Httpd Concepts
Internal
Server Lifecycle
The httpd server, which may consist in several OS processes, can be stopped and restarted by sending Unix signals into the parent process. Under normal circumstances, you should never have to interact with the child processes. There are four types of lifecycle events httpd can go through, and they correspond to four different Unix signals.
Stop Now
Graceful Restart
Restart Now
Graceful Stop
The Parent Process
Multi-Processing Module (MPM)
Proxying Concepts
Context
- Server Configuration (httpd.conf)
- Virtual Host
- Directory
Virtual Host
- External Apache 2.4 Documentation - Virtual Hosts http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/vhosts/
Overview
A virtual host is a container within a httpd instance serving a single logical web site. Multiple, separate web sites, even belonging to different domains, can be served off the same httpd instance without that being apparent to the client. The virtual hosts can be name-based or ip-address based.
Name-Based Virtual Host
The server relies on the client sending a "Host" HTTP header. It uses the value to locate the correct logical host. This technique allows many different virtual hosts to share the same IP address. The web browser must cooperate by sending the correct "Host" header, as part of each request.
Name-based virtual hosting is the preferred technique, unless you're using equipment that explicitly demands IP-based hosting.
IP Address-Based Virtual Host
IP-based virtual hosts use the IP address of the connection to determine the correct virtual host to serve. Therefore you need to have a separate IP address for each host.
Virtual Host Configuration
A virtual host is declared in the httpd configuration using the <VirtualHost> configuration element. More details on virtual host configuration:
SSL Support
httpd provides SSL/TLS encryption support via the mod_ssl module, which is an interface to OpenSSL library. More details about SSL configuration are available here: