- NAME
- Description
- mod_perl configuration directives
- Enabling mod_perl
- Server Configuration Directives
  - <Perl> Sections
  - =pod, =over and =cut
  - PerlAddVar
  - PerlConfigRequire
  - PerlLoadModule
  - PerlModule
  - PerlOptions
    - Enable
    - Clone
    - InheritSwitches
    - Parent
    - Perl*Handler
    - AutoLoad
    - GlobalRequest
    - ParseHeaders
    - MergeHandlers
    - SetupEnv
  - PerlPassEnv
  - PerlPostConfigRequire
  - PerlRequire
  - PerlSetEnv
  - PerlSetVar
  - PerlSwitches
  - SetHandler
    - modperl
    - perl-script
    - Examples
- Server Life Cycle Handlers Directives
  - PerlOpenLogsHandler
  - PerlPostConfigHandler
  - PerlChildInitHandler
  - PerlChildExitHandler
- Protocol Handlers Directives
  - PerlPreConnectionHandler
  - PerlProcessConnectionHandler
- Filter Handlers Directives
  - PerlInputFilterHandler
  - PerlOutputFilterHandler
  - PerlSetInputFilter
  - PerlSetOutputFilter
- HTTP Protocol Handlers Directives
  - PerlPostReadRequestHandler
  - PerlTransHandler
  - PerlMapToStorageHandler
  - PerlInitHandler
  - PerlHeaderParserHandler
  - PerlAccessHandler
  - PerlAuthenHandler
  - PerlAuthzHandler
  - PerlTypeHandler
  - PerlFixupHandler
  - PerlResponseHandler
  - PerlLogHandler
  - PerlCleanupHandler
- Threads Mode Specific Directives
  - PerlInterpStart
  - PerlInterpMax
  - PerlInterpMinSpare
  - PerlInterpMaxSpare
  - PerlInterpMaxRequests
- Debug Directives
  - PerlTrace
- mod_perl Directives Argument Types and Allowed Location
- Server Startup Options Retrieval
  - MODPERL2 Define Option
- Perl Interface to the Apache Configuration Tree
- Adjusting @INC
  - PERL5LIB and PERLLIB Environment Variables
  - Modifying @INC on a Per-VirtualHost
- General Issues
- Maintainers
- Authors

# NAME

mod_perl 2.0 Server Configuration

# Description

This chapter provides an in-depth mod_perl 2.0 configuration details.

# mod_perl configuration directives

Similar to mod_perl 1.0, in order to use mod_perl 2.0 a few configuration settings should be added to httpd.conf. They are quite similar to 1.0 settings but some directives were renamed and new directives were added.

# Enabling mod_perl

To enable mod_perl built as DSO add to httpd.conf:

    LoadModule perl_module modules/mod_perl.so

This setting specifies the location of the mod_perl module relative to the `ServerRoot` setting, therefore you should put it somewhere after `ServerRoot` is specified.

If mod_perl has been statically linked it's automatically enabled.

For Win32 specific details, see the documentation on Win32 configuration.

Remember that you can't use mod_perl until you have configured Apache to use it. You need to configure Registry scripts or custom handlers.

# Server Configuration Directives

## `<Perl>` Sections

With `<Perl>`...`</Perl>` sections, it is possible to configure your server entirely in Perl.

Please refer to the Apache2::PerlSections manpage for more information.

META: a dedicated chapter with examples?

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `=pod`, `=over` and `=cut`

It's known that anything written between tokens `=pod` and `=cut` is ignored by the Perl parser. mod_perl allows you to use the same technique to make Apache ignore things in httpd.conf (similar to # comments). With an exception to `=over apache` and `=over httpd` sections which are visible to Apache.

For example the following configuration:

     #file: httpd.conf
     =pod

     PerlSetVar A 1

     =over apache

     PerlSetVar B 2

     =back

     PerlSetVar C 3

     =cut

     PerlSetVar D 4

Apache will see:

    PerlSetVar B 2
    PerlSetVar D 4

but not:

    PerlSetVar A 1
    PerlSetVar C 3

`=over httpd` is just an alias to `=over apache`. Remember that `=over` requires a corresponding `=back`.

## `PerlAddVar`

`PerlAddVar` is useful if you need to pass in multiple values into the same variable emulating arrays and hashes. For example:

      PerlAddVar foo bar
      PerlAddVar foo bar1
      PerlAddVar foo bar2

You would retrieve these values with:

    my @foos = $r->dir_config->get('foo');

This would fill the @foos array with 'bar', 'bar1', and 'bar2'.

