#LyX 1.1 created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/ \lyxformat 218 \textclass article \language english \inputencoding default \fontscheme default \graphics default \paperfontsize 10 \spacing single \papersize letterpaper \paperpackage a4 \use_geometry 1 \use_amsmath 0 \paperorientation portrait \paperwidth 8.5in \paperheight 11in \leftmargin 1in \topmargin 0.5in \rightmargin 1in \bottommargin 1in \secnumdepth 3 \tocdepth 3 \paragraph_separation indent \defskip medskip \quotes_language swedish \quotes_times 2 \papercolumns 1 \papersides 1 \paperpagestyle default \layout Title \added_space_top vfill \added_space_bottom vfill Installing and Running mod_log_sql \layout Author Christopher Powell \layout Date 11/13/02 \layout Standard \pagebreak_bottom \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents{} \end_inset \layout Section Introduction \layout Subsection Homepage \layout LyX-Code http://www.grubbybaby.com/mod_log_sql/ \layout Subsection Summary \layout Standard This Apache module will permit you to log Apache accesses (and a lot of related information) to a SQL database. Unlike logging to a flat text file (which is standard in Apache), there are a lot of powerful advantages to logging to SQL. This module can either replace or happily coexist with Apache's text file logging facility. \layout Subsection Approach \layout Standard This project was formerly known as mod_log_mysql. It has been renamed to mod_log_sql in order to reflect the project goal of database-inspecificity. The module currently supports MySQL, and development for other database backends is underway. \layout Standard In order to save speed and overhead, links are kept alive in between queries. This module uses one SQL link per httpd child. Among other things, this means that this module supports logging into only one MySQL server, and for now, also, only one SQL database. But that's a small tradeoff compared to the blinding speed of this module. \layout Standard Virtual hosts are supported in the same manner they are in the regular logging modules. You define some basic 'global' directives in the main server config, then you define more specific 'local' directives inside each virtualhost stanza. \layout Standard SQL links are opened by each child process when it is born. Error reporting is robust throughout and will let you know about database issues in the standard Apache error-log for the server or virtual server. \layout Standard A robust "preserve" capability has now been implemented. This permits the module to preserve any failed INSERT commands to a local file on its machine. In any situation that the database is unavailable -- e.g. the network fails, you reboot the db host, etc. -- mod_log_sql will note this in the error log and begin appending its log entries to the preserve file (which is created with the user & group ID of the running Apache process, e.g. "nobody" on many Linux installations). When your database becomes available again, mod_log_sql seamlessly resumes logging to it. When convenient for the sysadmin, he/she can easily import the preserve file into the database because it is simply a series of SQL insert statements: \layout LyX-Code # mysql -uadminuser -p mydbname < /tmp/mysql-preserve \layout Subsection Supported directives \layout Standard Please see the web-based documentation for full explanation of all supported run-time directives. \layout Standard http://www.grubbybaby.com/mod_log_sql/directives.html \layout Standard See the FAQ for some handy examples: \layout Standard http://www.grubbybaby.com/mod_log_sql/faq.html \layout Subsection What gets logged by default? \layout Standard All the data that would be contained in the "Combined Log Format" is logged by default, plus a little extra. Your best bet is to begin by accepting this default, then later customize the log configuration based on your needs. \layout Standard The online documentation of the run-time directives includes a full explanation of what you can log, including examples. \layout Subsection Minor Notes \layout Itemize Note which directives go in the 'main server config' and which directives apply to the 'virtual host config'. This is made clear in the directive documentation. \layout Itemize The 'time_stamp' field is stored in an UNSIGNED INTEGER column, in the standard unix "seconds since 1/1/1970 12:00:00" format. This is superior to storing the access time as a string due to size requirement s: an UNSIGNED INT type fits in 4 bytes, whereas the Apache date string (e.g. "18/Nov/2001:13:59:52 -0800") requires 26 bytes -- significantly larger, and those extra 22 bytes will add up over the thousands of accesses that a busy server will experience. Besides, an INT type is far more flexible for comparisons, etc. \begin_deeper \layout Standard In MySQL 3.21 and above you can easily convert this to a human readable format using from_unixtime(), e.g.: \layout LyX-Code select remote_host,request_uri,from_unixtime(time_stamp) from access_log; \layout Standard The enclosed perl program \begin_inset Quotes sld \end_inset make_combined_log.pl \begin_inset Quotes srd \end_inset shows how you can extract your access records in a format that is completely Combined Log Format compliant. You can then feed this to your favorite web log analysis tool. \end_deeper \layout Itemize The table's string values can be CHAR or VARCHAR, at a length of your choice. VARCHAR is superior because it truncates long strings; CHAR types are fixed-len gth and will be padded with spaces. Just like the time_stamp described above, that kind of space waste will add up over thousands of records. \layout Itemize Be careful not to go overboard setting fields to NOT NULL. If a field is marked NOT NULL then it must contain data in the INSERT or the INSERT will fail, sometimes in a really mysterious way to the frustrated sysad. \layout Itemize Apache normally logs numeric fields with a '-' character to mean "not applicable ," e.g. bytes_sent on a request with a 304 response