Installing complete Apache 2.4 web server + PHP + Mod_fcgid + ModSecurity from source code on Ubuntu

Hey again, on this topic I will guide you how to install a complete web server from scratch without using apt-get repository. Maybe some of you may ask why don't we use the apt-get repository instead ?  Well, this topic is intended for somebody who need some guide on how to install Apache web server on ubuntu older release which is not supported by Canonical repository anymore. Ok then, the first thing to do we have to make sure that you'd already installed your ubuntu server version of your choice on your bare metal cpu.

Just login to your ubuntu server using ssh client such as putty if you access your server from another computer or you just simply login using your direct keyboard on your server.
Before you can do a compilation from source code you have to make sure to install development tools utility from your ubuntu server installation cd.
To mount your ubuntu server installation cd as your installation source you have to insert your cd to cdrom/dvdrom or if you only have an iso file just mount using loop :

 root@ubuntu:~$ mount -r -t iso9660 -o loop /home/user/ubuntu-x.xx-server-i386.iso /media/cdrom  

* notes : you can use another directory instead of /media/cdrom for mounting the iso file.

Then you have to backup your current apt configuration or you just delete it. To make your mounted cd iso available to your apt-get command just update your apt-get using apt-cdrom. After that install basic required packages for compiling the source code.

 root@ubuntu:~$ mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bak  
 root@ubuntu:~$ apt-cdrom -d /media/cdrom add  
 root@ubuntu:~$ apt-get update  
 root@ubuntu:~$ apt-get install build-essential gcc make  

So after this you can open your web browser to download all required software source for your web server. Just download it all from these URL :

1. Apache 2.4
   Dependencies :
   
   • https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-latest.tar.gz
   • https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-latest.tar.gz
   • https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/automake/automake-1.15.tar.gz
   • http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libtool/libtool-2.4.6.tar.gz
   • http://archive.apache.org/dist/apr/apr-1.5.2.tar.gz
   • http://archive.apache.org/dist/apr/apr-util-1.5.4.tar.gz
   • http://zlib.net/zlib-1.2.11.tar.gz
   • https://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/LibreSSL/libressl-2.5.4.tar.gz
   • ftp://openssl.org/source/openssl-1.0.2l.tar.gz
   • https://github.com/nghttp2/nghttp2/releases/download/v1.22.0/nghttp2-1.22.0.tar.gz
   • ftp://xmlsoft.org/libxml2/libxml2-2.7.2.tar.gz
   • ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/pcre-8.40.tar.gz
   
   Website : http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi or http://archive.apache.org/dist/httpd/
   
   File : http://archive.apache.org/dist/httpd/httpd-2.4.25.tar.gz
   
2. Apache Mod_Fcgid
   Website : http://httpd.apache.org/mod_fcgid/
   
   File : http://www-us.apache.org/dist/httpd/mod_fcgid/mod_fcgid-2.3.9.tar.gz
3. Nghttp2
   Dependencies :
   
   • https://pkg-config.freedesktop.org/releases/pkg-config-0.23.tar.gz (for ubuntu 10 or lower version)
   • https://pkg-config.freedesktop.org/releases/pkg-config-0.29.2.tar.gz (for ubuntu 11 or higher version)
   Website : https://nghttp2.org
   
   File : https://github.com/nghttp2/nghttp2/releases/download/v1.22.0/nghttp2-1.22.0.tar.gz
4. Mod Security
   Dependencies :
   
   • https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-7.0.tar.gz
   • https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/ncurses-5.9.tar.gz
   • http://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-5.1.5.tar.gz
   
   Website : https://www.modsecurity.org/
   
   File : https://www.modsecurity.org/tarball/2.9.1/modsecurity-2.9.1.tar.gz
5. PHP
   Dependencies :
   
   • https://curl.haxx.se/download/curl-7.54.0.tar.gz
   
   Website : http://php.net
   
   File : http://php.net/get/php-5.6.30.tar.gz/from/this/mirror
6. CURL
   Dependencies :
   
   • https://www.libssh2.org/download/libssh2-1.8.0.tar.gz
   • https://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libidn/libidn2-2.0.0.tar.gz
   
   Website : https://curl.haxx.se/
   
   File : https://github.com/curl/curl/releases/download/curl-7_54_0/curl-7.54.0.tar.gz

Now after you'd download all those required files, create an empty directory as an extraction folder to deploy.