To pass in hashed values you need to ensure that you use an even number of directives per key. For example:

    PerlAddVar foo key1
    PerlAddVar foo value1
    PerlAddVar foo key2
    PerlAddVar foo value2

You can then retrieve these values with:

    my %foos = $r->dir_config->get('foo');

Where %foos will have a structure like:

    %foos = (
          key1   => 'value1',
          key2   => 'value2',
    );

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlConfigRequire`

`PerlConfigRequire` does the same thing as `PerlPostConfigRequire`, but it is executed as soon as it is encountered, i.e. during the configuration phase.

You should be using this directive to load only files that introduce new configuration directives, used later in the configuration file. For any other purposes (like preloading modules) use `PerlPostConfigRequire`.

One of the reasons for avoding using the `PerlConfigRequire` directive, is that the `STDERR` stream is not available during the restart phase, therefore the errors will be not reported. It is not a bug in mod_perl but an Apache limitation. Use `PerlPostConfigRequire` if you can, and there you have the `STDERR` stream sent to the error_log file (by default).

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlLoadModule`

The `PerlLoadModule` directive is similar to `PerlModule`, in a sense that it loads a module. The difference is that it's used to triggers an early Perl startup. This can be useful for modules that need to be loaded early, as is the case for modules that implement new Apache directives, which are needed during the configuration phase.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlModule`

    PerlModule Foo::Bar

is equivalent to Perl's:

    require Foo::Bar;

`PerlModule` is used to load modules using their package names.

You can pass one or more module names as arguments to `PerlModule`:

    PerlModule Apache::DBI CGI DBD::Mysql

Notice, that normally, the Perl startup is delayed until after the configuration phase.

See also: `PerlRequire`.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlOptions`

The directive `PerlOptions` provides fine-grained configuration for what were compile-time only options in the first mod_perl generation. It also provides control over what class of Perl interpreter pool is used for a `<VirtualHost>` or location configured with `<Location>`, `<Directory>`, etc.

$r->is_perl_option_enabled($option) and $s->is_perl_option_enabled($option) can be used at run-time to check whether a certain `$option` has been enabled. (META: probably need to add/move this to the coding chapter)

Options are enabled by prepending `+` and disabled with `-`.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

The available options are:

### `Enable`

On by default, can be used to disable mod_perl for a given `VirtualHost`. For example:

    <VirtualHost ...>
        PerlOptions -Enable
    </VirtualHost>

### `Clone`

Share the parent Perl interpreter, but give the `VirtualHost` its own interpreter pool. For example should you wish to fine tune interpreter pools for a given virtual host:

    <VirtualHost ...>
        PerlOptions +Clone
        PerlInterpStart 2
        PerlInterpMax 2
    </VirtualHost>

This might be worthwhile in the case where certain hosts have their own sets of large-ish modules, used only in each host. By tuning each host to have its own pool, that host will continue to reuse the Perl allocations in their specific modules.

### `InheritSwitches`

Off by default, can be used to have a `VirtualHost` inherit the value of the `PerlSwitches` from the parent server.

For instance, when cloning a Perl interpreter, to inherit the base Perl interpreter's `PerlSwitches` use:

    <VirtualHost ...>
        PerlOptions +Clone +InheritSwitches
        ...
    </VirtualHost>

### `Parent`

Create a new parent Perl interpreter for the given `VirtualHost` and give it its own interpreter pool (implies the `Clone` option).

A common problem with mod_perl 1.0 was the shared namespace between all code within the process. Consider two developers using the same server and each wants to run a different version of a module with the same name. This example will create two parent Perl interpreters, one for each `<VirtualHost>`, each with its own namespace and pointing to a different paths in `@INC`:

META: is -Mlib portable? (problems with -Mlib on Darwin/5.6.0?)

    <VirtualHost ...>
        ServerName dev1
        PerlOptions +Parent
        PerlSwitches -Mlib=/home/dev1/lib/perl
    </VirtualHost>

    <VirtualHost ...>
        ServerName dev2
        PerlOptions +Parent
        PerlSwitches -Mlib=/home/dev2/lib/perl
    </VirtualHost>

Remember that `+Parent` gives you a completely new Perl interpreters pool, so all your modifications to `@INC` and preloading of the modules should be done again. Consider using PerlOptions +Clone if you want to inherit from the parent Perl interpreter.

Or even for a given location, for something like "dirty" cgi scripts:

    <Location /cgi-bin>
        PerlOptions +Parent
        PerlInterpMaxRequests 1
        PerlInterpStart 1
        PerlInterpMax 1
        PerlResponseHandler ModPerl::Registry
    </Location>

will use a fresh interpreter with its own namespace to handle each request.

