/[gentoo]/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/glep-0011.txt

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Revision 1.1		Revision 1.6
1	GLEP: 11	1	GLEP: 11
2	Title: Web Application Installation	2	Title: Web Application Installation
3	Version: $Revision: 1.1 $	3	Version: $Revision: 1.6 $
4	Last-Modified: $Date: 2003/08/07 19:02:40 $	4	Last-Modified: $Date: 2006/09/04 03:12:43 $
5	Author: Troy Dack <tad@gentoo.org>	5	Author: Troy Dack <tad@gentoo.org>
		6	Author: Stuart Herbert <stuart@gentoo.org>
6	Discussions-To: gentoo-dev@gentoo.org	7	Discussions-To: gentoo-dev@gentoo.org
7	Status: Draft	8	Status: Final
8	Type: Standards Track	9	Type: Standards Track
9	Content-Type: text/x-rst	10	Content-Type: text/x-rst
10	Created: 02 August 2003	11	Created: 02-August-2003
11	Post-History: 07 Aug 2003	12	Post-History: 07-Aug-2003, 12-Aug-2003, 13-Aug-2003, 3-Sep-2006
		13
		14	Status
		15	======
		16
		17	As of 2006-09-03 the webapp eclass has existed for some time.
12		18
13	Credits	19	Credits
14	=======	20	=======
15		21
16	Based on comments posted to gentoo-dev mailing list [#WebAppPost1]_	22	Based on comments posted to gentoo-dev mailing list [#WebAppPost1]_
17	[#WebAppPost2]_ [#WebAppPost3]_ by:	23	[#WebAppPost2]_ [#WebAppPost3]_ by:
18		24
19	Stuart Herbert <stuart@gentoo.org>, Max Kalika <max@gentoo.org>,	25	Stuart Herbert <stuart at gentoo.org>, Max Kalika <max at gentoo.org>,
20	Robin H.Johnson <robbat2@gentoo.org> and others	26	Robin H.Johnson <robbat2 at gentoo.org> and others
21		27
22	Definitions	28	Definitions
23	===========	29	===========
24		30
25	Web Application	31	Web Application
…		…
85	1. Gentoo installed web applications (eg: horde, phpbb, cacti,	91	1. Gentoo installed web applications (eg: horde, phpbb, cacti,
86	phpmysql) should not be installed in the Document Root of a web server.	92	phpmysql) should not be installed in the Document Root of a web server.
87	2. Web applications should not have their configuration files installed	93	2. Web applications should not have their configuration files installed
88	under the Document Root of a web server.	94	under the Document Root of a web server.
89		95
90	i. Web Application must be slotted by their major version numbers to	96	i. Web Application must be slotted by their full version numbers to
91	further avoid downtime when true configuration changes are required.	97	further avoid downtime when true configuration changes are required.
92		98
93	3. Web applications should not be owned by the same user as the web server.	99	3. Web applications should not be owned by the same user as the web server.
94	4. It should be easily possible to have multiple instances of a web	100	4. It should be easily possible to have multiple instances of a web
95	application without any duplication of source files.	101	application without any duplication of source files.
…		…
97	application.	103	application.
98		104
99	Implementation	105	Implementation
100	==============	106	==============
101		107
102	Max Kalika <max@gentoo.org> stated that he has a preliminary eclass that	108	Max Kalika <max at gentoo.org> stated that he has a preliminary eclass that
103	implements a good deal of this GLEP.	109	implements a good deal of this GLEP.
104		110
105	Stuart Herbert <stuart@gentoo.org> has committed::	111	Stuart Herbert <stuart at gentoo.org> has committed::
106		112
107	webapp-apache.eclass	113	webapp-apache.eclass
108		114
109	to CVS, this is a stop-gap measure whilst this GLEP is being finalised.	115	to CVS, this is a stop-gap measure whilst this GLEP is being finalised.
110		116
111		117
112	1. Web Server	118	1. Web Server
113	---------------------	119	-------------
114		120
115	A common default web server will have to be selected and ebuild authors should	121	A common default web server should be selected. Selection of a default web
116	ensure that their applications contain configuration directives suitable for	122	server will help to reduce the number of bugs that are reported.
		123
117	that server. Given the popularity of the Apache web server it is suggested	124	Given the popularity of the Apache web server it is suggested that Apache be
118	that Apache be selected as the Gentoo default web server.	125	selected as the Gentoo default web server.
119		126
120	Whilst it is acknowledged that other web servers do exist and are used, there	127	The Virtual Host Configuration tool (see below) will transparently support
121	has to be an assumption made somewhere that people who choose to use something	128	different web servers, thus enabling web applications to be installed on a
122	other than the default have enough knowledge to adapt configurations	129	Gentoo system irrespective of the installed web server.
123	accordingly.
124		130
125	1.1 Default Document Root	131	1.1 Default Document Root
126	'''''''''''''''''''''''''	132	'''''''''''''''''''''''''
127		133
		134	The current default Document Root for Gentoo is /home/httpd/, this is
		135	unsuitable for a couple of reasons:
		136
		137	* /home/ may be exported via nfs to numerous other hosts, it is not
		138	acceptable to share publically accessible files with numerous hosts.
		139
		140	* there is a potential (all be it small) for a user name clash
		141
128	To ensure the greatest flexibility when installing applications the following	142	To ensure the greatest flexibility when installing applications the following
129	Document Root locations are to be used:	143	Document Root locations are to be used:
130		144
131	* For single host installations::	145	* For single host installations::
132		146
133	/var/www/localhost/htdocs/	147	/var/www/localhost/
134		148
135	* For multiple virtual host installastions::	149	* For multiple virtual host installations::
136		150
137	/var/www/<fully qualified domain name>/htdocs/	151	/var/www/<fully qualified domain name>/
		152
138	eg:	153	eg:
139	/var/www/www.gentoo.org/htdocs/	154	/var/www/www.gentoo.org/
		155
		156	Additionally the chosen location ( /var/www/ ) appears to be becoming a defacto
		157	standard for Linux distributions.
140		158
141	1.2 Apache 2	159	1.2 Apache 2
142	''''''''''''''''''''''''	160	''''''''''''
143		161
144	All web application .ebuild will honour any USE flags that are intended to	162	All web application .ebuilds will honour any USE flags that are intended to
145	add support for Apache 2 as well as supporting Apache 1 installations.	163	add support for Apache 2 as well as supporting Apache 1 installations.
146		164
147		165	2. Application Installation
148	2. Virtual Host Flexibility
149	---------------------------	166	---------------------------
150
151	In a similar vein to Gentoo's Zope scripts, namely zope-config, we
152	should be able to have multiple instances of a single web application
153	without duplicating all of the files.
154
155	This also allows system administrators to control where web applications
156	will appear on their system, as well as to customize a file in a single
157	instance of a web application without effecting the original material.
158
159	This is easily acheived thru use of Apache configuration directivies and
160	symlinks. For PHP instances, see http://tavi.sourceforge.net/VirtualHosts
161	for some details.
162
163	The primary idea here is that to the web-application, it appears that
164	all of it's configuration and files are in the instance directory, but
165	the files are physicalled located elsewhere.
166
167	2.1 New "vhost" USE Flag
168	''''''''''''''''''''''''
169
170	To enable support for multiple virtual host installations a new USE flag is
171	to be added to Portage. The use flag will be::
172
173	vhost
174
175	When vhost is _set_ the installation location and configuration for the web
176	application will be effected, see below for more details.
177
178	2.2 VHost Configuration Tool
179	''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
180
181	To assist administration of multiple virtual hosts a "VHost Configuration Tool"
182	needs to be developed and implemented. Initial discussion and regarding the VHost
183	Config tool can be found at http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/10874.
184
185	The VHost Configuration Utility will need to be a seperate package, maintained by Gentoo.
186	Apache .ebuilds will require the VHost Config tool as a dependency (DEPEND).
187
188	<< TO BE EXPANDED UPON >>
189
190	3. Application Installation Location
191	------------------------------------
192		167
193	The current accepted standard Document Root in Gentoo is /home/httpd. The	168	The current accepted standard Document Root in Gentoo is /home/httpd. The
194	discussion suggest that this is not the best location to install web based	169	discussion suggest that this is not the best location to install web based
195	applications.	170	applications.
196		171
		172	2.1 Application SLOTs
		173	'''''''''''''''''''''
		174
		175	All ebuilds are to set the SLOT variable as follows::
		176
		177	SLOT="${PV}"
		178
		179	Setting the SLOT variable as shown will enable different versions of the same
		180	web application to be served concurrently by one server.
		181
		182	2.2 Installation Paths
		183	''''''''''''''''''''''
		184
197	Web applications should be installed outside of the Document Root using the following	185	Web applications should be installed outside of the Document Root using the following
198	defaults:	186	defaults:
199		187
200	* for files to be served to clients::	188	* for files to be served to clients::
201		189
202	/usr/share/webapps/${PF}/	190	/usr/share/webapps/${PF}/htdocs/
203		191
204	/usr/share/webapps/${PF}/public_html/ for files served by the web server
205
206	/usr/share/webapps/${PF}/cgi-bin/ for CGI-BIN files	192	/usr/share/webapps/${PF}/cgi-bin/
207		193
208	* install configuration files in::	194	* install site default configuration files in::
209		195
210	/etc/webapps/${PF}/	196	/etc/webapps/${PF}/
211		197
212	* for documentation files (not served to clients)::	198	* for documentation files (not served to clients)::
213		199
214	/usr/share/doc/${PF}/	200	/usr/share/doc/${PF}/
215		201
		202	3. Virtual Host Support
		203	-----------------------
		204
		205	The ability to easily configure and administer multiple virtual hosts is a
		206	must.
		207
		208	3.1 New "vhost" USE Flag
		209	''''''''''''''''''''''''
		210
		211	To enable support for multiple virtual host installations a new USE flag is
		212	to be added to Portage. The use flag will be::
		213
		214	vhost
		215
		216	When vhost is _set_ the installation location and configuration for the web
		217	application will be effected, see below for more details.
		218
		219	3.2 VHost Configuration Tool
		220	''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
		221
		222	To assist administration of multiple virtual hosts a "VHost Configuration Tool"
		223	needs to be developed and implemented. Initial discussion regarding the VHost
		224	Config tool and proposed usage can be found at http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/10874.
		225
		226	It's the job of the VHost Config toolset to make a local instance of the web
		227	application run under a specific web server.
		228
		229	The VHost Configuration Utility will need to be a seperate package, maintained by Gentoo.
		230
		231	Web Server .ebuilds will require the VHost Config tool as a dependency (DEPEND).
		232
		233	`Bug #26293`_ will be used to track the initial progress of the VHost
		234	Configuration Tool.
		235
		236	.. _Bug #26293: http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26293
		237
		238
		239	The vhost-config must do three main things:
		240
		241	- creates directories (copies a skeleton directory for the most part).
		242	- create web server vhost config files.
		243	- HUP web server so it reads in the new config without stopping.
		244
		245	Initially the VHost Config tool should provide support for the Apache web
		246	server. As the tool matures support for other web servers can be added.
		247
216	3.1 Single Host Installation	248	3.3 Single Host Installation
217	''''''''''''''''''''''''''''	249	''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
218		250
219	For single host installations the .ebuild will make the required	251	For single host installations the .ebuild will make the required
220	configurations changes and symlinks using the VHost Config tool to ensure	252	configurations changes and symlinks using the VHost Config tool to ensure
221	that the web application is available to be served from::	253	that the web application is available to be served from::
222		254
223	/var/www/localhost/htdocs/${PN}	255	/var/www/localhost/htdocs/${PF}/
224		256
		257	In this case it may be feasible for the VHost Config tool to simply symlink the
		258	directories from /usr/share/webapps/${PF}/ as is appropriate.
		259
225	3.2 Virtual Host Installation	260	3.4 Virtual Host Installation
226	'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''	261	'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
227		262
228	For installations that support multiple virtual hosts the .ebuild will	263	For installations that support multiple virtual hosts the .ebuild will
229	install the web application into the default location and then leave configuration	264	install the web application into the default location and then leave configuration
230	to the user through the VHost Config tool.	265	to the user through the VHost Config tool.
231		266
232	<< TO BE EXPANDED UPON >>	267	In this case the web application files will be copied from
		268	/usr/share/webapps/${PF}/ to /var/www/<FQDN>/ by the VHost Config tool.
233		269
234	4. Application Configuration	270	3.5 Configuration Files
235	----------------------------	271	'''''''''''''''''''''''
236		272
237	Having application configuration files in the Document Root of a web
238	server is a potential security risk. Additionally given the way that many
239	ebuilds currently install web applications it can also lead to the
240	overwriting of important configuration files.
241
242	As stated above web application configuration files are to be installed into::	273	As stated above web application site default configuration files are to be
		274	installed into::
243		275
244	/etc/webapps/${PF}/	276	/etc/webapps/${PF}/
245		277
246	By installing application configuration files in /etc Portage CONFIG_PROTECT	278	The files in this directory are then copied (not symlinked!) by the VHost
247	features can be used to ensure that configuration files are not overwritten.	279	Config tool to the Document Root for each instance of the app that is installed.
248		280
249	4.1 Virtual Host Support	281	This will require the VHost Config toolset to emulate Portage's CONFIG_PROTECT
250	''''''''''''''''''''''''	282	behaviour for the web applications.
251		283
252	<< TO BE EXPANDED UPON >>
253
254	5. Application Permissions	284	4. Application Permissions
255	--------------------------	285	--------------------------
256		286
257	Installing web applications and giving the web server ownership of the files	287	Installing web applications and giving the web server ownership of the files
258	is a security risk. This can possibly lead to application configuration	288	is a security risk. This can possibly lead to application configuration
259	files being accessed by unwanted third parties.	289	files being accessed by unwanted third parties.
…		…
272	The main issues are:	302	The main issues are:
273	* transition of existing configuration files to the	303	* transition of existing configuration files to the
274	/etc/webapps/${PF}/ directory.	304	/etc/webapps/${PF}/ directory.
275	* modification/reconfiguration of applications so that they	305	* modification/reconfiguration of applications so that they
276	are aware of the location of configuration files.	306	are aware of the location of configuration files.
277	* creating approriate Apache configuration snippets for inclusion	307	* creating the VHost Config toolset to enable installation and
278	in the Apache configuration files.	308	configuration of web applications irrespective of web server.
279		309
280		310
281	References	311	References
282	==========	312	==========
283		313
…		…
287		317
288	Copyright	318	Copyright
289	=========	319	=========
290		320
291	This document has been placed in the public domain.	321	This document has been placed in the public domain.
292

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