Re: [fwd] How to SysAdmin Apache FCGI ?

Caleb Deupree (udeupct@sco.lexis-nexis.com)
Mon, 17 Mar 1997 17:33:40 -0500 

Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 17:33:40 -0500
Message-Id: <199703172233.RAA07436@sco.lexis-nexis.com>
From: Caleb Deupree <udeupct@sco.lexis-nexis.com>
To: tneff@ns1.bloomberg.com
In-Reply-To: <3.0.32.19970317141353.00f77a90@mothra.bloomberg.com> (message
Subject: Re: [fwd] How to SysAdmin Apache FCGI ?


>>>>> "Tom" == Tom Neff <tneff@ns1.bloomberg.com> writes:

    Tom> Since answers keep coming in that appear not to have noticed
    Tom> my earlier posting, let me repeat the following point:

    Tom> IT IS NOT SAFE TO KILL AppClass PROCESSES OUTRIGHT.

    Tom> The webserver can get out of sync (and leak resources) unless
    Tom> the AppClass executable does an FCGI_Finish() and exits
    Tom> gracefully.

Just to make sure I understand, are you saying that restarting the
server using the advertised method (e.g., kill -HUP `cat httpd.pid`)
will cause the AppClass executables and the web server to get out of
sync and leak resources?  I understand your point about restarting
*individual instances* of AppClass executables with custom signals, but
I also thought that the advertised method, which covers *all*
subprocesses, was safe as well.

The cgi-bin program that we have only sends HUP or TERM to the
contents of the httpd.pid file, and provides the ability for one of a
group of developers to re-initialize his/her particular AppClass
(accepting the side effect of re-initializing all of them), in
exchange for tracking down the owner of the processes.  This script is
only used in a fairly dynamic development environment behind a
firewall, for the convenience of a group of developers.  We would
*never* consider or recommend putting such a script on a production
server.

However, if the advertised method of restarting a server causes leaks
or other resource problems, this is new information, and we will need
to account for these side effects in our development.


---
Caleb Deupree
udeupct@lexis-nexis.com

For every complex question there is a simple answer, and it is wrong.
(H. L. Mencken)