1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
|
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><!--
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This file is generated from xml source: DO NOT EDIT
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
-->
<title>Request Processing in Apache 2.0 - Apache HTTP Server</title>
<link href="../style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" />
<link href="../style/css/manual-loose-100pc.css" rel="alternate stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="No Sidebar - Default font size" />
<link href="../style/css/manual-print.css" rel="stylesheet" media="print" type="text/css" />
<link href="../images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /></head>
<body id="manual-page"><div id="page-header">
<p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p>
<p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.5</p>
<img alt="" src="../images/feather.gif" /></div>
<div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="<-" alt="<-" src="../images/left.gif" /></a></div>
<div id="path">
<a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/">Documentation</a> > <a href="../">Version 2.5</a> > <a href="./">Developer Documentation</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>Request Processing in Apache 2.0</h1>
<div class="toplang">
<p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/developer/request.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
</div>
<div class="warning"><h3>Warning</h3>
<p>Warning - this is a first (fast) draft that needs further
revision!</p>
</div>
<p>Several changes in Apache 2.0 affect the internal request
processing mechanics. Module authors need to be aware of these
changes so they may take advantage of the optimizations and
security enhancements.</p>
<p>The first major change is to the subrequest and redirect
mechanisms. There were a number of different code paths in
Apache 1.3 to attempt to optimize subrequest or redirect
behavior. As patches were introduced to 2.0, these
optimizations (and the server behavior) were quickly broken due
to this duplication of code. All duplicate code has been folded
back into <code>ap_process_request_internal()</code> to prevent
the code from falling out of sync again.</p>
<p>This means that much of the existing code was 'unoptimized'.
It is the Apache HTTP Project's first goal to create a robust
and correct implementation of the HTTP server RFC. Additional
goals include security, scalability and optimization. New
methods were sought to optimize the server (beyond the
performance of Apache 1.3) without introducing fragile or
insecure code.</p>
</div>
<div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#processing">The Request Processing Cycle</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#parsing">The Request Parsing Phase</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#security">The Security Phase</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#preparation">The Preparation Phase</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#handler">The Handler Phase</a></li>
</ul></div>
<div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="processing" id="processing">The Request Processing Cycle</a></h2>
<p>All requests pass through <code>ap_process_request_internal()</code>
in <code>request.c</code>, including subrequests and redirects. If a module
doesn't pass generated requests through this code, the author is cautioned
that the module may be broken by future changes to request
processing.</p>
<p>To streamline requests, the module author can take advantage
of the hooks offered to drop out of the request cycle early, or
to bypass core Apache hooks which are irrelevant (and costly in
terms of CPU.)</p>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="parsing" id="parsing">The Request Parsing Phase</a></h2>
<h3><a name="unescape" id="unescape">Unescapes the URL</a></h3>
<p>The request's <code>parsed_uri</code> path is unescaped, once and only
once, at the beginning of internal request processing.</p>
<p>This step is bypassed if the proxyreq flag is set, or the
<code>parsed_uri.path</code> element is unset. The module has no further
control of this one-time unescape operation, either failing to
unescape or multiply unescaping the URL leads to security
reprecussions.</p>
<h3><a name="strip" id="strip">Strips Parent and This Elements from the
URI</a></h3>
<p>All <code>/../</code> and <code>/./</code> elements are
removed by <code>ap_getparents()</code>. This helps to ensure
the path is (nearly) absolute before the request processing
continues.</p>
<p>This step cannot be bypassed.</p>
<h3><a name="inital-location-walk" id="inital-location-walk">Initial URI Location Walk</a></h3>
<p>Every request is subject to an
<code>ap_location_walk()</code> call. This ensures that
<code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#location"><Location></a></code> sections
are consistently enforced for all requests. If the request is an internal
redirect or a sub-request, it may borrow some or all of the processing
from the previous or parent request's ap_location_walk, so this step
is generally very efficient after processing the main request.</p>
<h3><a name="translate_name" id="translate_name">translate_name</a></h3>
<p>Modules can determine the file name, or alter the given URI
in this step. For example, <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_vhost_alias.html">mod_vhost_alias</a></code> will
translate the URI's path into the configured virtual host,
<code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_alias.html">mod_alias</a></code> will translate the path to an alias path,
and if the request falls back on the core, the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#documentroot">DocumentRoot</a></code> is prepended to the request resource.</p>
<p>If all modules <code>DECLINE</code> this phase, an error 500 is
returned to the browser, and a "couldn't translate name" error is logged
automatically.</p>
<h3><a name="map_to_storage" id="map_to_storage">Hook: map_to_storage</a></h3>
<p>After the file or correct URI was determined, the
appropriate per-dir configurations are merged together. For
example, <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_proxy.html">mod_proxy</a></code> compares and merges the appropriate
<code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_proxy.html#proxy"><Proxy></a></code> sections.