### `Perl*Handler`

Disable `Perl*Handler`s, all compiled-in handlers are enabled by default. The option name is derived from the `Perl*Handler` name, by stripping the `Perl` and `Handler` parts of the word. So `PerlLogHandler` becomes `Log` which can be used to disable `PerlLogHandler`:

    PerlOptions -Log

Suppose one of the hosts does not want to allow users to configure `PerlAuthenHandler`, `PerlAuthzHandler`, `PerlAccessHandler` and <Perl> sections:

    <VirtualHost ...>
        PerlOptions -Authen -Authz -Access -Sections
    </VirtualHost>

Or maybe everything but the response handler:

    <VirtualHost ...>
        PerlOptions None +Response
    </VirtualHost>

### `AutoLoad`

Resolve `Perl*Handlers` at startup time, which includes loading the modules from disk if not already loaded.

In mod_perl 1.0, configured `Perl*Handlers` which are not a fully qualified subroutine names are resolved at request time, loading the handler module from disk if needed. In mod_perl 2.0, configured `Perl*Handlers` are resolved at startup time. By default, modules are not auto-loaded during startup-time resolution. It is possible to enable this feature with:

    PerlOptions +Autoload

Consider this configuration:

    PerlResponseHandler Apache::Magick

In this case, `Apache::Magick` is the package name, and the subroutine name will default to handler. If the `Apache::Magick` module is not already loaded, `PerlOptions +Autoload` will attempt to pull it in at startup time. With this option enabled you don't have to explicitly load the handler modules. For example you don't need to add:

    PerlModule Apache::Magick

in our example.

Another way to preload only specific modules is to add + when configuring those, for example:

    PerlResponseHandler +Apache::Magick

will automatically preload the `Apache::Magick` module.

### `GlobalRequest`

Setup the global `$r` object for use with `Apache2->request`.

This setting is enabled by default during the `PerlResponseHandler` phase for sections configured as:

    <Location ...>
        SetHandler perl-script
        ...
    </Location>

but is not enabled by default for sections configured as:

    <Location ...>
        SetHandler modperl
        ....
    </Location>

And can be disabled with:

    <Location ...>
        SetHandler perl-script
        PerlOptions -GlobalRequest
        ...
    </Location>

Notice that if you need the global request object during other phases, you will need to explicitly enable it in the configuration file.

You can also set that global object from the handler code, like so:

    sub handler {
        my $r = shift;
        Apache2::RequestUtil->request($r);
        ...
    }

The `+GlobalRequest` setting is needed for example if you use older versions of `CGI.pm` to process the incoming request. Starting from version 2.93, `CGI.pm` optionally accepts `$r` as an argument to `new()`, like so:

    sub handler {
        my $r = shift;
        my $q = CGI->new($r);
        ...
    }

Remember that inside registry scripts you can always get `$r` at the beginning of the script, since it gets wrapped inside a subroutine and accepts `$r` as the first and the only argument. For example:

    #!/usr/bin/perl
    use CGI;
    my $r = shift;
    my $q = CGI->new($r);
    ...

of course you won't be able to run this under mod_cgi, so you may need to do:

    #!/usr/bin/perl
    use CGI;
    my $q = $ENV{MOD_PERL} ? CGI->new(shift @_) : CGI->new();
    ...

in order to have the script running under mod_perl and mod_cgi.

### `ParseHeaders`

Scan output for HTTP headers, same functionality as mod_perl 1.0's `PerlSendHeader`, but more robust. This option is usually needs to be enabled for registry scripts which send the HTTP header with:

    print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";

### `MergeHandlers`

Turn on merging of `Perl*Handler` arrays. For example with a setting:

     PerlFixupHandler Apache2::FixupA

     <Location /inside>
         PerlFixupHandler Apache2::FixupB
     </Location>

a request for /inside only runs `Apache2::FixupB` (mod_perl 1.0 behavior). But with this configuration:

     PerlFixupHandler Apache2::FixupA

     <Location /inside>
         PerlOptions +MergeHandlers
         PerlFixupHandler Apache2::FixupB
     </Location>

a request for /inside will run both `Apache2::FixupA` and `Apache2::FixupB` handlers.

### `SetupEnv`

Set up environment variables for each request ala mod_cgi.

When this option is enabled, mod_perl fiddles with the environment to make it appear as if the code is called under the mod_cgi handler. For example, the `$ENV{QUERY_STRING}` environment variable is initialized with the contents of Apache2::args(), and the value returned by Apache2::server_hostname() is put into `$ENV{SERVER_NAME}`.

