1APXS(1) apxs APXS(1)
2
6 apxs - APache eXtenSion tool
7
10 apxs -g [ -S name=value ] -n modname
11 apxs -q [ -v ] [ -S name=value ] query ...
14 apxs -c [ -S name=value ] [ -o dsofile ] [ -I incdir ] [ -D name=value
17 ] [ -L libdir ] [ -l libname ] [ -Wc,compiler-flags ] [ -Wl,linker-
18 flags ] files ...
19 apxs -i [ -S name=value ] [ -n modname ] [ -a ] [ -A ] dso-file ...
22 apxs -e [ -S name=value ] [ -n modname ] [ -a ] [ -A ] dso-file ...
25
29 apxs is a tool for building and installing extension modules for the
30 Apache HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server. This is achieved by
31 building a dynamic shared object (DSO) from one or more source or
32 object files which then can be loaded into the Apache server under run‐
33 time via the LoadModule directive from mod_so.
34 So to use this extension mechanism your platform has to support the DSO
37 feature and your Apache httpd binary has to be built with the mod_so
38 module. The apxs tool automatically complains if this is not the case.
39 You can check this yourself by manually running the command
40 $ httpd -l
43 The module mod_so should be part of the displayed list. If these
47 requirements are fulfilled you can easily extend your Apache server's
48 functionality by installing your own modules with the DSO mechanism by
49 the help of this apxs tool:
50 $ apxs -i -a -c mod_foo.c
53 gcc -fpic -DSHARED_MODULE -I/path/to/apache/include -c mod_foo.c
54 ld -Bshareable -o mod_foo.so mod_foo.o
55 cp mod_foo.so /path/to/apache/modules/mod_foo.so
56 chmod 755 /path/to/apache/modules/mod_foo.so
57 [activating module `foo' in /path/to/apache/etc/httpd.conf]
58 $ apachectl restart
59 /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd not running, trying to start
60 [Tue Mar 31 11:27:55 1998] [debug] mod_so.c(303): loaded module foo_module
61 /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd started
62 $ _
63 The arguments files can be any C source file (.c), a object file (.o)
67 or even a library archive (.a). The apxs tool automatically recognizes
68 these extensions and automatically used the C source files for compila‐
69 tion while just using the object and archive files for the linking
70 phase. But when using such pre-compiled objects make sure they are com‐
71 piled for position independent code (PIC) to be able to use them for a
72 dynamically loaded shared object. For instance with GCC you always just
73 have to use -fpic. For other C compilers consult its manual page or at
74 watch for the flags apxs uses to compile the object files.
75 For more details about DSO support in Apache read the documentation of
78 mod_so or perhaps even read the src/modules/standard/mod_so.c source
79 file.
80
84 Common Options
85 -n modname
86 This explicitly sets the module name for the -i (install) and -g
87 (template generation) option. Use this to explicitly specify the
88 module name. For option -g this is required, for option -i the
89 apxs tool tries to determine the name from the source or (as a
90 fallback) at least by guessing it from the filename.
91 Query Options
94 -q Performs a query for variables and environment settings used to
95 build httpd. When invoked without query parameters, it prints
96 all known variables and their values. The optional -v parameter
97 formats the list output. .PP Use this to manually determine set‐
98 tings used to build the httpd that will load your module. For
99 instance use INC=-I`apxs -q INCLUDEDIR` .PP inside your own
100 Makefiles if you need manual access to Apache's C header files.
101 Configuration Options
104 -S name=value
105 This option changes the apxs settings described above.
106 Template Generation Options
109 -g This generates a subdirectory name (see option -n) and there two
110 files: A sample module source file named mod_name.c which can be
111 used as a template for creating your own modules or as a quick
112 start for playing with the apxs mechanism. And a corresponding
113 Makefile for even easier build and installing of this module.
114 DSO Compilation Options
117 -c This indicates the compilation operation. It first compiles the
118 C source files (.c) of files into corresponding object files
119 (.o) and then builds a dynamically shared object in dsofile by
120 linking these object files plus the remaining object files (.o
121 and .a) of files. If no -o option is specified the output file
122 is guessed from the first filename in files and thus usually
123 defaults to mod_name.so.
124 -o dsofile
126 Explicitly specifies the filename of the created dynamically
127 shared object. If not specified and the name cannot be guessed
128 from the files list, the fallback name mod_unknown.so is used.
