wfsp has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Minimal install Ubuntu 8.04 LTS server (64-bit) on a VPS

Based on mod_perl Installation

First some decisions. I chose

Install some packages we'll need. 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential libssl-dev -y

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Download and unpack sources 
wget http://apache.bglam.com/httpd/httpd-2.2.15.tar.gz
wget http://www.cpan.org/src/perl-5.10.1.tar.gz
wget http://perl.apache.org/dist/mod_perl-2.0-current.tar.gz

tar -xvf httpd-2.2.15.tar.gz
tar -xvf perl-5.10.1.tar.gz
tar -xvf mod_perl-2.0-current.tar.gz

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(current version numbers at time of writing)

Install Apache 

cd httpd-2.2.15
./configure --prefix=/opt/httpd --with-mpm=prefork
make
sudo make install
cd

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Install perl

See discussion on configuring perl/mod_perl on 64 bit Linux and the change to mod_perl install.pod 

cd perl-5.10.1

CFLAGS='-m64 -mtune=nocona' /
./Configure -des /
-A ccflags=-fPIC /
-Dprefix=/opt/perl /
-Uusethreads

make
make test
sudo make install

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Create some links 
cd /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -isv /opt/perl/bin/perl perl
sudo ln -isv /opt/perl/bin/cpanp cpanp
cd

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Install mod_perl

You'll need answers to the following 

cpanp
>s conf prereqs 1
>s save
>i Bundle::ApacheTest

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ends with: 
Test Summary Report
-------------------
t/hooks/authen_basic.t                (Wstat: 0 Tests: 4 Failed: 1)
  Failed test:  4
t/hooks/authz.t                       (Wstat: 0 Tests: 4 Failed: 1)
  Failed test:  4
Files=238, Tests=2400, 111 wallclock secs ( 1.47 usr  1.41 sys + 69.85
+ cusr 20.87 csys = 93.60 CPU)
Result: FAIL
Failed 2/238 test programs. 2/2400 subtests failed.
[warning] server s15342880.onlinehome-server.info:8529 shutdown
[  error] error running tests (please examine t/logs/error_log)
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| Please file a bug report: http://perl.apache.org/bugs/ |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
make: *** [run_tests] Error 1

The tests for 'Bundle::Apache2' failed. Would you like me to proceed a
+nyway or should we abort?

Proceed anyway? [y/N]: y

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The reply to a question I asked on the mod_perl list. So close your eyes and boldly hit y

ends with: 

Module 'Bundle::Apache2' installed successfully
No errors installing all modules

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Add a line to httpd.conf after the comments about LoadModule 
LoadModule perl_module modules/mod_perl.so

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Have a look see 
sudo /opt/httpd/bin/apachectl start
cat /opt/httpd/logs/error_log

[Sun Apr 04 12:53:04 2010] [notice] Apache/2.2.15 (Unix) mod_perl/2.0.
+4 Perl/v5.10.1 configured -- resuming normal operations

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Let's see that again :-) 
[Mon Apr 05 12:24:50 2010] [notice] 
    Apache/2.2.15 (Unix) 
    mod_perl/2.0.4 
    Perl/v5.10.1 configured 
    -- resuming normal operations

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A tee-shirt maybe required. But before I do that I would appreciate any comments, corrections, criticisms etc.

Thanks in advance.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Checklist for installing mod_perl
by scorpio17 (Canon) on Apr 06, 2010 at 13:33 UTC

    Is there any particular reason you're installing from source?

    If not, I'd recommend the following (for mod_perl): 

    sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-perl2

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    If you don't already have apache, you should do this first: 

    sudo apt-get install apache2 apache2.2-common apache2-mpm-worker apach
+e2-utils libapr1 libaprutil1

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    You might want to use apache2-mpm-prefork (non-threaded, slower) instead of apache2-mpm-worker (threaded, faster) if you need compatibility with non-thread-safe libraries.

    For more info on installing a LAMP server on ubuntu, see here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ApacheMySQLPHP

    Just ignore all the stuff about "PHP" ;-)

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      No particular reason. :-)

      It was partly because I followed the install procedure on the mod_perl website. Also, I wanted to install a separate perl anyway and in the back of my mind was how mod_perl would pick up the new perl. Which perl would the apt-get package pick up? The page you linked to doesn't mention perl.

      A minor point, I found the way Ubuntu setup Apache more than a bit convoluted, although I'm sure you'd get used to it.

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        I'm pretty sure the Ubuntu setup is the same as that of any other Debian-based linux distribution.

        The default version of perl depends on which version of Ubuntu you're using. Ubuntu 8.04LS uses Perl 5.8.8. I *think* Ubuntu 9.04 comes with Perl 5.10.

        You have to be real careful if you try to upgrade perl on an older distribution, because the OS uses perl-based scripts for certain things - so changing the system perl can break your whole installation. Installing from source (into an area like /opt or /usr/local) is probably the best way to go. Or else upgrade Ubuntu until you get a version that comes with the perl you want!

        The main reason I have for using the package manager (for apache) is that it makes life easier if you start installing multiple apache modules (mod_rewrite, mod_ssh, mod_dav, etc) - many of those have multiple dependencies on other libraries, etc. Trying to get everything built without any conflicts takes a lot of time and energy - all easily avoided by simply using the package manager.

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Re: Checklist for installing mod_perl
by cmac (Monk) on Apr 06, 2010 at 05:31 UTC
    At risk of stating the obvious, and without studying every line of your log, it seems your next step is to give the server some content to serve, preferably some of it generated via mod_perl. Anyone who can get thru this far presumably knows that's next.

    So please say what you want. If it's just congratulations, then congratulations!

    cmac
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      Thanks for your comments.

      ...give the server some content to serve...
      Agreed. I'm planning a further post on that. While not perl it may be worth first discussing where to put the content/scripts etc.

      For instance, the default DocumentRoot I have is currently /opt/httpd/htdocs. I think I would prefer it out from under the feet of Apache under either the user or perhaps, looking ahead to more than one user updating the website, under /var/www/mydomain/perl and /var/www/mydomain/docroot.

      Also not perl, how to handle particular directories that the Apache user could write to, for example a file upload directory under DocumentRoot and a directory that perl could write to e.g. sessions/logs. Perhaps consider setting up users and groups to help with the job.

      And after sorting that out, some perl scripts. :-)

      All that may have been a distraction so I decided not to cover it this time.

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