I am sponsoring this case for Amanda Waite. Timeout set to 3/18. Case materials
below
and in the case directory.
Template Version: @(#)sac_nextcase 1.64 07/13/07 SMI
This information is Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems
1. Introduction
1.1. Project/Component Working Name:
Deliver Lighttpd 1.4.x into OpenSolaris
1.2. Name of Document Author/Supplier:
Author: Amanda Waite
1.3 Date of This Document:
10 March, 2008
4. Technical Description
Deliver Lighttpd 1.4.x into OpenSolaris
10 March 2008
1. Summary and motivation
1.1. Introduction
This project delivers Lighttpd 1.4.x into OpenSolaris
Lighttpd is an Open Source Web Server that currently enjoys 4th
position in the Netcraft rankings of Market Share for Top Servers
across all domains. Lighttpd became popular on the back of The
Ruby on Rails take-off in 2006.
Much of it's popularity stems from it being extremely lightweight,
hence the name. Lighttpd supports both PHP and Ruby on Rails through
FastCGI
For more information about Lighttpd see:
http://lighttpd.net
Lighttpd is a key component of an integrated Ruby on Rails stack which
would include Ruby, Ruby on Rails, FastCGI, the fcgi Ruby Gem and an
Open Source Database (MySQL, SQLlite and Postgres are all options here)
This case seeks Minor Release Binding.
2. Technical issues
2.1. Key objects
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/sbin/lighttpd
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/bin/spawn-fcgi
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/lib/mod_*.so
/etc/lighttpd/1.4/lighttpd.conf
/var/lighttpd/1.4/docroot
2.2. Versioning
The versioning model for Lighttpd is <major>.<minor>.<micro>.
The compatibility expectations for Lighttpd are as follows:
(1) Version x.y.z is compatible for different values of z,
such that z >= 0.
(2) Version x.y.z is not expected to be compatible for different
values of x or y
At the time of writing the latest version of Lighttpd is
1.4.18, a lot of work is going into 1.5.x but given that most
Lighttpd deployments are on 1.4.x, we are not considering
1.5.x at this time. We are however making provision for 1.5.x
by versioning this integration as lighttpd14.
2.3 Loadable Modules
Lighttpd ships with a number of loadable modules which are enabled
through directives in the config file. Some of these modules have
library dependencies that must be satisfied through build time package
options (supplied to the configure script). An example is mod_magnet.so
which has a dependency on the libraries for the Lua programming
language. The module gets built even if the external library
dependencies are not satisfied and is effectively a "stub" library.
If such a module is enabled at runtime through the lighttpd config
file, lighttpd will dlopen() the stub library but will fail when
it calls dlsym() on that library. It's not clear why this was done
but as the behavior and errors generated by such a scenario are
well documented it's proposed that any such stub libraries be left
in the distribution. Currently two modules are affected. One is
mod_cml and the other is mod_magnet. mod_magnet is the replacement
for mod_cml.
Attempts to include LDAP support with the authentication module
mod_auth.so failed due to Lighttpd's use of OpenLDAP extensions
not documented in the internet draft LDAP C-API document. This
case defers inclusion of the LDAP support to a future project.
2.4 Directory Naming and Structure
The proposed directory layout for Lighttpd is:
/usr/lighttpd/1.4
/sbin
/bin
/lib
/etc/lighttpd/1.4
/conf.d
/var/lighttpd/1.4
/docroot
/logs
2.5 Users and Groups
Binary distributions of Lighttpd generally include a default config
file. In this file, as with the likes of Apache, the user and group
name under which to run Lighttpd are specified.
The most common practice for user and group in the various binary
distros is to use generic web/www related names such as www-run,
www-data or webservd. It's understood at this time that it is not
possible to deliver a new user or group into Solaris via a package
install so the proposed user name and group is webservd:webservd
2.6 Configuration File
This project will use the standard convention and deliver
configuration files under /etc/lighttpd/1.4
The default configuration file provided with this integration
should work out of the box and should therefore avoid relying
on any dependent packages, particularly FastCGI.
In addition, a directory conf.d will be created in /etc/lighttpd/1.4
This directory will be used for module/directive-specific
configuration files and configuration files for virtual hosts.
These are added to the main configuration file using the
include directive. For this integration conf.d will contain
configuration files for SSL and fastcgi.
2.7 Docroot and Log Files
The Document Root for Lighttpd will be located in
/var/lighttpd/1.4/docroot and will include a welcome file. Lighttpd
source distributions do not include such a file so one will need to be
created (index.html). This would be similar to the one supplied with
Apache.
