Autoconf macros for Apache and conf.d install process? - apache

Question

I have a package that is using the autotools to build and install.
Part of the package is a website that can be run on the local machine.
So in the package there is a .conf file that is meant to be either
copied or linked to the /etc/apache2/conf.d directory. What's the
standard way that packages would do this? If possible, I'd like for
the user not to have an extra step to make the website work. I'd like
to have them install the package and then be able to browse to
http://localhost/newpackage to get up and running.
Also, is there a way that autoconf knows about the apache install or a
standard way through then environment some how? If someone could
point me in the right direction that would be great.
Steve

Answer 1

The first thing you should do is to locate the apache extension tool apxs or apxs2 (depends on apache version and/or platform you are building for). After you know where your tool is located you can run queries to get certain apache config params. For example to get system config dir you can run:
apxs2 -q SYSCONFDIR
Here is a snippet of how you can locate apache extension tool: (be careful it may contain syntax errors)
dnl Note: AC_DEFUN goes here plus other stuff
AC_MSG_CHECKING(for apache APXS)
AC_ARG_WITH(apxs,
[AS_HELP_STRING([[--with-apxs[=FILE]]],
[path to the apxs, defaults to "apxs".])],
[
if test "$withval" = "yes"; then
APXS=apxs
else
APXS="$withval"
fi
])
if test -z "$APXS"; then
for i in /usr/sbin /usr/local/apache/bin /usr/bin ; do
if test -f "$i/apxs2"; then
APXS="$i/apxs2"
break
fi
if test -f "$i/apxs"; then
APXS="$i/apxs"
break
fi
done
fi
AC_SUBST(APXS)
The way to use APXS in your automake Makefile.am would look something like this:
## Find apache sys config dir
APACHE2_SYSCONFDIR = `#APXS# -q SYSCONFDIR`
## Misc automake stuff goes here
install: install-am
cp my.conf $(DESTDIR)${APACHE2_SYSCONFDIR}/conf.d/my.conf
I assume you are familiar with automake and autoconf tools.