This chapter covers everything about administering a running mod_perl
server. First, we will explain techniques for starting, restarting,
and shutting down the server. As with Perl, there's
more than one way to do it, and each technique has different
implications for the server itself and the code it runs. A few widely
used techniques for operating a server are presented. You may choose
to use one of the suggested techniques or develop your own.
Later in the chapter, we give instructions on upgrading and disabling
scripts on a live server, using a three-tier scheme, and monitoring
and maintaining a web server.
5.1. Starting the Server in Multi-Process Mode
To start
Apache manually, just run its
executable. For example, on our machine, a mod_perl-enabled Apache
executable is located at
/home/httpd/httpd_perl/httpd_perl. So to start
it, we simply execute:
panic% /home/httpd/httpd_perl/bin/httpd_perl
This executable accepts a number of optional arguments. To find out
what they are (without starting the server), use the
-h argument:
panic% /home/httpd/httpd_perl/bin/httpd_perl -h
The most interesting arguments will be covered in the following
sections. Any other arguments will be introduced as needed.
