Configuring and Managing MPE/iX Internet Services (July 2001)

Chapter 9 157
Apache for MPE/iX
Feature Set
Feature Set
Apache for MPE/iX supports a rich feature set. The entire feature set is
determined by both the modules that are compiled into the Apache
program and by the extension modules (Dynamic Shared Objects) that
are loaded at Apache runtime.
In addition to the http core (http_core.c) which is the heart of the
Apache code, there are a number of other compiled-in modules. These
modules provide the following major features:
HTTP/1.1, the latest HTTP protocol
Capabilities new to HTTP/1.1 include content
negotiation (the server returns the data type and
human language most preferred by the browser),
persistent connections (the server uses the same socket
for more than one request from the same client), and
HOSTNAME variable in the request (for implementing
virtual hosts on the server).
Advanced Logging
Apache supports multiple log files, customized log files,
and logging on events such as error status.
Access Control
Basic access control to resources, such as a directory, is
provided through usernames and passwords (Basic
Authentication). Access can also be limited by IP
address, domain, or even by HTTP method (i.e., POST
or GET).
Common Gateway Interface applications (CGI)
CGI is a mechanism for executing external applications
from the browser. These CGI applications can be
written in any script or programming language which
runs on MPE/iX. CGI provides dynamic output to the
user. That is, the result returned to the client may be
different each time the CGI is run.
Server Side Includes (SSI)
SSI also provides dynamic output to a client. SSI is a
set of commands that are embedded in an HTML page
and are parsed and executed when the page is accessed.
SSI commands include flow control statements,
variable declarations, and execution of programs.