But `%ENV` population is expensive. Those who have moved to the Perl Apache API no longer need this extra `%ENV` population, and can gain by disabling it. A code using the `CGI.pm` module require `PerlOptions +SetupEnv` because that module relies on a properly populated CGI environment table.

This option is enabled by default for sections configured as:

    <Location ...>
        SetHandler perl-script
        ...
    </Location>

Since this option adds an overhead to each request, if you don't need this functionality you can turn it off for a certain section:

    <Location ...>
        SetHandler perl-script
        PerlOptions -SetupEnv
        ...
    </Location>

or globally:

    PerlOptions -SetupEnv
    <Location ...>
        ...
    </Location>

and then it'll affect the whole server. It can still be enabled for sections that need this functionality.

When this option is disabled you can still read environment variables set by you. For example when you use the following configuration:

    PerlOptions -SetupEnv
    PerlModule ModPerl::Registry
    <Location /perl>
      PerlSetEnv TEST hi
      SetHandler perl-script
      PerlResponseHandler ModPerl::Registry
      Options +ExecCGI
    </Location>

and you issue a request for this script:

    setupenvoff.pl
    --------------
    use Data::Dumper;
    my $r = Apache2::RequestUtil->request();
    $r->content_type('text/plain');
    print Dumper(\%ENV);

you should see something like this:

    $VAR1 = {
              'GATEWAY_INTERFACE' => 'CGI-Perl/1.1',
              'MOD_PERL' => 'mod_perl/2.0.1',
              'PATH' => 'bin:/usr/bin',
              'TEST' => 'hi'
            };

Notice that we have got the value of the environment variable TEST.

## `PerlPassEnv`

`PerlPassEnv` instructs mod_perl to pass the environment variables you specify to your mod_perl handlers. This is useful if you need to set the same environment variables for your shell as well as mod_perl. For example if you had this in your .bash_profile:

    export ORACLE_HOME=/oracle

And defined the following in your httpd.conf:

    PerlPassEnv ORACLE_HOME

The your mod_perl handlers would have access to the value via the standard Perl mechanism:

    my $oracle_home = $ENV{'ORACLE_HOME'};

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlPostConfigRequire`

    PerlPostConfigRequire /home/httpd/perl/lib/startup.pl

is equivalent to Perl's:

    require "/home/httpd/perl/lib/startup.pl";

A `PerlRequire` filename argument can be absolute or relative to `ServerRoot` or a filepath in Perl's `@INC`.

You can pass one or more filenames as arguments to `PerlPostConfigRequire`:

    PerlPostConfigRequire path1/startup.pl path2/startup.pl

`PerlPostConfigRequire` is used to load files with Perl code to be run at the server startup. It's not executed as soon as it is encountered, but as late as possible during the server startup.

Most of the time you should be using this directive. For example to preload some modules or run things at the server startup). Only if you need to load modules that introduce new configuration directives, used later in the configuration file you should use `PerlConfigRequire`.

As with any file with Perl code that gets `use()`'d or `require()`'d, it must return a true value. To ensure that this happens don't forget to add `1;` at the end of startup.pl.

See also: `PerlModule` and `PerlLoadModule`.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlRequire`

`PerlRequire` does the same thing as `PerlPostConfigRequire`, but you have almost no control of when this code is going to be executed. Therefore you should be using either `PerlConfigRequire` (executes immediately) or `PerlPostConfigRequire` (executes just before the end of the server startup) instead. Most of the time you want to use the latter.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlSetEnv`

`PerlSetEnv` allows you to specify system environment variables and pass them into your mod_perl handlers. These values are then available through the normal perl `%ENV` mechanisms. For example:

    PerlSetEnv TEMPLATE_PATH /usr/share/templates

would create `$ENV{'TEMPLATE_PATH'}` and set it to /usr/share/templates.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlSetVar`

`PerlSetVar` allows you to pass variables into your mod_perl handlers from your httpd.conf. This method is preferable to using `PerlSetEnv` or Apache's `SetEnv` and `PassEnv` methods because of the overhead of having to populate `%ENV` for each request. An example of how this can be used is:

    PerlSetVar foo bar

To retrieve the value of that variable in your Perl code you would use:

    my $foo = $r->dir_config('foo');

In this example `$foo` would then hold the value 'bar'. NOTE: that these directives are parsed at request time which is a slower method than using custom Apache configuration directives

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlSwitches`

Now you can pass any Perl's command line switches in httpd.conf using the `PerlSwitches` directive. For example to enable warnings and Taint checking add:

