FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions on Redhat 8 Linux running Apache Ver 2.0.47
This page is dedicated to you poor suffering souls running Linux that have inbreeding from direct source compilation, skipping the RPM, to get to the working result. There are so may distributions of Apache and FrontPage out there that you seldom know if the tidbit picked up off the internet applies in your case. Therefore, this page may not apply in your case, resulting in a redhat herring.
It is not fair to say Redhat 8 anymore. The server started with a Redhat 8 installation, but would hardly be recognized from the standard packages that came on the CDs.
There is no FrontPage Apache patch required for Apache Ver 2.0.40 and above. The thing is to get Apache 2.0.4X running on your PC, before trying to get FrontPage working. The RPM for Apache requests many other packages be installed, before the RPM will load. It has been learned that Apache ver 2.0.40 that came with Redhat 8 works if you don't want to upgrade, but the following FPSE notes still apply.
You might think this remedial, but make a backup of your /lib and Apache installations before going further. We use mirrored disks, and remove the mirror . Several times in the process a Segmentation Fault occurred after loading RPMs which in our case was a conflict with library files. Once, the Master boot record was destroyed on the disk and wouldn't boot!
The source for version 2.0.47 was taken directly from apache.org and compiled using gcc 3.3.1, which is where the library conflict with glibc 2.3.2-96 may have arisen. The Segmentation Fault occurred after the glibc 2.3.2-96 rpm was installed. The fix for the Segmentation Fault was to restore /lib.
After the Apache install, you have to manually copy httpd & apxs from /usr/local/apache/bin to /usr/sbin and we found to also copy /usr/local/apache/conf to /usr/local/apache2/conf (mkdir) & /usr/local/apache/.libs to /usr/local/apache2/.libs. /usr/sbin/apachectl needed some tweaks. Unbelievably, instdso.sh was missing from an RPM (goes in /usr/lib/httpd/build/libtool/). This page is not about getting basic Apache working. Tough it out!
There were many hurdles to get FrontPage 2002 Extensions going. The Apache log file directory (/var/log/httpd) needs chmod 755. The httpd.conf file Frontpage 2002 notes follow (adjust as required if not doing Apache 2.0.47 from compile):
ServerRoot "/usr/local/apache"
Listen directive needs to come directly under where it is first mentioned, otherwise Error: that port server is not a virtual server! from running the fp_install.sh. The Listen port number is not critical for value, but the first Listen directive must be for the main Host (not a virtual host). We had previously put our directive at the end of httpd.conf and fp_install.sh could not find it, but Apache did. If your Listen Directive is like Listen 192.123.456.1:9190; change it to Listen 9190, then change it back after FPSE is working.
#
# Listen: Allows you to bind Apache to specific IP addresses and/or
# ports, instead of the default. See also the <VirtualHost>
# directive.
#
# Change this to Listen on specific IP addresses as shown below to
# prevent Apache from glomming onto all bound IP addresses (0.0.0.0)
#
Listen 80
Listen 8080
If the first run of fp_install.sh didn't put mod_frontpage.so in the right spot, copy it to /usr/local/apache/modules/ .
# Example:
# LoadModule foo_module modules/mod_foo.so
#
LoadModule frontpage_module modules/mod_frontpage.so
LoadModule php4_module /usr/lib/httpd/modules/libphp4.so
LoadModule access_module modules/mod_access.so
... etc.
DocumentRoot can be anywhere on your disk, and the Virtual hosts can be also.
DocumentRoot "/var/ftp/www"
Under each <Directory /> directive put AllowOverride All. This makes .htaccess in each directory take precedence over the normal Apache access. You will find .htaccess in every Frontpage folder (_vti_bin, _vti_adm, etc.)
<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
#
# AccessFileName: The name of the file to look for in each directory
# for additional configuration directives. See also the AllowOverride
# directive.
#
AccessFileName .htaccess
If you want to see the images in http://www.yourweb.com:port/_vti_bin/_vti_adm/fpadmcgi.exe change MIMEMagicFile.
#
# The mod_mime_magic module allows the server to use various hints from the
# contents of the file itself to determine its type. The MIMEMagicFile
# directive tells the module where the hint definitions are located.
#
#<IfModule mod_mime_magic.c>
# MIMEMagicFile conf/magic
#</IfModule>
MIMEMagicFile /dev/null
Somewhere, the internet said to put in AddType application/frontpage .htm . DON'T DO IT!! Whenever you bring up a document with an .htm extension (http://www.yourweb.com:port/index.htm) while AddType application/frontpage .htm is included, you will get the error 'Cannot run the FrontPage Server Extensions on this page: "http://www.yourweb.com:port/index.htm" ' There is no error shown in the logs and searching on the internet was fruitless, unless you arrived here : )
# AddType allows you to add to or override the MIME configuration
# file mime.types for specific file types.
#
AddType application/x-tar .tgz
AddType image/x-icon .ico
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/octet-stream .exe
#We tried many different things for the virtual host, not sure if what is present is necessary?
NameVirtualHost 192.168.1.51:8080
<VirtualHost 192.168.1.51:8080>
DocumentRoot /var/ftp/www
ServerName www.yourweb.com
DirectoryIndex /index.htm
ServerSignature email
<Directory /var/ftp/www>
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
LogLevel debug
HostNameLookups off
</VirtualHost>
Once httpd.conf is set correctly, fp_install.sh worked, then so did FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions. Another happy Linux ending : )