code. Since '-' is an illegal character in an SQL numeric field, such fields are assigned the value 0 instead of '-' which, of course, makes perfect sense anyway. \layout Subsection Author / Maintainer \layout Standard The actual logging code was taken from the already existing flat file text modules, so all that credit goes to the Apache Server group. \layout Standard The MySQL routines and directives were added by Zeev Suraski . \layout Standard All changes from 1.06+ and the new documentation were added by Chris Powell . It seems that the module had fallen into the "unmaintained" category -- it hadn't been updated since 1998 -- so Chris adopted it as the new maintainer. \layout Section Installation \layout Subsection Requirements \layout Itemize A compatible system. I have run mod_log_sql on Red Hat based systems (Red Hat, Mandrake). These instructions should easily adapt to any modern distro. \layout Itemize Apache 1.2 or 1.3 installed. (I run 1.3.22 and it works fine). You should have already successfully compiled Apache and know what you're doing there. \layout Itemize The MySQL development headers. This is called different things on different distros. For example, Red Hat 6.x called this RPM "MySQL-devel" whereas Mandrake calls it "libmysql10-devel". \layout Itemize MySQL >= 3.23.15 configured, installed and running on either localhost or an accessible networked machine. You should already have a basic understanding of MySQL and how it functions. \layout Itemize Again, basic administrative skills with Apache and MySQL. I try to make things as easy as possible in this file, but its purpose is not to be an administrative tutorial. \layout Itemize Additionally, if you want to be able to log SSL information such as keysize or cipher, you need OpenSSL and glibc-devel installed. Both are available as RPMs. \layout Subsection Do I want a DSO? \layout Standard You need to know the answer to this question before you proceed. The answer is pretty straightforward: what have you done in the past? If you like all your Apache modules to be dynamic, then you should keep doing that. If you're more of an old-school type and prefer to compile the modules right into apache, do that. Both methods work equally well. \layout Standard FWIW, the DSO method is more modern and increasing in popularity because apxs takes care of a lot of dirty little details for you. As you'll see below, the static-module method is a little more complex. \layout Subsection Installation as an Apache DSO (Preferred) \layout Enumerate Perform all the following steps as root so that you have install privs, etc. Unpack the archive into a working directory. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # tar zxf mod_log_sql.tar.gz -C /usr/local/src # cd /usr/local/src/mod_log_sql \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Edit Makefile for your system. \newline \begin_deeper \layout Standard NECESSARY: \layout Itemize The location where you installed Apache -- usually /usr/local/apache, 'locate apxs' can help you find it. \layout Itemize The location of your MySQL libraries, find using 'locate libmysqlclient' \layout Itemize The location of your MySQL header files, find using 'locate mysql.h' \layout Standard OPTIONAL if you have included mod_ssl in Apache and want to log SSL data such as keysize and cipher type: \layout Itemize The location of your SSL header files, find using 'locate mod_ssl.h' \layout Standard Now that you know these things, edit Makefile and replace the stock values with your own. \layout Standard IMPORTANT: If you are not logging SSL info, comment out MODSSLHDRS by putting a # character in front of it: \layout LyX-Code #MODSSLHDRS=/usr/include/... \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Instruct apxs to compile the module as a DSO. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # make dso \end_deeper \layout Enumerate You should see output similar to the following: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code /usr/local/Apache/bin/apxs -Wc,-O2 -Wc,-Wall -Wc,-DEAPI -c -I/usr/include/mysql -I/usr/local/src/apache_1.3.27-dso/src/modules/ssl -L/usr/lib -lmysqlclient -lz mod_log_sql.c \layout LyX-Code gcc -DLINUX=22 -DNO_DBM_REWRITEMAP -DMOD_SSL=208111 -DUSE_HSREGEX -DEAPI -DUSE_EXPAT -I../lib/expat-lite -fpic -DSHARED_CORE -DSHARED_MODULE -I/usr/local/ Apache/include -O2 -Wall -DEAPI -I/usr/include/mysql -I/usr/local/src/apache_1.3.2 7-dso/src/modules/ssl -c mod_log_sql.c \layout LyX-Code gcc -shared -o mod_log_sql.so mod_log_sql.o -Wc,-O2 -Wc,-Wall -Wc,-DEAPI -L/usr/li b -lmysqlclient -lz -lm -lcrypt -ldb \layout Standard You should see no errors and have a file called "mod_log_sql.so" in your directory. \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Instruct apxs to install the DSO. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # make dsoinstall \layout Standard You should see output similar to the following: \layout LyX-Code /usr/local/Apache/bin/apxs -i mod_log_sql.so \layout LyX-Code cp mod_log_sql.so /usr/local/Apache/libexec/mod_log_sql.so \layout LyX-Code chmod 755 /usr/local/Apache/libexec/mod_log_sql.so \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Module ordering within httpd.conf is important. If you are logging SSL, you must make sure that \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code LoadModule ssl_module libexec/libssl.so \layout Standard comes before \layout LyX-Code LoadModule sql_log_module libexec/mod_log_sql.so \layout Standard If you don't, you will get this error when you start Apache: \layout LyX-Code /usr/local/apache/libexec/mod_log_mysql.so: undefined symbol: ssl_var_lookup \layout LyX-Code /usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl startssl: httpd could not be started \layout Standard (Because mod_log_sql doesn't yet have the required symbols that mod_ssl provides.) \layout Standard Now skip below to the "Configuration" section. \end_deeper \layout Subsection Installation as a static module compiled into httpd \layout Enumerate Perform all the following steps as root so that you have install privs, etc. \layout Enumerate Unpack the archive into a working directory. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # tar zxf mod_log_sql.tar.gz -C /usr/local/src # cd /usr/local/src/mod_log_sql \end_deeper \layout Enumerate \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{step:editMF} \end_inset Edit Makefile for your system. \newline \begin_deeper \layout Standard NECESSARY: \layout Itemize The location where you installed Apache -- usually /usr/local/apache, 'locate apxs' can help you find it. \layout Itemize The location of your Apache *sources*, find using 'locate ABOUT_APACHE' \layout Itemize The location of your MySQL header files, find using 'locate mysql.h' \layout Itemize The location of your MySQL libraries, find using 'locate libmysqlclient' \layout Standard OPTIONAL if you have included mod_ssl in Apache and want to log SSL data such as keysize and cipher type: \layout Itemize The location of your mod_ssl header files, find using 'locate mod_ssl.h' \layout Itemize The location of your OpenSSL header files, find using 'locate x509.h' \layout Itemize The location of your db1 header files, find using 'locate mpool.h' \layout Standard Now that you know these things, edit Makefile and replace the stock values with your own. \layout Standard IMPORTANT: If you are not logging SSL info, comment out MODSSLHDRS, OPNSSLHDRS and DB1HDRS by putting a # character in front of each one, e.g. #OPNSSLHDRS=/usr/include/... \end_deeper \layout Enumerate # make static \layout Enumerate # make statinstall \layout Enumerate Change to your Apache source dir. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # cd /usr/local/src/apache-1.3.22/src \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Re-make your httpd binary as follows. \begin_deeper \layout Enumerate Edit Configuration.apaci as follows... \begin_deeper \layout Itemize Append the following string to the EXTRA_LIBS= line. ("/usr/lib/mysql" is from step \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{step:editMF} \end_inset , where your MySQL libraries live): \layout LyX-Code -L/usr/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient -lm -lz \layout Itemize Find the mod_log_config.o line, and add this line immediately after it: \layout LyX-Code AddModule modules/sql/mod_log_sql.o \end_deeper \layout Enumerate # cp Configuration.apaci Configuration \layout Enumerate # ./Configure \layout Enumerate # make \layout Enumerate # strip httpd \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Test your new apache binary: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # ./httpd -l \end_deeper \layout Enumerate You should see something like: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code Compiled-in modules: \layout LyX-Code http_core.c \layout LyX-Code mod_log_sql.c <-- That's the line you're looking for. \layout LyX-Code mod_env.c \layout LyX-Code mod_log_config.c \layout LyX-Code mod_mime.c \layout LyX-Code mod_negotiation.c ... \layout LyX-Code etc... \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Install your httpd binary. Copy it over your old httpd binary, wherever it lives. You can and should rename your old httpd first so that you can easily revert to that working version in case of bugs with the new version. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd stop \layout LyX-Code # mv /usr/local/Apache/bin/httpd ~/httpd-save \layout LyX-Code # cp -f ./httpd /usr/local/Apache/bin/ \end_deeper \layout Section Configuration \layout Subsection Preparing MySQL \layout Standard You have to prepare the database to receive data from mod_log_sql, and set up run-time directives in httpd.conf to control how and what mod_log_sql logs. \layout Standard This section will discuss how to get started with a basic config. Full documentation of the run-time directives is available here: http://www.grub bybaby.com/mod_log_sql/directives.html \layout Enumerate mod_log_sql can make its own tables on-the-fly, or you can pre-make the tables by hand. The advantage of letting the module make the tables is ease-of-use, but for raw performance you will want to pre-make the tables in order to save overhead. In this basic setup we'll let the module create tables for us. \layout Enumerate We still need to have a logging database created and ready, so run the MySQL command line client and create a database: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # mysql -uadmin -pmypassword mysql> create database apachelogs; \end_deeper \layout Enumerate If you want to hand-create the tables, run the enclosed 'create-tables' SQL script as follows: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code mysql> source create_tables.sql \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Create a specific MySQL userid that httpd will use to authenticate and enter data. This userid need not be an actual Unix user. It is a userid internal to MySQL with specific privileges. In the following example command, "apachelogs" is the database, "loguser" is the userid to create, "my.apachemachine.com" is the name of the Apache machine, and "l0gger" is the password to assign. Choose values that are different from these examples. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code mysql> grant insert,create on apachelogs.* to loguser@my.apachemachine.com identified by 'l0gger'; \end_deeper \layout Enumerate You may be especially security-paranoid and not want "loguser" to have "create" capability within the "apachelogs" databse. You can disable that but the cost is that you cannot use the module's automatic -table-creation feature. If that's an acceptable cost, hand-create the tables as described in step 1 and use the following GRANT statement instead of the one above: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code mysql> grant insert on apachelogs.