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Tag: apache webserver

Country Based Redirection In Magento using GeoIP

The GeoIP module is used to find which Geolocation or area is used by the IP from IP location database. We can setup country based redirection rule in htaccess for Magento2 which will redirect the required stores to the specific countries.
To add rules for country based redirection in Magento we have to install the GeoIP module.

The below installation needs to be done on a centos 7 server and if you need this to be done from our end or need help to setup on any other OS, Click here to contact our experts to get it done right now.

Install GeoIP and dependencies

yum install GeoIP GeoIP-devel GeoIP-data zlib-devel

Change the directory to the /usr/share/GeoIP/, upload and extract GeoIP database in this location
You can download the GeoIP database from https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geoip2/geolite2/

cd /usr/share/GeoIP/
tar -xzvf GeoLite2-ASN_20200630.tar.gz

Install the required packages for GeoIP

yum install httpd-devel apr-devel ea-apache24-devel.x86_64 ea-apache24-tools.x86_64

 Download and extract GeoIP module using the below steps

wget https://github.com/maxmind/geoip-api-mod_geoip2/archive/1.2.10.tar.gz
tar -xzvf 1.2.10.tar.gz
cd mod_geoip2_1.2.10
sed s/remote_ip/client_ip/g -i mod_geoip.c

Compile and install the GeoIP module

apxs -i -a -L/usr/lib64 -I/usr/include -lGeoIP -c mod_geoip.c

Load the module in Apache at Apache modules conf.

vim /etc/apache2/conf.modules.d/mod_geoip.conf

###########
LoadModule geoip_module /usr/lib64/apache2/modules/mod_geoip.so

<IfModule mod_geoip.c>
GeoIPEnable On
GeoIPScanProxyHeaders On
GeoIPDBFile /usr/share/GeoIP/GeoIPASNum.dat Standard
GeoIPDBFile /usr/share/GeoIP/GeoIPCity.dat Standard
</IfModule>
###########

Check Apache Configuration and restart Apache

httpd -t
service httpd restart

Verify if GeoIP module is enabled by

httpd -M | grep geoip

You can see the result as shown below

Next, we have to add the rule for redirection of countrywide access in Magento2 site. There are certain country codes available for GeoIP database. We can use that country codes here to add rules in .htaccess.

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{ENV:GEOIP_COUNTRY_CODE} ^(GB|RU|IN)$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/store/
RewriteRule .* https://www.example.com/store/ [L]
</IfModule>

where GB|RU|IN are the country codes for UK, Russia and India

Restart Apache

service httpd restart

According to the above rule, the users accessing from UK and Russia and India for /store of https://www.example.com, will redirect to https://www.example.com/store.
By using GeoIP module we can also block and deny countrywide access to the site.

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July 23, 2020
0

How to Create Apache Docker Image

Apache is an opensource web server that is commonly used for webpage deployments. Apache does support almost all operating systems worldwide. Docker is an opensource virtualization tool in which users can create, run, and deploy applications or software in packages called containers. The containers can communicate with each other through proper channels

This blog will show the steps to create an Apache Docker image and deploy it. If you face any issues or got stuck with the process, kindly contact our experienced team to resolve it.

Run and Deploy Apache Docker Images in Centos 7

Install Docker on Centos 7

yum install docker docker-distribution
systemctl start docker docker-distribution

Create Dockerfile for apache and open it

mkdir -p dockerapache
cd dockerapache/
vim Dockerfile

Add the below content to the Docker File and Save the File

###########
FROM centos:centos7
RUN yum install httpd -y
RUN mkdir -p /var/www/html
WORKDIR /var/www/html
RUN chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/
COPY $PWD/index.html /var/www/html/
COPY $PWD/httpd.conf  /etc/httpd/conf.d/httpd.conf
EXPOSE 80
CMD ["/usr/sbin/httpd","-D","FOREGROUND"]
###########

Whereas:
FROM –> Create a layer from the alpine:latest image
RUN –> It is used to execute the command within the image
MAINTAINER –> Information about who is maintaining the Dockerfile
WORKDIR –> It is the working directory of the docker image
ENV –> To set environment variable inside the docker image
COPY –> It is used to copy the files from the host (on which we create the Dockerfile) to the docker image.
ADD –> It is same as the COPY command but there is two difference from COPY command;
1. ADD instruction can copy and extract tar files from the docker host( Dockerfile creating host) to the docker image.
2. ADD instruction can download files via HTTP and copy it into the docker image.
  CMD –> Command specifies the command line command to be executed when a docker container is started up based on a docker image created from the Dockerfile.

Create an index.html with test Content

vim index.html
###########
<h1> This is my Apache Docker File </h1>
###########

Create an Apache default conf as httpd.conf

vim httpd.conf
###########
<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/var/www/html/"
    ServerName example.com
    ServerAlias www.example.com
    ErrorLog "/var/log/httpd/error_log"
    CustomLog "/var/log/httpd/access_log" combined
</VirtualHost>
###########

Build the docker image

docker build -t apache:centos .

