Over a year ago I was tasked with designing a limited GUI for Apache as part of Digital's Internet AlphaServer project. We used a separate management port for administration tasks. This made for a simpler security implimentation and an overall, more stable enviroment.
I also strongly agree with Matthew that we should retain the current, human readable configuration files. In an environment where changes happen frequently and in wholesale lots (like a large ISP), the GUI can get in the way of efficient server maintenance. In these environ- ments, an editor or a specialized tool is a much faster way to main- tain users on the system. As an alternative to retaining the current configuration file structure, provide an API to support configuration changes. If there is a real nead for an alternative storage format for config- uration information, I would recommend LDAP. This, at the least, should be supported for user authentication (yes, I know that there is a module for it). Randy, thanks for starting up this list. This is an area (one of the very few) where Apache has been lacking. Have a GREAT day! Pete Stoddard ISP Solutions Development Team Digital Equipment Corporation Matthew J. Probst wrote: > > On Wed, 18 Jun 1997, Randy Terbush wrote: > > > Just a few points to start a discussion here: > > > > It seems that it is time that some thought go into an interface > > that is more politically correct. :-) Hopefully this list will > > allow us to come to some consensus as to what the tools/hooks > > should be to make it easy for interface developers to communicate > > with the server. > > Agreed. I think the goal should be to develop a product that it just a > easy to use, if not more so, than the interfaces that are already out > there for other httpd server software, while maintaining our Prime > directive of Cross platform compatibility. > > > In previous side discussions, some of the following possibilities > > have been suggested as methods to accomplish our goals. That goal > > being a way to safely communicate configuration and status issues > > to the Apache webserver. > > > > - SNMP > > - LDAP > > - others? > > I do not know what IIS uses but I know that Netscape enterprise server has > a web front end for the majority of its configuration items. This is > generally just a httpd attached to a different port of the machine. > > I think it could be completely stable if we ran a seperate httpd process > all together (with stripped out config files, and only one child process) > that is attached to some port of the machine other than 80 and is > dedicated to modifying the main server config files and re-huping the > daemon. The one httpd would have to run under root and only root though.. > > > Storage of the config info could move to: > > - Berkeley DB 2.0 > > - SQL > > - others? > > I Think that part of our goal is to maintain the existing simplicity of > the apache config files (they copied the NCSA httpd config file format), > and to use this as a standard.. there is not reason why we can't just > part these files for the info we need. All our program needs to know then > is the location of the servers main httpd.conf file. > > ______________________________________________________________________________ > Matthew J. Probst | Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station > Sys. Programmer, BYU CS Dept |wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway. > [EMAIL PROTECTED] | -Andrew Tanenbaum