Log Files will be located in /var/lighttpd/1.4/logs and will be named
access.log and error.log. This directory will also include the run.pid
file. /var/lighttpd/1.4 and it's files and sub directories will be
owned by webservd:webservd
2.8 SMF and RBAC support
On OpenSolaris, the public interface to Lighttpd will be SMF and
the Lighttpd SMF service for this versions will be named:
svc:/network/http:lighttpd14
This was chosen to avoid confusion should multiple versions of
Lighttpd be installed on the system and is consistent with SMF
being the public interface to Lighttpd. Having Lighttpd be an
instance of svc:/network/http follows the convention set by the
Apache integration.
The appropriate manifest and method files will be provided in the
package.
A Lighttpd Admin profile will be added to the system along with the
auths required to allow the Lighttpd Admin profile to manage the
lighttpd SMF service.
2.9 Build features
See Appendix 2 for a list of features that Lighttpd can be built
with.
Build time package selection determines which Lighttpd loadable modules
are available to the user at runtime. A complete list of Lighttpd
modules is available on the Lighttpd Wiki[1]
The core packages recommended by the Lighttpd developers are
pcre, ssl and IPv6. Lua is also highly recommended as it is required
by the mod_magnet module but currently there is no support for Lua
in Solaris/OpenSolaris.
3. Lighttpd documentation
Lighttpd provides man pages for the lighttpd and spawn-fcgi
executables and the source distribution includes module
documentation. It is not common practice to include the
module documentation and will not be included in this integration
The Lighttpd man pages that are provided with the sources don't
cover all of command line flags. These man pages will be added to
as part of this integration in order to include all of the command
line flags and provide additional usage information to the user.
The files affected by these additions are lighttpd.1 and
spawn-fcgi.1
A "lighttpd" man page will be created and added to /usr/share/man/man1m
This man page will provide the user with useful information for
getting started with Lighttpd on OpenSolaris.
4. Packaging and Delivery
We propose to package Lighttpd under the following packages:
SUNWlighttpd14u - [usr] Server package (including server
daemon, utility daemons, loadable modules,
man pages)
SUNWlighttpd14r - [root] (config files, smf files and data directory)
Multiple versions can coexist, and are distinguished by the naming
scheme (lighttpd14 for version 1.4.*, lighttpd15 for version 1.5.*).
5. Lighttpd Interfaces
5.1. Interface Stability
Lighttpd has no obvious history of any interface instability and the
expectation is that dot-dot releases of Lighttpd will be compatible.
This is not completely guaranteed by the community and it is possible
that interfaces may change due to the fixing of bugs.
5.2. Imported Interfaces
OpenSSL External/Volatile PSARC/2003/500
PCRE Uncommitted PSARC/2007/164
libmysqlclient Committed LSARC 2007/608
5.3. Exported Interfaces
NAME STABILITY NOTES
SUNWlighttpd14r committed package
SUNWlighttpd14u committed package
lighttpd command line options uncommitted command line
options
lighttpd config file uncommitted config file
syntax
lighttpd log file not an interface log file
syntax
lighttpd pid file project private daemon pid
file
lighttpd umbrella Man Page committed man page
spawn-fcgi command line options uncommitted command line
options
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/bin/spawn-fcgi uncommitted executable
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/sbin/lighttpd uncommitted executable
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/sbin/lighttpd-angel uncommitted executable
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/man/man1/lighttpd.1 uncommitted man page
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/man/man1/spawn-fcgi.1 uncommitted man page
/var/lighttpd/1.4/docroot uncommitted document root
/var/lighttpd/1.4/docroot/index.html uncommitted welcome page
/var/lighttpd/1.4/docroot/logo.png uncommitted image
/var/lighttpd/1.4/logs uncommitted log file dir
/etc/lighttpd/1.4/lighttpd.conf uncommitted default conf
file
/etc/lighttpd/1.4/lighttpd.conf-fcgi uncommitted sample conf
file
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/lib/mod_*.so project private shared library
svc:/network/http:lighttpd14 committed FMRI
/lib/svc/method/lighttpd14-svc project private SMF svc
method script
/var/svc/manifest/network/lighttpd14.xml project private SMF Manifest
6. References
[1] http://trac.lighttpd.net/trac/wiki/Docs
================================================================
Appendix 1: Lighttpd Integration Directory and File Structure.
