The Apache web server is a remarkable piece of software. The basic package distributed by the Apache Software Foundation is quite complete and very powerful, and a lot of effort has gone into keeping it from suffering software bloat. One facet of the package makes it especially remarkable: it includes extensibility by design. In short, if the Apache package right out of the box does not do what you want, you can generally extend it so that it does. Dozens of extensions (called modules) are included as part of the package distributed by the Apache Software Foundation. And if one of these doesn't meet your needs, with several million users out there, there is an excellent chance someone else has already done your work for you, who has concocted a recipe of changes or enhancements to the server that will satisfy your requirements.

This book is a collection of these recipes. Its sources include tips from the firehose of the USENET newsgroups, the Apache FAQ, Apache-related mailing lists, mail containing "how-to" questions, questions and problems posed on IRC chat channels, and volunteered submissions.

All of the items in this book come from real-life situations, encountered either by us or by other people who have asked for our help. The topics range from basic compilation of the source code to complex problems involving the treatment of URLs that require SSL encryption.