fun with mod_perl

So while I installed MovableType 2.5 without any problem, I decided to tackle the long-overdue installation of mod_perl.

This kind of message is always exciting . . . . .


************* WARNING *************

Apache headers found in unexpected location: “/usr/local/include”, suggestions:
*) Remove via “rpm -e apache”
*) Remove by hand
*) Complain to your os vendor about their poor layout choice
*) Complain to your sysadmin about their poor layout choice


************* WARNING *************
Enter `q’ to stop search
Please tell me where I can find your apache src
[../apache_x.x/src] /usr/ports/www/apache13/work/apache_1.3.27
Configuring for Apache, Version 1.3.27
+ using installation path layout: Apache (config.layout)
configure:Error: invalid option ‘-file’
can’t open /Makefile No such file or directory at Makefile.PL line 668, line 1.


Turns out what I needed to do was stop using cpan. What was really required was conveniently left out of the docs, but I worked it out anyway: you need to put the mod_perl sources where your apache sources are, in my case, in /usr/ports/www/apache13/work/mod_perl-1.27. Sure, mod_perl’s Makefile.PL script will ask you for the location but that doesn’t mean it will actually do anything useful with it.

I put it where it needed to be, created the Makefile, and ran make && make test, only to see this:

Invalid command ‘=pod’, perhaps mis-spelled or defined by a module not included in the server configuration

So what’s wrong with the httpd.conf file used for testing?


#PerlOpmask default

=pod

=head1 NAME

mod_perl test configuration file

=head1 DESCRIPTION

It’s a pod (plain old documentation) file, not an httpd.conf file at all. WTF?

So I won’t test it, I’ll just install it. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I don’t why I have such confidence, but we’ll just have to see what happens.

<UPDATE> Well, it seems to work: apache restarted w/o issue and this suggests I didn’t waste my time.

Server: Apache/1.3.26 (Unix) DAV/1.0.3 mod_perl/1.27