In this issue

The eighth beta version was released this week. Baring any major problems, this beta could well be the last before a final release of 1.2.

The main changes in this release are internal, with various code cleanups. These make the code more efficient and easier to maintain, and may fix a number of bugs. Areas affected include persistent connections, connection closing, sending response header and timeouts. To help fix bugs, the error log now always reports the Unix system call error that caused the problem, if applicable.

In addition, there are some specific major bug fixes, include removing a three second delay on CGI included from SSI pages, incorrect response codes on POST to non-existent URL and proxy requests, problems with high port values, incorrect counts on mod_status output, some negotiation changes, and Apache now starts-up even if a virtual host cannot be configured.

A full list of changes is available in the distribution (see the file src/CHANGES). The Apache Week guide to what is new and changed in 1.2 compared to 1.1.3 is now updated to 1.2b8, as is the guide to API changes.

If you intend to include the optional proxy module when you compiled Apache and are using SunOS 4.*, you must apply this patch.

Release: 1.1.3 (Released 14th January 1997)
Beta: 1.2b8 (Released 8th April 1997)

• Occasional broken images when viewed with Netscape (not an Apache bug - see Under Development below).
• Proxy will not compile on SunOS 4 (patch available).
• Compile problem on Linux on Alpha and older (1.2.*) Linux kernels on all platforms (fix is to remove "#define HAVE_SHMGET" from the LINUX section in conf.h).

Bugs fixed in 1.2b8:

• Compilation problems on Ultrix 4.3.
• Proxy module updates: better handling of timeouts, compilation problems on Solaris

Bugs fixed in next release:

• URL escape sequence %2f (slash) cannot be used in PATH_INFO. E.g. the URL /script/my%2finfo returns 404 Not Found, even if /script is a valid CGI.
• Proxy caches files which are not fully downloaded (partial files)
• Apache reports "httpd: could no set socket option TCP_NODELAY" occasionally. This is normally ok.

Patches to some Apache 1.2b8 bugs are available in the 1.2b8 patches directory on the Apache site. At time of writing, there are three patches for the optional proxy modules. They fix compile problems on SunOS 4, FTP sites with spaces in filenames, and remote sites with multiple IP addresses.

For details of all previously reported bugs, see the Apache bug database.

Apache is currently in a 'beta release' cycle. This is where it is made available prior to full release for testing by anyone interested. Normally during the beta cycle no new major features will be added. The full release of Apache 1.2 is expected in April.

There have been some reports that images viewed with NS Navigator (both 3.* and 4.* preview release) are displayed as broken image icons. After some investigation is has been found that that is not due to Apache, nor to invalid image transmissions. It seems to be a bug in Navigator 4 which is only triggered when the header part of the HTTP response is exactly 257 bytes long. Making the header longer or shorter fixes the problem.

The following directives will prevent anyone requesting your .htaccess files:

  <Files ~ "\.htaccess$">
  order deny,allow
  deny from all
  </Files>

Unless configured like this, anyone on the web can request and view your .htaccess files, which could contain sensitive information such as the names of users and hosts that are allowed access.

The Apache FAQ has been updated. In now includes answers for many more common questions about installing and using Apache. There is also a section on what do to if you experience problems with Apache.