[wplug] Apache+ssl question

[Bob Schmertz]

Can you "upgrade" a package like Apache?  Well, sometimes "yes",
sometimes "mostly yes".  If you were using a Linux distro with package
management, like an RPM-based system (Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, et.al.)
or Debian, then you could use the package manager to neatly replace your
old Apache with the new one, taking out the old before sticking in the
new.  Slackware, as I understand, has no such package management.

More to the point, if you're reading instructions on how to install
Apache, more than likely they don't have graceful package management in
mind; it's going to install where it wants, oblivious to any existing
installations, and if that means overwriting your existing installation,
the new Apache won't mind blowing away whatever it needs to to make room
for itself :-)

To be on the safe side, I would recommend getting the latest 1.3.x
version of Apache, and doing your best to follow the instructions, being
careful to choose a different installation directory than the one your
current Apache resides in.  You could do this by giving the $INSTALL_DIR
variable (or whatever is there -- I don't have the install scripts in
front of me) a unique directory like /usr/local/apache (assuming that
doesn't already exist).  That way you don't have anything funky going on
with overwritten installations (which -- someone correct me if I'm wrong
-- really isn't likely to be a big problem actually), and if the
instructions end up not working for that version of Apache, you can just
delete that directory (or follow the instructions contained in the
version you downloaded).

Latest versions are generally desired, and this is definitely true for
the Apache 1.3.x series.  1.3.12 sounds positively ancient and probably
has all sorts of well-known exploits.

On Mon, 2003-02-17 at 18:52, Arnaud Loos wrote:
> Hello all. I have 2 Apache questions which may seem a bit foolish but
> keep in mind I am a brand new linux user. I have before me installation
> instructions for Apache-SSL which references apache_1.3.12+ssl_1.41 with
> openssl-0.9.5a. I checked the websites and have found current versions
> to be apache_1.3.27+ssl_1.48 and openssl-0.9.7. My first question is if
> anyone would have a reason why to not use the most current versions. I
> assume that the installation would be the same plus I would benefit from
> the most current security fixes. I'm mostly concerned about stability
> issues.
> 
> My second question is that the instructions I have assume no prior
> Apache installation on the box. In fact, I will be installing on a
> machine with a prior installation of Apache. Coming from the windows
> mentality a new version should just update a prior version it finds on
> the system. However, I would like to make sure that this will in fact
> happen.
> 
> The system I am installing on is slackware 8.0.47.
> 
> Thanks for any help.
> 
> Arnaud-
-- 
Cheers,
Bob Schmertz