Building and Installing Apache 2.0

This article will discuss how to build, install, and setup Apache 2.0. This
procedure has not changed very much in the last few alpha releases, so although
this technique may change during the beta releases, it should not change much.
I will try to point out where this will most likely change in the future. All
of these instructions will be Unix machines. Other platforms will accomplish
these things differently. For most platforms, there are basic instructions
included in the distribution. Between those instructions and this article, you
should be able to get Apache 2.0 compiled and running.

Tools Needed

It's time to get ready for the upcoming Apache 2.0 by taking a sneak peak at the current alpha release. In this article, Ryan Bloom tells you how to build, install, and setup Apache 2.0 in its present pre-release form, while also pointing out what things are bound to change in the final version.

Autoconf
version 2.13 (won't be needed for release versions)

An ANSI compiler (won't be needed for binary
release packages)

Libtool
1.3.3(won't be needed for binary release
packages)

CVS or Rsync (Not strictly needed)

Apache 1.3 had two different configuration methods, ./configure
and src/Configure. This caused more than a little confusion among
people new to Apache. The Apache developers made a conscious decision early in
2.0 development to remove this confusion and create one configuration system
based on Autoconf. Because Apache 2.0 is still in alpha, the packages do not
include the actual configure script. Instead the packages include the files
needed by Autoconf to build the configure script. When Apache 2.0 is released,
the package will include the configure script, and Autoconf will no longer be
required.

While we are in alpha, and possibly through the betas, the only distribution
medium available for Apache 2.0 is a source package. If you download the source
package, you will need a compiler. Apache has always used an ANSI compiler as
the lowest common denominator. After Apache 2.0 is released, if you download
the binary release, Apache will obviously not require any compiler.

Another problem that Apache 1.3 suffered from, was incorrectly compiling
dynamic modules. This problem plagued Apache all the way through Apache 1.3.10.
Compiling dynamic modules correctly is not a trivial task. For this reason, The
Apache developers decided to focus on writing a web server, and let somebody
else worry about compiling correctly. Libtool fits the bill perfectly. By using
Libtool, the Apache developers can ignore compilation issues completely. After
Apache 2.0 is released, it will be possible to download the binary release, and
avoid the Libtool requirement.