To check docker images

docker images

Run the container from the docker image

docker run -d  -p 80:80 apache:centos

Whereas:
apache= image name:tag (you can also use image id)
p = 80:80 ( binds port 80 of the running host to the TCP port 80 (apache) on the container.
d = Run container in the background and print the container ID

To check running docker containers

docker ps

Test the apache image using

http://SERVER-IP/ OR http://example.com

Then it will give the content same as in index.html page, it is because we copied the index.html to the apache docker container using the Dockerfile.

Are you facing any issues with the Docker setup?

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July 21, 2020
0

Apache Server Optimization

Apache HTTP Server is a free software which is fast and secure and runs over half of all web servers around the globe. By customizing the Apache configuration, you can improve Apache performance without adding additional hardware such as RAM, CPU, etc.

Keep Apache Updated

Even though security bugs are seldom found within the web server, apache update is important in order to take advantage of the latest security features available.  

Optimize Apache settings

In order to optimize web server performance, several apache settings can be tweaked.

  • MaxKeepAliveRequests: The maximum number of requests accepted per connection is set out in this directive. The higher this value, the better the server performance. The recommended value is 500.
  • KeepAlive: This directive helps to display a webpage with reduced load time. Creating many connections may reduce the loading time but it also utilizes the resources on the server. Enabling keep-Alive directive helps to overcome this issue. Transfer all those files through a single connection rather than repeatedly opening and closing a new connection.
  • KeepAliveTimeout: The amount of time apache will wait before closing the connection for the subsequent request. Setting keepAliveTimeout to a high value can cause high load server performance problems.

Disable Unnecessary Modules

To extend the functionality and security of Apache you can add an unlimited number of modules. There are numerous Apache modules by default which are actually not needed. You could divert the modules to elsewhere, which makes the loading time longer and occupy dedicated server resources. To make our server less susceptible to threats it is important to disable the unnecessary modules. Mod_imap, mod_include, mod_info, mod_userdir, mod_autoindex are some of the modules that are usually not needed.

Run apache as separate user and group

With the default installation, Apache runs its process with user nobody or daemon. Create Apache User and Group and make an entry in apache configuration file, so as to tell Apache to run with this new user and restart the service.

groupadd apache 
useradd -d /var/www/ -g apache -s /bin/nologin apache

Configure MULTI-PROCESSING Module

One of the reasons for Apache’s slow performance may be its inability to handle the load. A multi – processing module will be helpful in such cases. MPM prefork module is part of CentOS 7 and is enabled by default. If mod deflate is enabled, MPM prefork module (shared) will be displayed for better performance. You can set this in the httpd.conf file.

You can add the following lines in the file considering the CPU and RAM allocated for the server.

<IfModule prefork.c>
   StartServers 5
   MinSpareServers 5
   MaxSpareServers 10
   MaxClients 150
   MaxRequestsPerChild 3000
</IfModule>

  • StartServers: This sets the number of child server processes created at startup. This can initially be kept as a small number and increases gradually on a high payload server. This helps ensure the correct use of server resources.
  • MinSpareServers: This sets the minimum number of idle child server processes and can be configured for high payload servers.
  • MaxSpareServers: This sets the maximum number of idle child server processes. If this value is exceeded by the number of idle child server processes, the idle processes are killed
  • MaxClients: This is the maximum number of requests that Apache can handle simultaneously. The connection will be queued once this limit is reached.
  • MaxRequestsPerChild: This shows how many requests a child process handles before it ends. The child process will die once this limit has been reached. If the value is set to 0, the process will never die.

DNS Lookups

The main reason for slowing down the Apache web server is the time it takes to perform DNS lookups. In its access.log file, Apache records the full host name of each incoming client connection. Resolving each one takes a long time. The HostnameLookups option allows the DNS lookup to log hostnames instead of the IP address. HostnameLookups is Off by default in Apache.

You can verify this by editing the configuration file of Apache. Make sure that the line HostnameLookups reads:

HostnameLookups Off

When you’re done, save and close the file and restart Apache to reflect changes.

Use Allow and Deny to Restrict access to Directories

We can restrict access to directories in the httpd.conf file with the options “Allow” and “Deny.” In this example, we will secure the root directory by setting the following in the httpd.conf file.

</Directory>
   Options None
   Order deny,allow
   Deny from all   
</Directory>

  • Options None: This option prevents users from enabling any optional features.
  • Order deny, allow: This is the order in which the directives “Deny” and “Allow” are handled. Here it will first “deny” and then “allow.”
  • Deny from all: This denies everyone’s request to the root directory, no one can access the root directory.

Tweak MySQL and PHP settings

Web servers seldom work alone. In most cases, a database server such as MySQL and scripting language support such as PHP to accompany the Apache web server. We have realized why optimizing the database server is equally important to avoid bottlenecks in it, which can slow down the web server. We also improve the performance of PHP pages using a caching or accelerator mechanism such as Zend OPcache.

MySQL is further tweaked by options such as table fragmentation and configuration settings – maximum connections, buffer size, size of the query cache, pool size, etc.

Conclusion

It is very easy to configure Apache for maximum performance. You can experiment with different options and measure the performance of the web server using various tools. We at Skynats have large experience in apache server optimization and you can contact us via Live Chat to know more details.

March 1, 2019
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