John V. Jaskolski wrote:
> I want to write a Web Hosting Control Panel for virtually hosting web sites
> (100 to 1000 per server). I am debating whether to write it in Perl,
> mod_perl or C. I want to write it in mod_perl because it would be faster
> than Perl and easier to write than C. However, In his article on modperl
> and ISP's, Stas says:
>
>
>>> Note that it's impossible to run suEXEC and cgiwrap extensions under
>>
> mod_perl.
>
>>> Of course as an ISP you can run mod_perl internally, without allowing your
>>> users to map their scripts so that they will run under mod_perl. If as a
>>
> part of
>
>>> your service you provide scripts such as guest books, counters etc. which
>>
> are
>
>>> not available for user modification, you can still can have these scripts
>>
> running
>
>>> very fast.
>>
>
> I have 2 questions:
>
> 1.) How do you "run mod-perl internally"?
Just as an example you can create a global mod_perl registry location
containing scripts that all your clients can use, but not modify. While
using a different registry enabled directory for your control-panel.
Note: the entire server still has mod_perl loaded regardless of whether
or not the clients are using mod_perl scripts so you'd better have
enough ram.
This may contain errors:
#Create a global registry directory in the main server:
Alias /preconfig-scripts/ /home/httpd/user_untouchable
#counters, guestbooks, etc
<Location /preconfig-scripts/>
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::Registry
Options +ExecCGI
</Location>
#In the virtual hosts:
#your domain:
NameVirtualHost xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
<VirtualHost xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx>
ServerName your.isp.net
DocumentRoot /home/httpd/ispname
<Directory /control-panel/>
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::Registry
Options +ExecCGI
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
#a client:
<VirtualHost xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx>
ServerName www.someclient.com
DocumentRoot /home/httpd/someclient
<Directory /home/httpd/someclient>
Options Includes
AllowOverride AuthConfig Indexes Limit
</Directory>
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /home/httpd/someclient/cgi-bin/
</VirtualHost>
> 2.) If is there a way to "run mod-perl internally" so that suEXEC and/or
> cgiwrap can be run for security purposes.
>
> The whole reason I hesitate to use mod_perl is because this will be a
> virtual hosting environment where lots of users could "do anything", and I
> want to take all of the security precautions I can. But if it's at all
> possible to do it securely, then I would love to use mod_perl because it
> would be much easier than C.
>
> Any input anyone has would be greatly appreciated!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Dr. John V. Jaskolski
--
Daniel Bohling
