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Apache > HTTP Server > Documentation > Version 2.0

Compiling Apache for Microsoft Windows

There are many important points before you begin compiling Apache. See Using Apache with Microsoft Windows before you begin.

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Requirements

Compiling Apache requires the following environment to be properly installed:

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Command-Line Build

First, unpack the Apache distribution into an appropriate directory. Open a command-line prompt and cd to that directory.

The master Apache makefile instructions are contained in the Makefile.win file. To compile Apache on Windows NT, simply use one of the following commands to compiled the release or debug build, respectively:

nmake /f Makefile.win _apacher

nmake /f Makefile.win _apached
    

Either command will compile Apache. The latter will include debugging information in the resulting files, making it easier to find bugs and track down problems.

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Developer Studio Workspace IDE Build

Apache can also be compiled using VC++'s Visual Studio development environment. To simplify this process, a Visual Studio workspace, Apache.dsw, is provided. This workspace exposes the entire list of working .dsp projects that are required for the complete Apache binary release. It includes dependencies between the projects to assure that they are built in the appropriate order.

Open the Apache.dsw workspace, and select InstallBin (Release or Debug build, as desired) as the Active Project. InstallBin causes all related project to be built, and then invokes Makefile.win to move the compiled executables and dlls. You may personalize the INSTDIR= choice by changing InstallBin's Settings, General tab, Build command line entry. INSTDIR defaults to the /Apache2 directory. If you only want a test compile (without installing) you may build the BuildBin project instead.

The .dsp project files are distributed in Visual C++ 6.0 format. Visual C++ 5.0 (97) will recognize them. Visual C++ 7.0 (.net) must convert Apache.dsw plus the .dsp files into an Apache.sln plus .msproj files, be sure you reconvert the .msproj file if any of the source .dsp files change! This is really trivial, just open Apache.dsw in the VC++ 7.0 IDE once again.

Visual C++ 7.0 (.net) users should also use the Build menu, Configuration Manager dialog to uncheck both the Debug and Release Solution modules abs, mod_ssl and mod_deflate. These modules are built by invoking nmake or the IDE directly with the BinBuild target to build those modules explicitly, only if the srclib directories openssl and/or zlib exist.

Exported .mak files pose a greater hassle, but they are required for Visual C++ 5.0 users to build mod_ssl, abs (ab with SSL support) and/or mod_deflate. VC++ 7.0 (.net) users also benefit, nmake builds are faster than binenv builds. Build the entire project from within the VC++ 5.0 or 6.0 IDE, then use the Project Menu Export for all makefiles. You must build the projects first in order to create all dynamic auto-generated targets, so that dependencies can be parsed correctly. Run the following command to fix the paths so they will build anywhere:

perl srclib\apr\build\fixwin32mak.pl

You must type this command from the top level directory of the httpd source tree. Every .mak and .dep project file within the current directory and below will be corrected, and the timestamps adjusted to reflect the .dsp.

If you contribute back a patch that revises project files, we must commit project files in Visual Studio 6.0 format. Changes should be simple, with minimal compilation and linkage flags that will be recognized by all VC++ 5.0 through 7.0 environments.

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Project Components

The Apache.dsw workspace and makefile.win nmake script both build the .dsp projects of the Apache server in the following sequence:

  1. srclib\apr\apr.dsp
  2. srclib\apr\libapr.dsp
  3. srclib\apr-util\uri\gen_uri_delims.dsp
  4. srclib\apr-util\xml\expat\lib\xml.dsp
  5. srclib\apr-util\aprutil.dsp
  6. srclib\apr-util\libaprutil.dsp
  7. srclib\pcre\dftables.dsp
  8. srclib\pcre\pcre.dsp
  9. srclib\pcre\pcreposix.dsp
  10. server\gen_test_char.dsp
  11. libhttpd.dsp
  12. Apache.dsp

In addition, the modules\ subdirectory tree contains project files for the majority of the modules.

The support\ directory contains project files for additional programs that are not part of the Apache runtime, but are used by the administrator to test Apache and maintain password and log files. Windows-specific support projects are broken out in the support\win32\ directory.

  1. support\ab.dsp
  2. support\htdigest.dsp
  3. support\htpasswd.dsp
  4. support\logresolve.dsp
  5. support\rotatelogs.dsp
  6. support\win32\ApacheMonitor.dsp
  7. support\win32\wintty.dsp

Once Apache has been compiled, it needs to be installed in its server root directory. The default is the \Apache2 directory, of the same drive.

To build and install all the files into the desired folder dir automatically, use one of the following nmake commands:

nmake /f Makefile.win installr INSTDIR=dir

nmake /f Makefile.win installd INSTDIR=dir
    

The dir argument to INSTDIR gives the installation directory; it can be omitted if Apache is to be installed into \Apache2.

This will install the following:

Warning about building Apache from the development tree

Note only the .dsp files are maintained between release builds. The .mak files are NOT regenerated, due to the tremendous waste of reviewer's time. Therefore, you cannot rely on the NMAKE commands above to build revised .dsp project files unless you then export all .mak files yourself from the project. This is unnecessary if you build from within the Microsoft Developer Studio environment.
Also note it is very worthwhile to build the BuildBin target project (or the command line _apacher or _apached target) prior to exporting the make files. Many files are autogenerated in the build process. Only a full build provides all of the dependent files required to build proper dependency trees for correct build behavior.

In order to create distribution .mak files, always review the generated .mak (or .dep) dependencies for Platform SDK or other garbage includes. The DevStudio\SharedIDE\bin\ (VC5) or DevStudio\Common\MSDev98\bin\ (VC6) directory contains the sysincl.dat file, which must list all exceptions. Update this file (including both forward and backslashed paths, such as both sys/time.h and sys\time.h) to include such dependencies. Including local-install paths in a distributed .mak file will cause the build to fail completely. And don't forget to run srclib/apr/build/fixwin32mak.pl in order to fix absolute paths within the .mak files.