NOTE: This document is incomplete. Need to finish converting mod_fastcgi instructions to work with Apache 1.x. That module is only recommended with Apache 1.x for rails.
Before we begin…
Remember that:
For Apache 2.x, use mod_fcgid (1.09 or later recommended).
For Apache 1.x, use mod_fastcgi.
Each dispatch.fcgi instance takes ~22MB RAM.
Three methods
1. install libapache2-mod-fcgid (mod_fcgid). mod_fcgid is an actively maintained GPL project designed to replace mod_fastcgi. It is designed for Apache 2.x and is reported to be more reliable. Only available for Apache 2.x.
2. install libapache-mod-fastcgi (mod_fastcgi). Unless you do not want to use unmaintained or non-free packages, this is the recommended method for Apache 1.3.x. On Apache 2.x, use libapache2-mod-fcgid (first approach) which is actively maintained upstream.
3. compile mod_fastcgi from source.
All three methods follow.
Installing libapache2-mod-fcgid
The latest version of mod_fcgid is 1.09 (released on April 25, 2006). It is recommended that you do not use earlier versions because 1.09 adds configuration option DefaultMinClassProcessCount(default 3).
Other instructions on using mod_fcgid with Rails are at:
http://www.tummy.com/Community/Articles/rails-fcgi/ FIRST STEP:
Install the module by executing:
apt-get install libapache2-mod-fcgid
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SECOND STEP: verify configuration
NOTE: mod_fcgid will kill dispatch.fcgi process that expires based on IdleTimeout or ProcessLifeTime but you can use DefaultMinClassProcessCount to make the specified number of processes ignore IdleTimeout.
Example of /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/fcgid.conf (symbolic link)
<IfModule mod_fcgid.c>
AddHandler fcgid-script .fcgi
SocketPath /var/lib/apache2/fcgid/sock
DefaultInitEnv RAILS_ENV production
IdleTimeout 600
ProcessLifeTime 3600
MaxProcessCount 8
DefaultMinClassProcessCount 3
DefaultMaxClassProcessCount 3
IPCConnectTimeout 8
IPCCommTimeout 48
</IfModule>
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Example /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/fcgid.load (symbolic link)
LoadModule fcgid_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_fcgid.so
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THIRD STEP: restart apache2
invoke-rc.d apache2 force-reload
Installing libapache-mod-fastcgi for Apache 1.x
Again, this requires getting a package from the non-free repository. If you are objected to this, please use the second method.
Setup apt to access the non-free repository
To access the non-free repositories, you must modify your /etc/apt/sources.list file. You may already have the non-free repository added, in which case, skip this step.
For all the sources you have, append “non-free” at the end. It should look like this (your host, and distribution vary):
deb <a href="http://mir2.ovh.net/debian/">
http://mir2.ovh.net/debian/</a> unstable main contrib non-freeThen update your package lists:
apt-get updateInstall libapache-mod-fastcgi
NOTE: this is for Apache 1.x users. For Apache 2.x, use mod_fcgid.
Install the module by executing:
apt-get install libapache-mod-fastcgiEnable the module
Run the apache-provided aenmod command.
aenmod fastcgiConfigure mod_fastcgi
If you want to set the initial environment variable RAILS_ENV globally, this is the time to do it. Modify /etc/apache/mods-available/fastcgi.conf. If you don’t want to enabled this globally, you can set it in config/environment.rb that is located in the specific rails project instead.
Restart apache
apachectl -k gracefulAnd you’re set!
Compiling mod_fastcgi-2.4.2
WARNING: mod_fastcgi is not recommended for use with Apache2 and rails. This module is unreliable on Apache 2.x.
If you are compiling mod_fastcgi from source on a Debian platform and using the default Apache2 setup, you will need to retrieve the Apache2 source from the Debian repositories:
sudo apt-get install apache2-threaded-devThen you will be able to :
cd ..
tar -zxvf mod_fastcgi-2.4.2.tar.gz
cd mod_fastcgi-2.4.2
cp Makefile.AP2 Makefile
make top_dir=/usr/share/apache2
sudo make install top_dir=/usr/share/apache2
Configuring Apache
Edit your /etc/apache2/sites-enabled to something such as this:
NameVirtualHost *:80
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName localhost
ServerAdmin <a href="mailto:your@email.addy">
your@email.addy</a>
DocumentRoot /var/www/
<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
allow from all
# This directive allows us to have apache2's
# default start page
# in /apache2-default/, but still have / go
# to the right place
RedirectMatch ^/$ /apache2-default/
</Directory>
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
<Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
AllowOverride None
Options ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log
# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error,
# crit, alert, emerg.
LogLevel warn
CustomLog /var/log/apache/access.log combined
ServerSignature On
Alias /doc/ "/usr/share/doc/"
<Directory "/usr/share/doc/">
Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ::1/128
# this is for a localhost setup, your needs may be
# different on a production server
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
<IfModule mod_fastcgi.c>
FastCgiIpcDir /tmp/fcgi_ipc/
FastCgiServer /app/public/dispatch.fcgi -initial-env
RAILS_ENV=production -processes 15 -idle-timeout 60
# As per DHH from RoR mailing list 5/17/05
</IfModule>
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName rails
DocumentRoot /path/to/rails/app/public/
ErrorLog /path/to/rails/app/log/apache.log
ServerAdmin <a href="mailto:your@email.addy">
your@email.addy</a>
<Directory /path/to/rails/app/public/ >
Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride all
Allow from all
Order allow,deny
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Then, create a file /etc/apache/mods-enabled/fcgi.load and add the following lines to it:
LoadModule fastcgi_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_fastcgi.so
AddHandler fastcgi-script .fcgi
If you are using mod_fcgid (on Apache 2) you MUST modify your .htaccess for following handler. If you don’t, all you will see is your dispatch.fcgi as text for whatever page you call.
#COMMENTED OUT#AddHandler fastcgi-script .fcgi
#COMMENTED OUT#AddHandler cgi-script .cgi
AddHandler fcgid-script .fcgi
[...]
#COMMENTED OUT#RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.cgi [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ dispatch.fcgi [QSA,L]
# last line must be *here* after rules
Last but not least: remember to give permission to the webserver to write in the tmp directory (the easiest is a chmod 666 tmp)
http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/Debian+mod_fastcgi+Notes
