Bug#231134: Wish: Dummy LoadModule directive in apache2.conf to ease module installations through apxs (e.g. PHP5)

[Björn Wiberg <bjorn.wiberg@home.se>]

Package: apache2-common
Version: 2.0.48-7
Severity: wishlist

Other software used:
PHP version 5.0.0b3 available from http://www.php.net/downloads.php

When installing PHP5 into Apache 2 as a SAPI module, the 'make install'
target of PHP5 calls instdso.sh, which in turn uses apxs to install the
PHP5 SAPI module.

However, because the default apache2.conf shipped with the apache2-common
package does not contain any LoadModule directives, the installation
fails:

  gloomy:~/software/php-5.0.0b3# make install
  Installing PHP SAPI module:       apache2handler
  /usr/share/apache2/build/instdso.sh SH_LIBTOOL='/usr/bin/libtool'
  libphp5.la /usr/lib/apache2/modules
  /usr/bin/libtool --mode=install cp libphp5.la /usr/lib/apache2/modules/
  cp .libs/libphp5.so /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so
  cp .libs/libphp5.lai /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.la
  libtool: install: warning: remember to run `libtool --finish
  /root/software/php-5.0.0b3/libs'
  chmod 755 /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so
  apxs:Error: Activation failed for custom /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
  file..
  apxs:Error: At least one `LoadModule' directive already has to exist..
  make: *** [install-sapi] Error 1

A simple fix is to add a commented(!) dummy LoadModule directive to
apache2.conf, which then acts as a placeholder for the new LoadModule
directive needed for PHP5:

  [excerpt from apache2.conf]
    # Include module configuration:
    Include /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/*.load
    Include /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/*.conf

    # Dummy LoadModule directive to aid module installations
    #LoadModule dummy_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_dummy.so

    # Include all the user configurations:
    Include /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
  [end excerpt from apache2.conf]

Doing so, the PHP5 'make install' works just fine:

  gloomy:~/software/php-5.0.0b3# make install
  Installing PHP SAPI module:       apache2handler
  /usr/share/apache2/build/instdso.sh SH_LIBTOOL='/usr/bin/libtool'
  libphp5.la /usr/lib/apache2/modules
  /usr/bin/libtool --mode=install cp libphp5.la /usr/lib/apache2/modules/
  cp .libs/libphp5.so /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so
  cp .libs/libphp5.lai /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.la
  libtool: install: warning: remember to run `libtool --finish
  /root/software/php-5.0.0b3/libs'
  chmod 755 /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so
  [activating module `php5' in /etc/apache2/apache2.conf]
  (... snip ...)
  gloomy:~/software/php-5.0.0b3#

Afterwards, apache2.conf looks like this:

  [excerpt from apache2.conf]
    # Dummy LoadModule directive to aid module installations
    #LoadModule dummy_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_dummy.so
    LoadModule php5_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/libphp5.so
  [end excerpt from apache2.conf]

That is, the new LoadModule directive gets added after the dummy
directive.

Perhaps such a dummy LoadModule directive could be added to apache2.conf
by default, to make installation of PHP (and other modules) easier?

Best regards,
Björn

--
Björn Wiberg (bjorn.wiberg@home.se)
Homepage: http://bwiberg.dyndns.org/