inpath/lib andpath/include for the relevant files. Finally, thepath may specify specific include and library paths separated by a colon.

--with-ndbm[=path]

Like--with-gdbm, but searches for a New DBM installation.

--with-berkeley-db[=path]

Like--with-gdbm, but searches for a Berkeley DB installation.

Options for support programs

--enable-static-support

Build a statically linked version of the support binaries. This means, a stand-alone executable will be built with all the necessary libraries integrated. Otherwise the support binaries are linked dynamically by default.

--enable-suexec

Use this option to enablesuexec, which allows you to set uid and gid for spawned processes.Do not use this option unless you understand all the security implications of running a suid binary on your server. Further options to configuresuexec are describedbelow.

It is possible to create a statically linked binary of a single support program by using the following options:

--enable-static-ab

Build a statically linked version ofab.

--enable-static-checkgid

Build a statically linked version ofcheckgid.

--enable-static-htdbm

Build a statically linked version ofhtdbm.

--enable-static-htdigest

Build a statically linked version ofhtdigest.

--enable-static-htpasswd

Build a statically linked version ofhtpasswd.

--enable-static-logresolve

Build a statically linked version oflogresolve.

--enable-static-rotatelogs

Build a statically linked version ofrotatelogs.

suexec configuration options

The following options are used to fine tune the behavior ofsuexec. SeeConfiguring and installing suEXEC for further information.

--with-suexec-bin

This defines the path tosuexec binary. Default is--sbindir (seeFine tuning of installation directories).

--with-suexec-caller

This defines the user allowed to callsuexec. It should be the same as the user under whichhttpd normally runs.

--with-suexec-docroot

This defines the directory tree under whichsuexec access is allowed for executables. Default value is--datadir/htdocs.

--with-suexec-gidmin

Define this as the lowest GID allowed to be a target user forsuexec. The default value is 100.

--with-suexec-logfile

This defines the filename of thesuexec logfile. By default the logfile is namedsuexec_log and located in--logfiledir.

--with-suexec-safepath

Define the value of the environment variablePATH to be set for processes started bysuexec. Default value is/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin.

--with-suexec-userdir

This defines the subdirectory under the user's directory that contains all executables for whichsuexec access is allowed. This setting is necessary when you want to usesuexec together with user-specific directories (as provided bymod_userdir). The default ispublic_html.

--with-suexec-uidmin

Define this as the lowest UID allowed to be a target user forsuexec. The default value is 100.

--with-suexec-umask

Setumask for processes started bysuexec. It defaults to your system settings.

Environment variables

There are some useful environment variables to override the choices made byconfigure or to help it to find libraries and programs with nonstandard names or locations.

CC

Define the C compiler command to be used for compilation.

CFLAGS

Set C compiler flags you want to use for compilation.

CPP

Define the C preprocessor command to be used.

CPPFLAGS

Set C/C++ preprocessor flags, e.g.-Iincludedir if you have headers in a nonstandard directoryincludedir.

LDFLAGS

Set linker flags, e.g.-Llibdir if you have libraries in a nonstandard directorylibdir.