Apache Web Server Performance - Article Example

1. To stop the Apache service and only start it manually when you need to use it for testing, go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services, look for the Apache service, and double-click it. From here you can stop the service and change the startup type to "Manual". The Apache service will then terminate and only start when you return to this control panel applet to manually start it. This is useful if, like me, you're only using the server to test your scripts, and don't want the server running all the time. Note that you will have to restart the service every time you make a configuration change.
2. If your version of Apache does not create a shortcut in the Programs menu that allows you to start the Apache server. Simply navigate to "c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\" and double-click on Apache.exe to start the server. To terminate the server, select "Close" from the window's system menu.
3. If you change your mind about the server name you chose when you installed Apache, you can always change it with your favorite text editor (such as Notepad from your Start menu | Programs | Accessories | Notepad) by searching for and replacing the following line in the "C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\conf\httpd.conf" file.

ServerName localhost

6. If you want your server to handle Server Side Includes (SSI), use a text editor (like Notepad) to open "C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\conf\httpd.conf". Search for "server-parsed HTML files" in the file, and add the following lines (or uncomment the example lines in the configuration file by removing the prefixed hash marks, "#").

AddType text/html .shtml
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml

If you want "index. shtml" to be your default start page for your directories, ie, if you want Apache to load "index. shtml" when you type "localhost" or "localhost/directory/", you will need to search for a line in your "httpd. conf" that begins with "DirectoryIndex" and modify it as follows:

DirectoryIndex index.shtml index.html

Apache will now look for an index.shtml first when it is given a directory without a file name, and only try index.html if index. shtml is missing.

7. Close the Apache window and restart it. You have to do this every time you make a configuration change so that Apache will reload the modified configuration file.
8. If you're using Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Opera, you can test that you've properly installed and configured Apache by typing "localhost" or its IP address "127.0.0.1" into the location bar of the browser. You should see the default page installed by the Apache installer on your hard disk. It is located in "C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\htdocs\". I have not been able to get earlier versions of IE and Netscape 4.73 to connect without the Dial-Up Networking dialog box popping up and insisting that I connect to my ISP (defeating the entire purpose of this exercise for me).
9. If you can't get your browser to connect to your local web server, you can still test it by manually mimicking a browser. Go to the Start menu and select "Run". A dialog box will appear. Type "telnet localhost 80" (without the quotes) into the dialog box and click OK. The Windows telnet program will start up. Go to the Terminal | Preferences dialog box and make sure that the "Local echo" check box is selected (unless you are one of those who like to type blind). Type "get / HTTP/1.0" (without the quotes) into the telnet window followed by hitting the Enter key twice. You will get a whole lot of text scrolling swiftly by. This is the default page installed by the Apache installer on your hard disk. If you can get this it means that you've successfully installed Apache.