How can I tell Apache2, run mod_php5 by default but run this VH in CGI mode?

Question

The Server

I have a development server that I\'m using to host my current projects. Here are some stats:

root@myserver:/usr/bin $ ca         


        

Answer 1

The problem is that mod_php still handles .php files, even when the CGI handler is set for a vhost.

To fix that, the <Directory> in the vhost needs to have a SetHandler directive:

  Action php-cgi /cgi-bin-php/php-cgi-5.2.11
  <FilesMatch \.php$>
    SetHandler php-cgi
  </FilesMatch>
</Directory>

I've updated the tutorial.

Answer 2

A good alternative is suPHP.

If set up properly, you can have as many handlers, as you wish; even for different directories within a virtual host.

For added security, there's suPHP's "paranoid" mode in which you assign a Unix user and group to a virtual host and the scripts will be run as that user.

My suPHP config looks like that:

...

[handlers]
;Handler for php-scripts
x-httpd-php=php:/usr/bin/php4-cgi
x-httpd-php5=php:/usr/bin/php5-cgi

;Handler for CGI-scripts
x-suphp-cgi=execute:!self

...

Within a simple .htaccess file it is possible to have scripts run using different versions of PHP:

<FilesMatch \.php$>
   SetHandler x-httpd-php
</FilesMatch>

<FilesMatch \.php5$>
   SetHandler x-httpd-php5
</FilesMatch>

# etc...

Hope that helps.