Comments on the document 'Installing mod_perl 2.0'

[Chris Carter]

Hello,
I have just used the document 'Installing mod_perl 2.0' (from 
http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/user/install/install.html#Dynamic_mod_perl) 
and would like to offer a few comments. As will no doubt become clear I 
am a novice at the Linux game, and so I hope my comments will be taken 
as pointers to make things a little clearer to people such as me, for 
whom installation of software under Linux can be a confusing process. =)

a) Under the 'Dynamic mod_perl' section, I think it would be a good idea 
to clearly explain why you might want to choose this option over 'Static 
mod_perl'. I guess most people with a pre-existing Apache installation 
would/should be using this option exclusively (because then Apache loads 
it as a 'Dynamic Shared Object'?)

b) In the same section, and the line '% perl Makefile.PL 
MP_INST_APACHE2=1 MP_APXS=/path/to/apxs \
MP_APR_CONFIG=/another/path/to/apr-config ', what 
does the '\' (after 'to/apxs') signify? (This is probably a very dumb 
question!)

c) Also in this section, in the line '  % perl Makefile.PL 
MP_INST_APACHE2=1 MP_AP_PREFIX=$HOME/httpd/prefork' I think it is 
essential to clearly explain what the meaning of '$HOME/httpd/prefork' 
is intended to be. From my installation, it seems that this is the 
actually the directory under which the Apache 2.0 installation places 
all its files and is the same as that specified during the Apache 
installation process as the --prefix= option. In my case, as I did a 
'default' Apache install, this was '/usr/local/apache2/' - but it wasn't 
very clear that I should have set it to that.

d) Another useful tip - that may seem a bit stupid, but which I found 
useful - was to check after completing the installation process that the 
'modules' directory under '/usr/local/apache2' (or whatever) contained 
the file 'mod_perl.so'. In my first few attempts at installation this 
was useful to see if things had actually been installed in the right place.

e) Lastly, it might be good to repeat at the end your advice given in 
another document about configuring the Apache 2.0 httpd.conf file to 
enable Apache to operate with mod_perl.

Regards,
Chris Carter

Re: Comments on the document 'Installing mod_perl 2.0'

[Chris Carter]

d) Another useful tip - that may seem a bit stupid, but which I found 
useful - was to check after completing the installation process that 
the 'modules' directory under '/usr/local/apache2' (or whatever) 
contained the file 'mod_perl.so'. In my first few attempts at 
installation this was useful to see if things had actually been 
installed in the right place.

I'm not sure I'm following this one. Did you have a case that it wasn't 
installed there?
Yes... I'm trying to recall the details but I think it was because I had 
set the MP_AP_PREFIX= to the wrong location (...my earlier comment about 
not understanding what it should be set to!). The install said completed 
without coughing, and when I looked hopefully in the /modules/ directory 
of the Apache installation tree the 'mod_perl.so' was absent. So I used 
that method to check whether I was at least on the right track with the 
installation.

I tried it a couple of times before I realised what I might be doing 
wrong... =)