Source Code Compilation Steps :

1. Install zlib
   /your_extract_dir/zlib-1.2.11/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/zlib && make && make install
2. Install Openssl
   /your_extract_dir/openssl-1.0.2l/config --prefix=/usr/local/lib/openssl-1.0.2l && make && make install
3. Install LibreSSL
   /your_extract_dir/libressl-2.5.4/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/libressl --with-openssldir=/usr/local/lib/openssl-1.0.2l && make && make install
4. Install m4
   /your_extract_dir/m4-1.4.17/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/m4 && make && make install
   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/lib/m4/bin
5. Install autoconf
   /your_extract_dir/autoconf-2.69/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/autoconf && make && make install
   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/lib/autoconf/bin
6. Install automake
   /your_extract_dir/automake-1.15/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/automake && make && make install
   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/lib/automake/bin
7. Install libtool
   /your_extract_dir/libtool-2.4.6/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/libtool && make && make install
   export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/lib/libtool/bin
8. Install Apr
   /your_extract_dir/apr-1.5.2/configure --prefix=/usr/local/httpd/apr && make && make install
9. Install Apr-Util
   /your_extract_dir/apr-util-1.5.4/configure --prefix=/usr/local/httpd/apr --with-apr=/usr/local/httpd/apr/bin/apr-1-config --with-openssl=/usr/local/lib/libressl --with-crypto && make && make install
10. Install PCRE
    /your_extract_dir/pcre-8.40/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/pcre && make && make install
11. Install LibXML2
    /your_extract_dir/libxml2-2.7.2/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/libxml2 --with-zlib=/usr/local/lib/zlib --with-xpath --with-writer --with-regexps --with-schemas --with-http --with-reader --with-ftp && make && make install
12. Install Pkg-config
    /your_extract_dir/pkg-config-0.23/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig && make && make install
    export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/bin
13. Install Nghttp2
    /your_extract_dir/nghttp2-1.22.0/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/nghttp2 --with-libxml2 OPENSSL_CFLAGS='-I/usr/local/lib/openssl-1.0.2l/include' LIBXML2_CFLAGS='-I/usr/local/lib/libxml2/include' ZLIB_CFLAGS='-I/usr/local/lib/zlib/include' OPENSSL_LIBS='-I/usr/local/lib/openssl-1.0.2l/lib' LIBXML2_LIBS='-I/usr/local/lib/libxml2/lib' ZLIB_LIBS='-I/usr/local/lib/zlib/lib' && make && make install
14. Install Httpd
    /your_extract_dir/httpd-2.4.25/configure --prefix=/usr/local/httpd --enable-so --enable-deflate --enable-unique-id --enable-actions --enable-authnz-fcgi --enable-ssl --enable-mpms-shared=all --enable-mods-shared="all cgi" --enable-cgid --enable-cgi --enable-dav --enable-rewrite --with-mpm=worker --with-pcre=/usr/local/lib/pcre --with-apr=/usr/local/httpd/apr/bin/apr-1-config --with-apr-util=/usr/local/httpd/apr/bin/apu-1-config --enable-suexec --with-suexec-caller=www-data --with-suexec-bin=/usr/local/httpd/bin/suexec --with-suexec-docroot=/your/prefered/varwww/ --with-suexec-logfile=/var/logs/suexec.log --with-suexec-uidmin=100 --with-suexec-gidmin=100 --enable-http2 --with-nghttp2=/usr/local/lib/nghttp2 --with-ssl=/usr/local/lib/openssl-1.0.2l --with-z=/usr/local/lib/zlib --with-libxml2=/usr/local/lib/libxml2 --enable-modules="actions rewrite dav ssl unixd version log_config suexec info cache cache_disk" && make && make install
15. Install Mod_Fcgid
    APXS=/usr/local/httpd/bin/apxs /your_extract_dir/mod_fcgid-2.3.9/configure.apxs && make && make install
16. Install ModSecurity dependencies
    
    • /your_extract_dir/ncurses-6.0/configure && make && make install
    • /your_extract_dir/readline-7.0/configure && make && make install 
    • cd /your_extract_dir/lua-5.1.5/ && make linux install
    • /your_extract_dir/libssh2-1.8.0/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/libssh2 --with-openssl --with-libz --with-libssl-prefix=/usr/local/lib/libressl --with-libz-prefix=/usr/local/lib/zlib && make && make install 
    • /your_extract_dir/libidn2-2.0.0/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/libidn2 && make && make install
    • /your_extract_dir/curl-7.54.0/configure --prefix=/usr/local/lib/libcurl --with-zlib=/usr/local/lib/zlib/ --enable-optimize --with-random=/dev/urandom --enable-cookies --enable-unix-sockets --enable-verbose --enable-ipv6 --enable-smtp --enable-imap --enable-pop3 --enable-telnet --enable-rtsp --enable-file --enable-ftp --enable-http --enable-warnings --enable-debug --with-libidn2=/usr/local/lib/libidn2 --with-libssh2=/usr/local/lib/libssh2 --with-nghttp2=/usr/local/lib/nghttp2 && make && make install
    Notes : if you encountered problem run time library cannot be linked, create a file on /etc/ld.so.conf.d/yourfile.conf and list
                 every installed library into the file, save the file and then run ldconfig on shell prompt. See example :
    