    PerlSwitches -wT

As an alternative to using `use lib` in startup.pl to adjust `@INC`, now you can use the command line switch `-I` to do that:

    PerlSwitches -I/home/stas/modperl

You could also use `-Mlib=/home/stas/modperl` which is the exact equivalent as `use lib`, but it's broken on certain platforms/version (e.g. Darwin/5.6.0). `use lib` is removing duplicated entries, whereas `-I` does not.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `SetHandler`

mod_perl 2.0 provides two types of `SetHandler` handlers: `modperl` and `perl-script`. The `SetHandler` directive is only relevant for response phase handlers. It doesn't affect other phases.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

### `modperl`

Configured as:

    SetHandler modperl

The bare mod_perl handler type, which just calls the `Perl*Handler`'s callback function. If you don't need the features provided by the perl-script handler, with the `modperl` handler, you can gain even more performance. (This handler isn't available in mod_perl 1.0.)

Unless the `Perl*Handler` callback, running under the `modperl` handler, is configured with:

    PerlOptions +SetupEnv

or calls:

    $r->subprocess_env;

in a void context with no arguments (which has the same effect as `PerlOptions +SetupEnv` for the handler that called it), only the following environment variables are accessible via `%ENV`:

- `MOD_PERL` and `MOD_PERL_API_VERSION` (always)

- `PATH` and `TZ` (if you had them defined in the shell or httpd.conf)

Therefore if you don't want to add the overhead of populating `%ENV`, when you simply want to pass some configuration variables from httpd.conf, consider using `PerlSetVar` and `PerlAddVar` instead of `PerlSetEnv` and `PerlPassEnv`. In your code you can retrieve the values using the `dir_config()` method. For example if you set in httpd.conf:

    <Location /print_env2>
        SetHandler modperl
        PerlResponseHandler Apache2::VarTest
        PerlSetVar VarTest VarTestValue
    </Location>

this value can be retrieved inside `Apache2::VarTest::handler()` with:

    $r->dir_config('VarTest');

Alternatively use the Apache core directives `SetEnv` and `PassEnv`, which always populate `r->subprocess_env`, but this doesn't happen until the Apache fixups phase, which could be too late for your needs.

Notice also that this handler does not reset `%ENV` after each request's response phase, so if one response handler has changed `%ENV` without localizing the change, it'll affect other handlers running after it as well.

### `perl-script`

Configured as:

    SetHandler perl-script

Most mod_perl handlers use the perl-script handler. Among other things it does:

- `PerlOptions +GlobalRequest` is in effect only during the PerlResponseHandler phase unless:

      PerlOptions -GlobalRequest

  is specified.

- `PerlOptions +SetupEnv` is in effect unless:

      PerlOptions -SetupEnv

  is specified.

- `STDIN` and `STDOUT` get tied to the request object `$r`, which makes possible to read from `STDIN` and print directly to `STDOUT` via `CORE::print()`, instead of implicit calls like `$r->puts()`.

- Several special global Perl variables are saved before the response handler is called and restored afterwards (similar to mod_perl 1.0). This includes: `%ENV`, `@INC`, `$/`, `STDOUT`'s `$|` and `END` blocks array (`PL_endav`).

- Entries added to `%ENV` are passed on to the `subprocess_env` table, and are thus accessible via `r->subprocess_env` during the later `PerlLogHandler` and `PerlCleanupHandler` phases.

### Examples

Let's demonstrate the differences between the `modperl` and the `perl-script` core handlers in the following example, which represents a simple mod_perl response handler which prints out the environment variables as seen by it:

     file:MyApache2/PrintEnv1.pm
     -----------------------
     package MyApache2::PrintEnv1;
     use strict;

     use Apache2::RequestRec (); # for $r->content_type
     use Apache2::RequestIO ();  # for print
     use Apache2::Const -compile => ':common';

     sub handler {
         my $r = shift;

         $r->content_type('text/plain');
         for (sort keys %ENV){
             print "$_ => $ENV{$_}\n";
         }

         return Apache2::Const::OK;
     }

     1;

This is the required configuration:

    PerlModule MyApache2::PrintEnv1
    <Location /print_env1>
        SetHandler perl-script
        PerlResponseHandler MyApache2::PrintEnv1
    </Location>

Now issue a request to http://localhost/print_env1 and you should see all the environment variables printed out.

