Shared Apache HTTPD (PPWC)
Service Description
The Shared Apache HTTPD (aka the Primary Purdue Web Cluster or PPWC) environment is a Linux-based system running Apache HTTPD 2.4 with PHP 5.4 support. Perl 5.16 and Python 2.7 and 3.6 are available. The Production environment is clustered to minimize down time and there is a QA (Quality Assurance) environment to facilitate testing of site changes before they are migrated to production. It is an excellent choice for hosting plain HTML, PHP, Perl, and Python-based web sites in a high-availability Linux environment.
Web Services’ Shared Apache HTTPD offering can support any URL hostable by Web Services, provides access to Purdue IT’s supported database systems (MS SQL Server, MySQL and Oracle), and can authenticate users against Purdue Career Accounts through server-assisted LDAP.
Developers have access to the Development server via ssh or SFTP and use a web-based Deploy Tool to copy their code to the QA and Production systems.
Getting Started
Web Services offers Apache HTTPD hosting to any college, department, or business unit of Purdue University that requires hosting of PHP, Perl, or Python pages for the support of the business of the University. It is expected that the customer is familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and optionally PHP, Perl, or Python programming. We are unable to provide detailed assistance with these topics.
At the present time, there is no charge for an Apache HTTPD web site.
Requesting a Shared Apache HTTPD Web Site
To request a Shared Apache HTTPD web site, please contact Web Services to open a ticket. In this email, please include:
- Owner – This is the person(s) ultimately responsible for administrative decisions related to the site. They may or may not also be a developer.
- Developers – These are the people who should have access to the Development server and the Deploy Tool to copy the site to QA and Production.
- URL options – These should be the desired URLs, in order of preference, for your new site. All URLs are subject to various levels of approval so providing alternatives helps avoid a certain amount of back-and-forth discussion.
Once your site has been created, please see our Getting Started Guide for Shared Apache HTTPD for detailed information about how to connect to the servers, deploy your site, etc.
About Service Tiers
The Shared Apache HTTPD service is provided in three tiers — Development, QA (Quality Assurance), and Production.
Development
- The URL is usually your Production URL with “dev.” added to the beginning. For example,
dev.www.purdue.edu/itap/webservices
is the Development version ofwww.purdue.edu/itap/webservices
. - Used for initial site development and updates.
- Only accessible on campus or via the campus VPN.
QA
- The URL is usually your Production URL with “qa.” added to the beginning. For example,
qa.www.purdue.edu/itap/webservices
is the QA version ofwww.purdue.edu/itap/webservices
. - Used to test your site in a “near-production” environment without jeopardizing your production site.
- Only accessible on campus or via the campus VPN.
Production
- This is your live, Production site.
- Accessible to the world unless you request otherwise.
Developer Resources
Local Resources
- Accessing the Service
- Unified Log Viewer – under “Shared Apache – PPWC 2017”
- SSH/SFTP clients
- Apache HTTPD How To’s
- Apache HTTPD Frequently Asked Questions
- PHP How To’s
- PHP Frequently Asked Questions
- PHP Info on the PPWC (Career account required)
- Directory Security Options
- Web Services Deploy Tool
- Angelfish Web Analytics – traffic statistics for your site
- Web Services’ Standards
Remote Resources
HTML, CSS, JavaScript
PHP
Other Purdue IT Teams
- Collaboration – Cascade-related requests
- Database Administration – database-related requests
- Identity and Access Management Team – CAS-related requests
- Purdue System Security (PSS) – web vulnerability scans (please scan qa when possible)
Getting Help
The Shared Apache HTTPD Service is a service for customers familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and optionally PHP, Perl, or Python programming. Due to the fact that these languages can do a wide variety of things and that Web Services does not have developers on staff, our ability to offer support is limited to the server environment. There is little we can do to help with coding or interface issues. However, we do offer support for the following:
- Providing copies of logs that cannot be achieved by customer means
- Answering questions about the environment
- Restoring files from backups
- Basic troubleshooting to rule out server issues
- Maintaining redirects, directory security, etc.
Support Requests
Please submit all requests for support by contacting Web Services to open a ticket. If the issue involves a production service outage, please follow the instructions in the automated response to escalate the priority of the ticket.
When opening a support ticket, please provide the following (at a minimum):
- What exactly are you needing?
- What is the URL of the site/application?
- If there is an error or malfunction:
- What is the error?
- How can we reproduce the error?
- What is the expected result?
- A screen capture that includes the URL in the browser can also help.
- If you are requesting a file to be restored from backups, please be sure to provide:
- The full path to the file(s) or folder(s) to be restored
- The date and time the last known good file(s)/folder(s) existed
- Whether you would like us to overwrite the file(s)/folder(s) or place them in an alternate location
Service Specifications
Software Versions
The Shared Apache HTTPD service is provided on an Oracle Enterprise Linux v7 platform with:
- Apache HTTPD 2.4.6 (latest provided by Oracle)
- PHP 5.4.16
- Perl 5.16.3
- Python 2.7 and 3.6
- Oracle Database Client 12.2.0
- MySQL Database Client 5.5
- Microsoft SQL Server Database Client 17
Database Support
Database connections to Purdue-IT-hosted databases (MS SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle) are tested and known good. Connections to departmental database servers that are compatible should work.
Server Specifications
- Development: 2 CPU, 8G RAM
- QA: 2 CPU, 8G RAM
- Production: 8 CPU, 32G RAM (4 servers)
Memory and processor usage is monitored and will be increased as needed.
Patching and Backups
Patching is performed automatically on a monthly basis with non-production patching early on the 2nd of each month and production patching early on the 21st of each month.
System backups are performed on a daily basis and are retained for a minimum of 14 days.
Accessing Firewalled Services
If you will be connecting from your Shared Apache HTTPD site to a service that is protected by a firewall (a departmental database, for example), you will need to send a request to whoever maintains your firewalls to allow the following IP addresses through:
Server Tier | Server Name | Public Address | Zoned Address |
---|---|---|---|
Development | ldvwebapa02.www.purdue.edu | 128.210.23.123 | 172.30.196.123 |
Quality Assurance | lqvwebapa02.www.purdue.edu | 128.210.7.186 | 172.30.140.186 |
Production | lpvwebapa02a.www.purdue.edu lpvwebapa02b.www.purdue.edu lpvwebapa02c.www.purdue.edu lpvwebapa02d.www.purdue.edu |
128.210.7.87 128.210.7.88 128.210.7.109 128.210.7.110 |
172.30.140.87 172.30.140.88 172.30.140.109 172.30.140.110 |