How to Compile and Configure Apache httpd 2.4 on CentOS 6.6 – Step‑by‑Step Guide

Introduction The article explains how to compile and install Apache httpd 2.4.9 on a CentOS 6.6 system, highlighting the new features introduced in httpd 2.4 compared with the older 2.2 version.

Environment and New Features

System: CentOS 6.6 Required packages: apr‑1.5.0.tar.bz2, apr‑util‑1.5.3.tar.bz2, httpd‑2.4.9.tar.bz2 (httpd 2.4 requires APR and APR‑util ≥ 1.4).

Key httpd‑2.4 features include runtime‑loadable MPMs, event MPM support, asynchronous I/O, per‑module and per‑directory log levels, <If>/<Elseif> directives, enhanced expression parser, millisecond keep‑alive timeout, FQDN‑based virtual hosts without NameVirtualHost, custom variables, and several new modules (mod_proxy_fcgi, mod_ratelimit, mod_request).

Compilation and Installation

Install development tools:

yum groupinstall Development tools Server Platform Development -y

Build and install APR:

tar xf apr-1.5.0.tar.bz2
cd apr-1.5.0
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apr
make && make install

Build and install APR‑util:

tar xf apr-util-1.5.3.tar.bz2
cd apr-util-1.5.3
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apr-util --with-apr=/usr/local/apr
make && make install

Build and install httpd:

tar xf httpd-2.4.9.tar.bz2
cd httpd-2.4.9
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache \
    --sysconfdir=/etc/httpd24 \
    --enable-so --enable-ssl --enable-cgi \
    --enable-rewrite --enable-deflate \
    --with-zlib --with-pcre \
    --with-apr=/usr/local/apr \
    --with-apr-util=/usr/local/apr-util/ \
    --enable-mpms-shared=all --with-mpm=event --enable-modules=most
make && make install

Explanation of important configure options is provided in the original text (e.g., --enable-so for DSO modules, --enable-ssl for HTTPS, etc.).

Environment Variables

vim /etc/profile.d/httpd24.sh
export PATH=/usr/local/apache/bin:$PATH
source /etc/profile.d/httpd24.sh

Service Script

A sample init script for managing the httpd service is included; it handles start, stop, restart, status, and reload actions.

Configuration Files

Key configuration files after compilation are located under /etc/httpd24/ (main httpd.conf, extra files for defaults, user directories, MPM, SSL, virtual hosts, and status page).

Access control now uses the Require directive instead of the old order/allow/deny syntax, e.g.:

<Directory "/usr/local/apache/htdocs">
    AllowOverride None
    Require ip 172.16.0.0/16
    Require not ip 192.168.1.0/24
</Directory>

CGI Setup

Enable CGI modules:

LoadModule cgid_module modules/mod_cgid.so
LoadModule cgi_module modules/mod_cgi.so

Define the script alias and create a simple CGI script ( /usr/local/apache/cgi-bin/cgi.sh) that outputs request information and the current date.

Compression (mod_deflate)

Enable the deflate module and configure MIME types, compression level, and browser compatibility:

LoadModule deflate_module modules/mod_deflate.so
SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain text/xml application/xml application/xhtml+xml text/css application/javascript
DeflateCompressionLevel 9
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 \ .gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip

Test the effect by serving a large file before and after enabling compression.

Status Page

Enable the status_module and configure a location for the server‑status handler:

LoadModule status_module modules/mod_status.so
Include /etc/httpd24/extra/httpd-info.conf

<Location /server-status>
    SetHandler server-status
    Require ip 172.16.10.8
</Location>

Conclusion

The guide finishes with a brief note that the httpd service has been fully explained and encourages readers to follow future articles for further learning.