Here is the same response handler, adjusted to work with the `modperl` core handler:

     file:MyApache2/PrintEnv2.pm
     ------------------------
     package MyApache2::PrintEnv2;
     use strict;

     use Apache2::RequestRec (); # for $r->content_type
     use Apache2::RequestIO ();  # for $r->print

     use Apache2::Const -compile => ':common';

     sub handler {
         my $r = shift;

         $r->content_type('text/plain');
         $r->subprocess_env;
         for (sort keys %ENV){
             $r->print("$_ => $ENV{$_}\n");
         }

         return Apache2::Const::OK;
     }

     1;

The configuration now will look as:

    PerlModule MyApache2::PrintEnv2
    <Location /print_env2>
        SetHandler modperl
        PerlResponseHandler MyApache2::PrintEnv2
    </Location>

`MyApache2::PrintEnv2` cannot use `print()` and therefore uses `$r->print()` to generate a response. Under the `modperl` core handler `%ENV` is not populated by default, therefore `subprocess_env()` is called in a void context. Alternatively we could configure this section to do:

    PerlOptions +SetupEnv

If you issue a request to http://localhost/print_env2, you should see all the environment variables printed out as with http://localhost/print_env1.

# Server Life Cycle Handlers Directives

See Server life cycle.

## `PerlOpenLogsHandler`

See `PerlOpenLogsHandler`.

## `PerlPostConfigHandler`

See `PerlPostConfigHandler`.

## `PerlChildInitHandler`

See `PerlChildInitHandler`.

## `PerlChildExitHandler`

See `PerlChildExitHandler`.

# Protocol Handlers Directives

See Protocol handlers.

## `PerlPreConnectionHandler`

See `PerlPreConnectionHandler`.

## `PerlProcessConnectionHandler`

See `PerlProcessConnectionHandler`.

# Filter Handlers Directives

mod_perl filters are described in the filter handlers tutorial, `Apache2::Filter` and `Apache2::FilterRec` manpages.

The following filter handler configuration directives are available:

## `PerlInputFilterHandler`

See `PerlInputFilterHandler`.

## `PerlOutputFilterHandler`

See `PerlOutputFilterHandler`.

## `PerlSetInputFilter`

See `PerlSetInputFilter`.

## `PerlSetOutputFilter`

See `PerlSetInputFilter`.

# HTTP Protocol Handlers Directives

See HTTP protocol handlers.

## `PerlPostReadRequestHandler`

See `PerlPostReadRequestHandler`.

## `PerlTransHandler`

See `PerlTransHandler`.

## `PerlMapToStorageHandler`

See `PerlMapToStorageHandler`.

## `PerlInitHandler`

See `PerlInitHandler`.

## `PerlHeaderParserHandler`

See `PerlHeaderParserHandler`.

## `PerlAccessHandler`

See `PerlAccessHandler`.

## `PerlAuthenHandler`

See `PerlAuthenHandler`.

## `PerlAuthzHandler`

See `PerlAuthzHandler`.

## `PerlTypeHandler`

See `PerlTypeHandler`.

## `PerlFixupHandler`

See `PerlFixupHandler`.

## `PerlResponseHandler`

See `PerlResponseHandler`.

## `PerlLogHandler`

See `PerlLogHandler`.

## `PerlCleanupHandler`

See `PerlCleanupHandler`.

# Threads Mode Specific Directives

These directives are enabled only in a threaded mod_perl+Apache combo:

## `PerlInterpStart`

The number of interpreters to clone at startup time.

Default value: 3

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlInterpMax`

If all running interpreters are in use, mod_perl will clone new interpreters to handle the request, up until this number of interpreters is reached. when `PerlInterpMax` is reached, mod_perl will block (via COND_WAIT()) until one becomes available (signaled via COND_SIGNAL()).

Default value: 5

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlInterpMinSpare`

The minimum number of available interpreters this parameter will clone interpreters up to `PerlInterpMax`, before a request comes in.

Default value: 3

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

## `PerlInterpMaxSpare`

mod_perl will throttle down the number of interpreters to this number as those in use become available.

Default value: 3

## `PerlInterpMaxRequests`

The maximum number of requests an interpreter should serve, the interpreter is destroyed when the number is reached and replaced with a fresh clone.

Default value: 2000

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

# Debug Directives

## `PerlTrace`

The `PerlTrace` is used for tracing the mod_perl execution. This directive is enabled when mod_perl is compiled with the `MP_TRACE=1` option.