129 -D name=value
131 This option is directly passed through to the compilation com‐
132 mand(s). Use this to add your own defines to the build process.
133 -I incdir
135 This option is directly passed through to the compilation com‐
136 mand(s). Use this to add your own include directories to search
137 to the build process.
138 -L libdir
140 This option is directly passed through to the linker command.
141 Use this to add your own library directories to search to the
142 build process.
143 -l libname
145 This option is directly passed through to the linker command.
146 Use this to add your own libraries to search to the build
147 process.
148 -Wc,compiler-flags
150 This option passes compiler-flags as additional flags to the
151 libtool --mode=compile command. Use this to add local compiler-
152 specific options.
153 -Wl,linker-flags
155 This option passes linker-flags as additional flags to the
156 libtool --mode=link command. Use this to add local linker-spe‐
157 cific options.
158 -p This option causes apxs to link against the apr/apr-util
160 libraries. This is useful when compiling helper programs that
161 use the apr/apr-util libraries.
162 DSO Installation and Configuration Options
165 -i This indicates the installation operation and installs one or
166 more dynamically shared objects into the server's modules direc‐
167 tory.
168 -a This activates the module by automatically adding a correspond‐
170 ing LoadModule line to Apache's httpd.conf configuration file,
171 or by enabling it if it already exists.
172 -A Same as option -a but the created LoadModule directive is pre‐
174 fixed with a hash sign (#), i.e., the module is just prepared
175 for later activation but initially disabled.
176 -e This indicates the editing operation, which can be used with the
178 -a and -A options similarly to the -i operation to edit Apache's
179 httpd.conf configuration file without attempting to install the
180 module.
181
184 Assume you have an Apache module named mod_foo.c available which should
185 extend Apache's server functionality. To accomplish this you first have
186 to compile the C source into a shared object suitable for loading into
187 the Apache server under runtime via the following command:
188 $ apxs -c mod_foo.c
191 /path/to/libtool --mode=compile gcc ... -c mod_foo.c
192 /path/to/libtool --mode=link gcc ... -o mod_foo.la mod_foo.slo
193 $ _
194 Then you have to update the Apache configuration by making sure a Load‐
198 Module directive is present to load this shared object. To simplify
199 this step apxs provides an automatic way to install the shared object
200 in its "modules" directory and updating the httpd.conf file accord‐
201 ingly. This can be achieved by running:
202 $ apxs -i -a mod_foo.la
205 /path/to/instdso.sh mod_foo.la /path/to/apache/modules
206 /path/to/libtool --mode=install cp mod_foo.la /path/to/apache/modules
207 ...
208 chmod 755 /path/to/apache/modules/mod_foo.so
209 [activating module `foo' in /path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf]
210 $ _
211 This way a line named
215 LoadModule foo_module modules/mod_foo.so
218 is added to the configuration file if still not present. If you want to
222 have this disabled per default use the -A option, i.e.
223 $ apxs -i -A mod_foo.c
226 For a quick test of the apxs mechanism you can create a sample Apache
230 module template plus a corresponding Makefile via:
231 $ apxs -g -n foo
234 Creating [DIR] foo
235 Creating [FILE] foo/Makefile
236 Creating [FILE] foo/modules.mk
237 Creating [FILE] foo/mod_foo.c
238 Creating [FILE] foo/.deps
239 $ _
240 Then you can immediately compile this sample module into a shared
244 object and load it into the Apache server:
245 $ cd foo
248 $ make all reload
249 apxs -c mod_foo.c
250 /path/to/libtool --mode=compile gcc ... -c mod_foo.c
251 /path/to/libtool --mode=link gcc ... -o mod_foo.la mod_foo.slo
252 apxs -i -a -n "foo" mod_foo.la
253 /path/to/instdso.sh mod_foo.la /path/to/apache/modules
254 /path/to/libtool --mode=install cp mod_foo.la /path/to/apache/modules
255 ...
256 chmod 755 /path/to/apache/modules/mod_foo.so
257 [activating module `foo' in /path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf]
258 apachectl restart
259 /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd not running, trying to start
260 [Tue Mar 31 11:27:55 1998] [debug] mod_so.c(303): loaded module foo_module
261 /path/to/apache/sbin/apachectl restart: httpd started
262 $ _
263Apache HTTP Server 2018-07-06 APXS(1)