28.4 Installing, Activating, and
Conguring Modules
The Apache software is built in a modular fashion: all functionality except some core
tasks is handled by modules. This has progressed so far that even HTTP is processed
by a module (http_core).
Apache modules can be compiled into the Apache binary at build time or dynamically
loaded at runtime. Refer to Section 28.4.2, “Activation and Deactivation” (page 464)
for details of how to load modules dynamically.
Apache modules can be divided into four different categories:
Base Modules
Base modules are compiled into Apache by default. Apache in openSUSE has only
mod_so (needed to load other modules) and http_core compiled in. All others are
available as shared objects: rather than being included in the server binary itself,
they can be included at runtime.
Extension Modules
In general, modules labeled as extensions are included in the Apache software
package, but are usually not compiled into the server statically. In openSUSE, they
are available as shared objects that can be loaded into Apache at runtime.
External Modules
Modules labeled external are not included in the ofcial Apache distribution.
However, openSUSE provides several of them.
Multiprocessing Modules (MMPs)
MPMs are responsible for accepting and handling requests to the Web server, rep-
resenting the core of the Web server software.
28.4.1 Module Installation
If you have done a default installation as described in Section 28.1.2, “Installation”
(page 444), the following modules are already installed: all base and extension modules,
the multiprocessing module Prefork MPM, and the external modules mod_php5 and
mod_python.
The Apache HTTP Server 463