If the URI is nothing more than a local (non-proxy) <code>TRACE</code>
request, the core handles the request and returns <code>DONE</code>.
If no module answers this hook with <code>OK</code> or <code>DONE</code>,
the core will run the request filename against the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code> and <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#files"><Files></a></code> sections. If the request
'filename' isn't an absolute, legal filename, a note is set for
later termination.</p>
<h3><a name="location-walk" id="location-walk">URI Location Walk</a></h3>
<p>Every request is hardened by a second
<code>ap_location_walk()</code> call. This reassures that a
translated request is still subjected to the configured
<code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#location"><Location></a></code> sections.
The request again borrows some or all of the processing from its previous
<code>location_walk</code> above, so this step is almost always very
efficient unless the translated URI mapped to a substantially different
path or Virtual Host.</p>
<h3><a name="header_parser" id="header_parser">Hook: header_parser</a></h3>
<p>The main request then parses the client's headers. This
prepares the remaining request processing steps to better serve
the client's request.</p>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="security" id="security">The Security Phase</a></h2>
<p>Needs Documentation. Code is:</p>
<div class="example"><pre>
if ((access_status = ap_run_access_checker(r)) != 0) {
return decl_die(access_status, "check access", r);
}
if ((access_status = ap_run_check_user_id(r)) != 0) {
return decl_die(access_status, "check user", r);
}
if ((access_status = ap_run_auth_checker(r)) != 0) {
return decl_die(access_status, "check authorization", r);
}
</pre></div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="preparation" id="preparation">The Preparation Phase</a></h2>
<h3><a name="type_checker" id="type_checker">Hook: type_checker</a></h3>
<p>The modules have an opportunity to test the URI or filename
against the target resource, and set mime information for the
request. Both <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_mime.html">mod_mime</a></code> and
<code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_mime_magic.html">mod_mime_magic</a></code> use this phase to compare the file
name or contents against the administrator's configuration and set the
content type, language, character set and request handler. Some modules
may set up their filters or other request handling parameters at this
time.</p>
<p>If all modules <code>DECLINE</code> this phase, an error 500 is
returned to the browser, and a "couldn't find types" error is logged
automatically.</p>
<h3><a name="fixups" id="fixups">Hook: fixups</a></h3>
<p>Many modules are 'trounced' by some phase above. The fixups
phase is used by modules to 'reassert' their ownership or force
the request's fields to their appropriate values. It isn't
always the cleanest mechanism, but occasionally it's the only
option.</p>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="handler" id="handler">The Handler Phase</a></h2>
<p>This phase is <strong>not</strong> part of the processing in
<code>ap_process_request_internal()</code>. Many
modules prepare one or more subrequests prior to creating any
content at all. After the core, or a module calls
<code>ap_process_request_internal()</code> it then calls
<code>ap_invoke_handler()</code> to generate the request.</p>
<h3><a name="insert_filter" id="insert_filter">Hook: insert_filter</a></h3>
<p>Modules that transform the content in some way can insert
their values and override existing filters, such that if the
user configured a more advanced filter out-of-order, then the
module can move its order as need be. There is no result code,
so actions in this hook better be trusted to always succeed.</p>
<h3><a name="hook_handler" id="hook_handler">Hook: handler</a></h3>
<p>The module finally has a chance to serve the request in its
handler hook. Note that not every prepared request is sent to
the handler hook. Many modules, such as <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_autoindex.html">mod_autoindex</a></code>,
will create subrequests for a given URI, and then never serve the
subrequest, but simply lists it for the user. Remember not to
put required teardown from the hooks above into this module,
but register pool cleanups against the request pool to free
resources as required.</p>
</div></div>
<div class="bottomlang">
<p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/developer/request.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
</div><div id="footer">
<p class="apache">Copyright 2011 The Apache Software Foundation.<br />Licensed under the <a href="http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">Apache License, Version 2.0</a>.</p>
<p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p></div>
</body></html>
|
