building apache from source on debian

Question

I'm trying to build apache from source on debian. The only reason I'm not using spt-get install is because in the apache cookbook, they recommend installing from source.I get the following error when I ./configure:

configure: error: invalid variable name: ' --with-mpm'

I also saw some warnings when I ./buildconf Is this something I should be concerned about? This is my first attempt at compiling from source, and I'd really appreciate any help.

I'm using the ./configure arguments directly from the apache cookbook:

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache --with-layout=Apache --enable-modules=most --enable-mods-shared=all \ --with-mpm=prefork 

I'm running a minimum debian install in virtual box to train myself for deploying in the rackspace cloud soon.

EDIT: I'm building Apache 2.2.16

Answer 1

I suspect you are typing that entire build line you provided on one line, complete with the '\' in the middle.

You should get rid of '\', which in bash either treats the following as part of the same string, but the slash has to immediately follow a non-whitespace character. It is also used for special escape sequences, which I think is the case here and generating that message.

This should be the correct line in your case.

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache --with-layout=Apache --enable-modules=most --enable-mods-shared=all --with-mpm=prefork

On a side note, doesn't the Apache Cookbook say that building from source is one possibility for installing it, in addition to installing from a pre-packaged build like you can get from Debian's repositories? I suppose if you really wanted a far newer build or a more repeatable process to ensure consistency across a variety of distributions, building from scratch will do that for you, but otherwise I would try to utilize the distribution's package management as much as possible. Building from source removes you from the security patches and ease-of-upgrade path that Debian APT gives you.