To enable tracing, add to httpd.conf:

    PerlTrace [level]

where `level` is either:

    all

which sets maximum logging and debugging levels;

a combination of one or more option letters from the following list:

    a Apache API interaction
    c configuration for directive handlers
    d directive processing
    f filters
    e environment variables
    g globals management
    h handlers
    i interpreter pool management
    m memory allocations
    o I/O
    r Perl runtime interaction
    s Perl sections
    t benchmark-ish timings

Tracing options add to the previous setting and don't override it. So for example:

    PerlTrace c
    ...
    PerlTrace f

will set tracing level first to 'c' and later to 'cf'. If you wish to override settings, unset any previous setting by assigning 0 (zero), like so:

    PerlTrace c
    ...
    PerlTrace 0
    PerlTrace f

now the tracing level is set only to 'f'. You can't mix the number 0 with letters, it must be alone.

When `PerlTrace` is not specified, the tracing level will be set to the value of the `$ENV{MOD_PERL_TRACE}` environment variable.

See also: this directive argument types and allowed location.

# mod_perl Directives Argument Types and Allowed Location

The following table shows where in the configuration files mod_perl configuration directives are allowed to appear, what kind and how many arguments they expect:

General directives:

      Directive                 Arguments  Scope
    --------------------------------------------
    PerlSwitches                 ITERATE    SRV
    PerlRequire                  ITERATE    SRV
    PerlConfigRequire            ITERATE    SRV
    PerlPostConfigRequire        ITERATE    SRC
    PerlModule                   ITERATE    SRV
    PerlLoadModule               RAW_ARGS   SRV
    PerlOptions                  ITERATE    DIR
    PerlSetVar                   TAKE2      DIR
    PerlAddVar                   ITERATE2   DIR
    PerlSetEnv                   TAKE2      DIR
    PerlPassEnv                  TAKE1      SRV
    <Perl> Sections              RAW_ARGS   SRV
    PerlTrace                    TAKE1      SRV

Handler assignment directives:

       Directive                 Arguments  Scope
     --------------------------------------------
     PerlOpenLogsHandler          ITERATE    SRV
     PerlPostConfigHandler        ITERATE    SRV
     PerlChildInitHandler         ITERATE    SRV
     PerlChildExitHandler         ITERATE    SRV

     PerlPreConnectionHandler     ITERATE    SRV
     PerlProcessConnectionHandler ITERATE    SRV

     PerlPostReadRequestHandler   ITERATE    SRV
     PerlTransHandler             ITERATE    SRV
     PerlMapToStorageHandler      ITERATE    SRV
     PerlInitHandler              ITERATE    DIR
     PerlHeaderParserHandler      ITERATE    DIR
     PerlAccessHandler            ITERATE    DIR
     PerlAuthenHandler            ITERATE    DIR
     PerlAuthzHandler             ITERATE    DIR
     PerlTypeHandler              ITERATE    DIR
     PerlFixupHandler             ITERATE    DIR
     PerlResponseHandler          ITERATE    DIR
     PerlLogHandler               ITERATE    DIR
     PerlCleanupHandler           ITERATE    DIR

     PerlInputFilterHandler       ITERATE    DIR
     PerlOutputFilterHandler      ITERATE    DIR
     PerlSetInputFilter           ITERATE    DIR
     PerlSetOutputFilter          ITERATE    DIR

Perl Interpreter management directives:

      Directive                 Arguments  Scope
    --------------------------------------------
    PerlInterpStart              TAKE1      SRV
    PerlInterpMax                TAKE1      SRV
    PerlInterpMinSpare           TAKE1      SRV
    PerlInterpMaxSpare           TAKE1      SRV
    PerlInterpMaxRequests        TAKE1      SRV

mod_perl 1.0 back-compatibility directives:

      Directive                 Arguments  Scope
    --------------------------------------------
    PerlHandler                   ITERATE   DIR
    PerlSendHeader                FLAG      DIR
    PerlSetupEnv                  FLAG      DIR
    PerlTaintCheck                FLAG      SRV
    PerlWarn                      FLAG      SRV

The Arguments column represents the type of arguments directives accepts, where:

ITERATE

  Expects a list of arguments.

ITERATE2

  Expects one argument, followed by at least one or more arguments.

TAKE1

  Expects one argument only.

TAKE2

  Expects two arguments only.

FLAG

  One of `On` or `Off` (case insensitive).

RAW_ARGS

  The function parses the command line by itself.

The Scope column shows the location the directives are allowed to appear in:

SRV

  Global configuration and `<VirtualHost>` (mnemonic: SeRVer). These directives are defined as `RSRC_CONF` in the source code.

DIR

  `<Directory>`, `<Location>`, `<Files>` and all their regular expression variants (mnemonic: DIRectory). These directives can also appear in .htaccess files. These directives are defined as `OR_ALL` in the source code.

  These directives can also appear in the global server configuration and `<VirtualHost>`.