1. The following files are included in the Lighttpd integration:
/usr/lighttpd/1.4
/bin
/spawn-fcgi
/sbin
/lighttpd
/lighttpd-angel
/man
/man1
/lighttpd.1
/spawn-fcgi.1
/var/lighttpd/1.4
/docroot
/index.html
/logo.png
/logs
/error.log
/access.log
/lighttpd.pid
/etc/lighttpd/1.4
/lighttpd.conf
/lighttpd.conf-fcgi
/usr/lighttpd/1.4/lib
/mod_flv_streaming.so
/mod_evasive.so
/mod_webdav.so
/mod_magnet.so
/mod_cml.so
/mod_trigger_b4_dl.so
/mod_mysql_vhost.so
/mod_cgi.so
/mod_scgi.so
/mod_staticfile.so
/mod_dirlisting.so
/mod_indexfile.so
/mod_setenv.so
/mod_alias.so
/mod_userdir.so
/mod_rrdtool.so
/mod_usertrack.so
/mod_proxy.so
/mod_ssi.so
/mod_secdownload.so
/mod_expire.so
/mod_evhost.so
/mod_simple_vhost.so
/mod_fastcgi.so
/mod_extforward.so
/mod_access.so
/mod_compress.so
/mod_auth.so
/mod_rewrite.so
/mod_redirect.so
/mod_status.so
/mod_accesslog.so
/usr/share/man/man1m
/lighttpd.1m
/lib/svc/method/lighttpd14-svc
/var/svc/manifest/network/lighttpd14.xml
Appendix 2: Lighttpd Features and Packages
The following options are provided by the configure script for enabling or
disabling features and for adding/removing packages
Optional Features:
--disable-FEATURE do not include FEATURE (same as --enable-FEATURE=no)
--enable-FEATURE[=ARG] include FEATURE [ARG=yes]
--enable-maintainer-mode enable make rules and dependencies not useful
(and sometimes confusing) to the casual installer
--disable-dependency-tracking speeds up one-time build
--enable-dependency-tracking do not reject slow dependency extractors
--enable-static[=PKGS] build static libraries [default=no]
--enable-shared[=PKGS] build shared libraries [default=yes]
--enable-fast-install[=PKGS]
optimize for fast installation [default=yes]
--disable-libtool-lock avoid locking (might break parallel builds)
--enable-lfs Turn on Large File System (default)
--disable-ipv6 disable IPv6 support
Optional Packages:
--with-PACKAGE[=ARG] use PACKAGE [ARG=yes]
--without-PACKAGE do not use PACKAGE (same as --with-PACKAGE=no)
--with-gnu-ld assume the C compiler uses GNU ld [default=no]
--with-pic try to use only PIC/non-PIC objects [default=use
both]
--with-tags[=TAGS] include additional configurations [automatic]
--with-mysql[=PATH] Include MySQL support. PATH is the path to
'mysql_config'
--with-ldap enable LDAP support
--with-attr enable extended attribute support
--with-valgrind enable internal support for valgrind
--with-openssl[=DIR] Include openssl support (default no)
--with-openssl-includes=DIR
OpenSSL includes
--with-openssl-libs=DIR OpenSSL libraries
--with-kerberos5 use Kerberos5 support with OpenSSL
--with-pcre Enable pcre support (default yes)
--with-bzip2 Enable bzip2 support for mod_compress
--with-fam fam/gamin for reducing number of stat() calls
--with-webdav-props properties in mod_webdav
--with-webdav-locks locks in mod_webdav
--with-gdbm gdbm storage for mod_trigger_b4_dl
--with-memcache memcached storage for mod_trigger_b4_dl
--with-lua lua engine for mod_cml
Appendix 3: Lighttpd man pages
Lighttpd
========
User Commands LIGHTTPD(1)
NAME
lighttpd - a fast, secure and flexible webserver
SYNOPSIS
lighttpd -D -f <configfile>
DESCRIPTION
FILES
/etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf
CONFORMING TO
HTTP/1.0 HTTP/1.0 HTTP-Authentification - Basic, Digest
FastCGI CGI/1.1
SEE ALSO
spawn-fcgi(1)
AUTHOR
spawn-fcgi
==========
User Commands SPAWNFCGI(1)
NAME
spawn-fcgi - spawning FastCGI processes
SYNOPSIS
spawn-fcgi -f <fastcgi-binary> [-p <port> | -s <socket>] [-C
<num-of-php-procs>] [-c <chroot-dir>] [-u <username>] [-g
<groupname>] spawn-fcgi -v spawn-fcgi -h
DESCRIPTION
spawn-fcgi is used to spawn remote FastCGI processes.
SEE ALSO
lighttpd(1)
AUTHOR
6. Resources and Schedule
6.4. Steering Committee requested information
6.4.1. Consolidation C-team Name:
sfw
6.5. ARC review type: FastTrack
6.6. ARC Exposure: open