    
    
    
17. Install ModSecurity
    /your_extract_dir/modsecurity-2.9.1/configure --prefix=/usr/local/httpd/modsec --with-pcre=/usr/local/lib/pcre --with-libxml=/usr/local/lib/libxml2 --with-apr=/usr/local/httpd/apr/bin/apr-1-config --with-apu=/usr/local/httpd/apr/bin/apu-1-config --with-idn2=/usr/local/lib/libidn2 --with-curl=/usr/local/lib/libcurl --with-apxs=/usr/local/httpd/bin/apxs && make && make install
18. Copy generated modsecurity.so to httpd
    cp /usr/local/httpd/modsec/lib/mod_security2.so /usr/local/httpd/modules
19. Enable modsecurity on /usr/local/httpd/conf/httpd.conf (Remove # sign if already exists)
    LoadModule security2_module modules/mod_security2.so
20. Install PHP
    /your_extract_dir/php-5.6.30/configure --prefix=/usr/local/php/5.6.30 --enable-wddx --enable-sockets --enable-soap --enable-pcntl --enable-mbstring --enable-ftp --enable-calendar --enable-bcmath  --with-regex --with-libxml-dir=/usr/local/lib/libxml2 --with-zlib=/usr/local/lib/zlib --enable-dba --with-openssl=/usr/local/lib/openssl-1.0.2l --enable-sysvmsg --enable-sysvsem --enable-sysvshm --with-curl=/usr/local/lib/libcurl && make && make install

Now we can configure your apache 2.4 installation

1. Edit /usr/local/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
2. Replace
   User daemon
   Group daemon
   with
   User www-data
   Group www-data
3. Uncomment ServerName and replace with localhost
   ServerName localhost:80
4. On the end of line just add your own configuration file
   Include /your/prefered/varwww/conf/httpd.conf
5. Save the file and create the file on step 4 above and fill with
   

    <VirtualHost *:80>  
       ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost  
       ServerName yourdomain.com  
       DocumentRoot /your/prefered/varwww/public_html  
       <IfModule mod_fcgid.c>  
          SuexecUserGroup username groupname  
          Action php-fcgi  /fcgi-bin/fcgi-exec  
          DefaultInitEnv PHPRC /your/prefered/varwww/conf/ #put your php.ini here  
          Alias /fcgi-bin/ /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default/  
          AddType application/x-httpd-php .php  
          FCGIWrapper /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default/fcgi-exec .php  
        </IfModule>  
        <Directory /your/prefered/varwww/public_html>  
           AddHandler fcgid-script .php  
           Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews ExecCGI  
           AllowOverride All  
           Require all granted  
        </Directory>  
         ErrorLog /your/prefered/varwww/logs/error.log  
         LogLevel warn  
         CustomLog /your/prefered/varwww/logs/access.log combined
   </VirtualHost>  
   

6. Now you can create fast cgi exec as described on IfModule
   

    root@ubuntu~$ mkdir -p /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default  
    root@ubuntu~$ echo "#!/bin/bash" >> /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default/fcgi-exec  
    root@ubuntu~$ echo "export PHPRC=/your/prefered/varwww/conf/" >> /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default/fcgi-exec  
    root@ubuntu~$ echo "exec /usr/local/php/5.6.30/bin/php-cgi -c /your/prefered/varwww/conf/php.ini -d open_basedir=/your/prefered/varwww/public_html" >> /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default/fcgi-exec  
   

7. Adjust file and directory permission

   root@ubuntu~$ groupadd your_groupname
   root@ubuntu~$ useradd -d /your/prefered/varwww -g 1001 -s /usr/sbin/nologin your_username 
   root@ubuntu~$ chmod 755 /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default/fcgi-exec  
   root@ubuntu~$ chown -cR username:groupname /your/prefered/varwww/fcgi.d/default

8. Run apache with /usr/local/httpd/bin/apachectl -k start

Notes : if you cannot run php file change file owner to your newly created user, or you can chmod 777 /usr/local/httpd/logs/fcgidsock and restart apache.

You have successfully build your Apache 2.4 server.