Apache specifies other allowed location types which are currently not used by the core mod_perl directives and their definition can be found in include/httpd_config.h (hint: search for `RSRC_CONF`).

Also see Stacked Handlers.

# Server Startup Options Retrieval

Inside httpd.conf one can do conditional configuration based on the define options passed at the server startup. For example:

    <IfDefine PERLDB>
        <Perl>
            use Apache::DB ();
            Apache::DB->init;
        </Perl>

        <Location />
            PerlFixupHandler Apache::DB
        </Location>
    </IfDefine>

So only when the server is started as:

    % httpd C<-DPERLDB> ...

The configuration inside `IfDefine` will have an effect. If you want to have some configuration section to have an effect if a certain define wasn't defined use `!`, for example here is the opposite of the previous example:

    <IfDefine !PERLDB>
        # ...
    </IfDefine>

If you need to access any of the startup defines in the Perl code you use `Apache2::ServerUtil::exists_config_define()`. For example in a startup file you can say:

    use Apache2::ServerUtil ();
    if (Apache2::ServerUtil::exists_config_define("PERLDB")) {
        require Apache::DB;
        Apache::DB->init;
    }

For example to check whether the server has been started in a single mode use:

    if (Apache2::ServerUtil::exists_config_define("ONE_PROCESS")) {
        print "Running in a single mode";
    }

## `MODPERL2` Define Option

When running under mod_perl 2.0 a special configuration "define" symbol `MODPERL2` is enabled internally, as if the server had been started with `-DMODPERL2`. For example this can be used to write a configuration file which needs to do something different whether it's running under mod_perl 1.0 or 2.0:

    <IfDefine MODPERL2>
        # 2.0 configuration
    </IfDefine>
    <IfDefine !MODPERL2>
        # else
    </IfDefine>

From within Perl code this can be tested with `Apache2::ServerUtil::exists_config_define()`, for example:

    use Apache2::ServerUtil ();
    if (Apache2::ServerUtil::exists_config_define("MODPERL2")) {
        # some 2.0 specific code
    }

# Perl Interface to the Apache Configuration Tree

For now refer to the Apache2::Directive manpage and the test t/response/TestApache2/conftree.pm in the mod_perl source distribution.

META: need help to write the tutorial section on this with examples.

# Adjusting `@INC`

You can always adjust contents of `@INC` before the server starts. There are several ways to do that.

- startup.pl

  In the startup file you can use the `lib` pragma like so:

      use lib qw(/home/httpd/project1/lib /tmp/lib);
      use lib qw(/home/httpd/project2/lib);

- httpd.conf

  In httpd.conf you can use the `PerlSwitches` directive to pass arguments to perl as you do from the command line, e.g.:

      PerlSwitches -I/home/httpd/project1/lib -I/tmp/lib
      PerlSwitches -I/home/httpd/project2/lib

## `PERL5LIB` and `PERLLIB` Environment Variables

The effect of the `PERL5LIB` and `PERLLIB` environment variables on `@INC` is described in the perlrun manpage. mod_perl 2.0 doesn't do anything special about them.

It's important to remind that both `PERL5LIB` and `PERLLIB` are ignored when the taint mode (`PerlSwitches -T`) is in effect. Since you want to make sure that your mod_perl server is running under the taint mode, you can't use the `PERL5LIB` and `PERLLIB` environment variables.

However there is the perl5lib module on CPAN, which, if loaded, bypasses perl's security and will affect `@INC`. Use it only if you know what you are doing.

## Modifying `@INC` on a Per-VirtualHost

If Perl used with mod_perl was built with ithreads support one can specify different `@INC` values for different VirtualHosts, using a combination of `PerlOptions +Parent` and `PerlSwitches`. For example:

    <VirtualHost ...>
        ServerName dev1
        PerlOptions +Parent
        PerlSwitches -I/home/dev1/lib/perl
    </VirtualHost>

    <VirtualHost ...>
        ServerName dev2
        PerlOptions +Parent
        PerlSwitches -I/home/dev2/lib/perl
    </VirtualHost>

This technique works under any MPM with ithreads-enabled perl. It's just that under prefork your procs will be huge, because you will build a pool of interpreters in each process. While the same happens under threaded mpm, there you have many threads per process, so you need just 1 or 2 procs and therefore less memory will be used.

# General Issues

# Maintainers

Maintainer is the person(s) you should contact with updates, corrections and patches.

- Stas Bekman [http://stason.org/]

# Authors

- Doug MacEachern <dougm (at) covalent.net>

- Stas Bekman [http://stason.org/]

Only the major authors are listed above. For contributors see the Changes file.