In this issue

The next beta of Apache 1.3 is expected soon. This release will fix many of the bugs that have been reported since 1.3b2 was released about a month ago.

The main changes since Apache 1.3b2 are:

Bugs Fixed (Windows 95/NT only):

• Fix 16kB download limit (only occured on some systems)
• Fix DirectoryIndex
• Make CGI work under Windows 95
• Allow CGI to use winsock calls

• Display Readme footer file in autoindex indexes
• Warn if system may run out of file descriptors
• Make displayed dates Y2K safe
• Fix problem passing some ProxyPass requests on to the proxy
• Allow "a.b.c" type IP numbers in allow or deny directives
• Various fixes for mod_mime_magic
• Warn if listening on multiple sockets may not be configured correctly
• Ensure that log messages always go to the log file, even if also output to the screen
• Use built-in regular expression library on all systems except those which are known to have correct OS regex libraries
• Warn if directives are used in the wrong config file section, or if sections are not closed by end of the config file

• Rewrite mod_rewrite internal code
• Option to prevent auto indexes from being sortable
• Added example perl program to split a logfile which contains %v virtual host name into separate logs per virtual host

• Fix Solaris 2.6 use of pthreads
• Now compiles on OS/2 again
• Fix AIX proxy module to not use "@" in filenames
• Various fixes for AIX, NetBSD, UnixWare 2, ULTRIX, SVR4, LynxOS
• Added port for GEMINI

Apache Site: www.apache.org
Release: 1.2.4 (Released 22^nd August 1997) (local download sites)
Beta: 1.3b2 (Released 16^th October 1997) (local download sites)

Apache 1.3 is now in beta test. The most recent release is 1.3b2 (there was no 1.3b1). This is available in source form for both Unix and Windows 95/NT. A new beta, 1.3b3, is now expected in the next few days. This will contain many bug fixes, some portablitity fixes, and support compilation on OS/2.

These bugs have been found and fixed in 1.3b3.

Because of the major differences between Windows and Unix, these are separated into bugs which affect Windows systems only, and other bugs (which may affect Windows as well). Unix users can ignore the bugs listed in the Windows section.

Windows-specific Bugs

• CGI programs which use Winsock did not work.
• Some systems refused to serve files of more than about 16kB. This appears to be a bug in the way Windows sends files. A work-around will be included in the next release for Windows, together with more extensive error logging.

Other Bugs

• The new syntax for specifing subnets on allow/deny lines as 1.2.3/24 broke the previous syntax such as 1.2.3. Both should now work.
• Updated LynxOS port.

Patches for bugs in Apache 1.2.4 may be made available in the apply to 1.2.4 directory on the Apache site. Some new features and other unofficial patches are available in the 1.2 patches directory. For details of all previously reported bugs, see the Apache bug database and known bugs pages. Also many common configuration questions are answered in the Apache FAQ.

Development has slowed down over the last couple of weeks to prepare for the release of Apache 1.3. Now that the first beta is out, Apache is in a "feature freeze" where no new features will be added. The only changes from now on will be bug-fixes.

Apache does not warn if directives are used inside sections where they are not allowed. For example, the User directive is valid inside <VirtualHost> sections, but not inside <Directory>, <Limit>, etc. The next beta will contain better error checking to ensure that directives are only used in the correct place within the configuration file.

The process of adding a new module to Apache on Unix involves recompiling the server. This is because modules are linked into the code. However it is possible to "dynamically" link modules at run-time. This is how Apache on Windows currently works. It allows modules to be distributed in binary form, and the server administration uses LoadModule directives to choose which modules are to be loaded when Apache starts.

Most Unix systems can also load code dynamically, and this is used in the experimental mod_dld module. A more up-to-date module is being written, provisionally called mod_so, which will allow modules to be loaded dynamically just like on Windows. This module may be included as an experimental module in a future beta of Apache 1.3.

The core code of mod_rewrite has been rewritten. It is now simpler, better documentated, and a couple of bugs are fixed.

The internal code to handle virtual hosts has been re-written in Apache 1.3 to work faster and better. One area which was particularly confusing in Apache 1.2 was when both IP-based and name-based virtual hosts were defined in the same configuration files. It was often not obvious how the two types of virtual hosts related, particularly when they used the same IP address. In Apache 1.3 this has been clarified with a name directive, NameVirtualHost. If you have a configuration for Apache 1.2 which uses name-based virtual hosts you will need to update it for Apache 1.3.

This is now all documented on the Apache web site.

The Apache Commerce Survey is still running to find out how Apache is being used in business and commerce. Please take a few moments to fill out the survey. There are only 11 questions, and the information should give us a much better idea of how Apache is being used.

This survey is being run jointly by Apache Week and SOMA MarketNet, a market research organisation focused on information technology. Anyone taking part in the survey can get the full results from SOMA, and Apache Week will summarise the results once they have been tabulated.

Please enter the survey at http://www.soma-esurvey.com/.