* to loguser@my.apachemachine.com identified by 'l0gger'; \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Enable full logging of your MySQL daemon (at least temporarily for debugging purposes) if you don't do this already. Edit /etc/my.cnf and add the following line to your [mysqld] section: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code log=/var/log/mysql-messages \layout Standard Then restart MySQL. \layout LyX-Code # /etc/rc.d/init.d/mysql restart \end_deeper \layout Subsection Preparing Apache \layout Enumerate Tell the module what database to use and the appropriate authentication information. \begin_deeper \layout Description EXAMPLE: Use the MySQL database called "apachelogs" running on "dbmachine.foo.com". The module uses username "loguser" and password "l0gger" to authenticate to the database. The log entries will be INSERTed into the table called "access_log". \layout Standard So, edit httpd.conf and insert the following lines somewhere AFTER any LoadModule / AddModule statements. Make sure these statements are "global," i.e. not inside any VirtualHost stanza. \layout LyX-Code LogSQLDatabase apachelogs \layout LyX-Code LogSQLLoginInfo dbmachine.foo.com loguser l0gger \layout LyX-Code LogSQLCreateTables on \end_deeper \layout Enumerate If your database resides on localhost instead of another host, specify the MySQL server's socket file as follows: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code LogSQLSocketFile /your/path/to/mysql.sock \end_deeper \layout Enumerate The actual logging is set up on a virtual-host-by-host basis. So, skip down to the virtual host you want to set up. Instruct this virtual host to log entries to the table \begin_inset Quotes sld \end_inset access_log \begin_inset Quotes srd \end_inset by inserting a LogSQLTransferLogTable directive. (The LogSQLTransferLogTable directive is the minimum required to log -- other directives simply tune the module's behavior.) \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code \layout LyX-Code [snip] \layout LyX-Code LogSQLTransferLogTable access_log \layout LyX-Code [snip] \layout LyX-Code \end_deeper \layout Enumerate Restart apache. \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd start \end_deeper \layout Subsection Testing the module \layout Enumerate Load your web site in a browser to trigger some hits, then confirm that the entries are being successfully logged: \begin_deeper \layout LyX-Code # mysql -hmysql.host.com -umysqladmin -p -e "select * from access_log" apachelogs \layout LyX-Code Enter password: \layout LyX-Code (Several lines of output should follow, corresponding to your hits on the site.) \layout Standard You now have basic functionality. Don't disable your regular Apache logs until you feel comfortable that the database is behaving as you'd like and that things are going well. \end_deeper \layout Enumerate If you do not see any entries in the access_log, then something is preventing the inserts from happening. This problem could be caused by several things: \begin_deeper \layout Itemize Improper privileges set up in the MySQL database \layout Itemize You aren't hitting a VirtualHost that has a LogSQLTransferLogTable entry \layout Itemize You didn't specify the right host \layout Standard If you have confirmed your LogSQL* directives and know them to be correct, you should examine the httpd server logs for mod_log_sql messages; the module will offer hints as to why it cannot connect, etc. Also examine the MySQL log that you established in step 3. Ensure that the INSERTs are not being rejected because of a malformed table entry or other clerical error. If you see no INSERT attempts in the log, the module isn't successfully connecting to the database. \layout Standard The next thing to do is recompile the module with debugging output activated. change the "#undef DEBUG" on line 8 of mod_log_sql.c to "#define DEBUG" and recompile/reinstall. The module will now output copious notes about what it is doing, and this will help you (and the maintainer) solve the problem. \end_deeper \layout Standard You can now activate the advanced features of mod_log_sql. These are all described in the next section. \layout Subsection Configuration directive reference \layout Subsubsection LogSQLLoginInfo \layout LyX-Code \series bold MANDATORY \series default \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLLoginInfo host user password \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLLoginInfo foobar.baz.com logwriter passw0rd \layout LyX-Code Context: server config \layout Quote Defines the general parameters of the MySQL host to which you will be logging. host is the hostname or IP address of the MySQL machine. user is the MySQL userid (not a Unix userid!) with INSERT privileges on the table defined in LogSQLTransferLogTable. password is that user's password. This is defined only once in the httpd.conf file. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLDatabase \layout LyX-Code \series bold MANDATORY \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLDatabase database \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLDatabase loggingdb \layout LyX-Code Context: server config \layout Quote Defines the database that is used for logging. database must be operating on the MySQL host defined in LogSQLLoginInfo. This is defined only once in the httpd.conf file. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLTransferLogTable \layout LyX-Code \series bold MANDATORY \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLTransferLogTable table-name \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLTransferLogTable access_log_table \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote Defines which table is used for logging of Apache's transfers; this is analogous to Apache's TransferLog directive. table-name must be a valid table within the database defined in LogSQLDatabase. \layout Quote This directive is not necessary if you declare LogSQLMassVirtualHosting On, since that directive activates dynamically-named tables. If you attempt to use LogSQLTransferLogTable at the same time a warning will be logged and it will be ignored, since LogSQLMassVirtualHosting takes priority. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLRequestIgnore \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLRequestIgnore req1 req2 req3 ... reqN \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLRequestIgnore root.exe cmd.exe default.ida favicon.ico \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote Lists a series of strings that, if present in the URI, will cause that request NOT to be logged. This directive is useful for cutting down on log clutter when you KNOW that you do not want to log requests for certain objects. (The example above is a genuinely useful one; it will prevent logging of many common Microsoft-based worm intrusion attempts, as well as those ridiculou s requests for the favicon.) \layout Quote Each string is separated by a space, and NO regular expressions or globbing are allowed. Each string is evaluated as a substring of the URI using strstr(). \layout Subsubsection LogSQLRemhostIgnore \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLRemhostIgnore host1 host2 host3 ... hostN \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLRemhostIgnore localnet.com \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote Lists a series of strings that, if present in the REMOTE_HOST, will cause that request NOT to be logged. This directive is useful for cutting down on log clutter when you KNOW that you do not want to log requests from certain hosts, such as your own internal network machines. \layout Quote Each string is separated by a space, and NO regular expressions or globbing are allowed. Each string is evaluated as a substring of the REMOTE_HOST using strstr(). \layout Subsubsection LogSQLRefererIgnore \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLRefererIgnore ref1 ref2 ref3 ... refN \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLRefererIgnore google.com \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote Lists a series of strings that, if present in the HTTP_REFERER, will cause that request NOT to be logged. This directive is useful for cutting down on log clutter when you know that you do not want to log requests from certain referers. \layout Quote Each string is separated by a space, and NO regular expressions or globbing are allowed. Each string is evaluated as a substring of the HTTP_REFERER using strstr(). \layout Subsubsection LogSQLWhichCookie \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLWhichCookie cookiename \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLWhichCookie Clicks \layout LyX-Code Default: None. You must set this if you wish to capture cookies. \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote In HTTP, cookies have names to distinguish them from each other. Using mod_usertrack, for example, you can give your user-tracking cookies a name with the CookieName directive. \layout Quote If you have activated cookie logging in LogSQLTransferLogFormat, then LogSQLWhic hCookie tells mod_log_sql which cookie to log. This is useful because many times you will be setting and receiving more than one cookie from a client; without this directive you'd be unable to choose which cookie is your mod_usertrack cookie. \layout Quote Note: although this was intended for people who are using mod_usertrack to set user-tracking cookies, you aren't restricted in any way. You can choose which cookie you wish to log to the database, and it doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with mod_usertrack. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLCreateTables \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLCreateTables flag \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLCreateTables On \layout LyX-Code Default: Off \layout LyX-Code Context: server config \layout Quote mod_log_sql now has the ability to create its tables on-the-fly. The advantage to this is convenience: you don't have to execute any SQL by hand to prepare the table. This is especially helpful for people with lots of virtual hosts (who should also see the LogSQLMassVirtualHosting directive). \layout Quote There is a slight disadvantage: if you wish to activate this feature, then the user specified by LogSQLLoginInfo must have CREATE privileges on the database. In an absolutely paranoid, locked-down situation you may only want to grant your mod_log_sql user INSERT privileges on the database; in that situation you are unable to take advantage of LogSQLCreateTables. But most people -- even the very security-conscious -- will find that granting CREATE on the logging database is reasonable. \layout Quote This is defined only once in the httpd.conf file. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLMassVirtualHosting \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLMassVirtualHosting flag \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLMassVirtualHosting On \layout LyX-Code Default: Off \layout LyX-Code Context: server config \layout Quote If you administer a site hosting many, many virtual hosts then this option will appeal to you. If you activate LogSQLMassVirtualHosting then several things happen: \begin_deeper \layout Itemize the on-the-fly table creation feature is activated automatically \layout Itemize the transfer log table name is dynamically set from the virtual host's name (example: a virtual host www.grubbybaby.com gets logged to table access_www_grubb ybaby_com) \layout Itemize which, in turn, means that each virtual host logs to its own segregated table. Because there is no data shared between virtual servers you can grant your users access to the tables they need; they will be unable to view others' data. \end_deeper \layout Quote This is a huge boost in convenience for sites with many virtual servers. Activating LogSQLMassVirtualHosting obviates the need to create every virtual server's table and provides more granular security possibilities. \layout Quote This is defined only once in the httpd.conf file. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLPreserveFile \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLPreserveFile filename \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLPreserveFile offline-preserve \layout LyX-Code Default: mysql-preserve (in /tmp) \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote mod_log_sql writes queries to this local preserve file in the event that it cannot reach the database, and thus ensures that your high-availability web frontend does not lose logs during a temporary database outage. This could happen for a number of reasons: the database goes offline, the network breaks, etc. You will not lose entries since the module has this backup. The file consists of a series of SQL statements that can be imported into your database at your convenience; furthermore, because the SQL queries contain the access timestamps you do not need to worry about out-of-order data after the import. \layout Quote For security purposes the name you supply will be prepended with "/tmp/" to force creation of the file in /tmp. \layout Quote If you do not define LogSQLPreserveFile then all virtual servers will log to the same default preserve file (/tmp/mysql-preserve). You can redefine this on a virtual-host basis in order to segregate your preserve files if you desire. Note that segregation is not really necessary, as the SQL statements that are written to the preserve file already distinguish between different virtual hosts. \layout Quote The module will log to error-log if/when it notices a database outage, and upon database return. You will therefore know when the preserve file is being used, although it is your responsibility to import the file. \layout Quote The file does not need to be created in advance. It is safe to remove or rename the file without interrupting Apache, as the module closes the filehandle immediately after completing the write. The file is created with the user & group ID of the running Apache process (e.g. 'nobody' on many Linux distributions). \layout Subsubsection LogSQLSocketFile \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLSocketFile filename \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLSocketFile /tmp/mysql.sock \layout LyX-Code Default: /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock \layout LyX-Code Context: server config \layout Quote At Apache runtime you can specify the MySQL socket file to use. Set this once in your main server config to override the default value. This value is irrelevant if your database resides on a separate machine. \layout Quote mod_log_sql will automatically employ the socket for db communications if the database resides on the local host. If the db resides on a separate host the module will automatically use TCP/IP. This is a function of the MySQL API and is not user-configurable. \layout Subsubsection LogSQLTransferLogFormat \layout LyX-Code Syntax: LogSQLTransferLogFormat format-string \layout LyX-Code Example: LogSQLTransferLogFormat huSUTv \layout LyX-Code Default: AbHhmRSsTUuv \layout LyX-Code Context: virtual host \layout Quote Each character in the format-string defines an attribute of the request that you wish to log. The default logs the information required to create Combined Log Format logs, plus several extras. Here is the full list of allowable keys, which sometimes resemble their Apache counterparts, but do not always: \layout Quote \begin_inset Tabular \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold Character \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold What is this? \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold MySQL DB field \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold Recommended column type \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold Example \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard A \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard User agent \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard agent \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(255) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 4.0) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard b \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Bytes transfered \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard bytes_sent \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard int unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 32561 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard c \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Text of cookie \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard cookie \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(255) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Apache=sdyn.fooonline.net.130051007102700823 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard f \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_file \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(255) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard H \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard HTTP request protocol \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_protocol \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(10) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard HTTP/1.1 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard h \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Name of remote host \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard remote_host \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(50) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard blah.foobar.com \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard I \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Ident user info \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard remote_logname \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(50) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard bobby \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard m \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard HTTP request method \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_method \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(6) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard GET \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard P \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard httpd child PID \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard child_pid \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard smallint unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 3215 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard p \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard httpd port \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard server_port \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard smallint unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 80 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard R \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Referer \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard referer \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(255) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard http://www.biglinkstoyou.com/linkpage.html \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard r \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Request in full form \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_line \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(255) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard GET /books-cycroad.html HTTP/1.1 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard S \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Time of request in UNIX format \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard time_stamp \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard int unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 1005598029 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard s \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard HTTP status of request \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard status \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard smallint unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 404 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard T \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Seconds to service request \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_duration \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard smallint unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 2 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard t \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Time of request in human format \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_time \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard char(28) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard [02/Dec/2001:15:01:26 -0800] \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard U \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Request in simple form \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard request_uri \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(255) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard /books-cycroad.html \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard u \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard User info from HTTP authentication \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard remote_user \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(50) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard bobby \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard v \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Virtual host servicing the request \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard virtual_host \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(50) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard www.foobar.com \end_inset \end_inset \layout Quote If you have compiled mod_log_sql with WANT_SSL_LOGGING, you also get these: \layout Quote \begin_inset Tabular \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold Character \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold MySQL DB field it activates \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold MySQL DB field it activatesRecommended column type \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard \series bold Example \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard z \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard ssl_cipher \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard varchar(25) \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard RC4-MD5 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard q \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard ssl_keysize \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard smallint unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 56 \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard Q \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard ssl_maxkeysize \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard smallint unsigned \end_inset \begin_inset Text \layout Standard 128 \end_inset \end_inset \layout Section FAQ \layout Subsection Why log to an SQL database? \layout Standard To begin with, let's get it out of the way: logging to a database is not a panacea. But while there are complexities with this solution, the benefit can be substantial for certain classes of administrator or people with advanced requirements: \layout Itemize Chores like log rotation go away, as you can DELETE records from the SQL database once they are no longer useful. For example, the excellent and popular log-analysis tool Webalizer (http://www.w ebalizer.com/) does not need historic logs after it has processed them, enabling you to delete older logs. \layout Itemize People with clusters of web servers (for high availability) will benefit the most -- all their webservers can log to a single SQL database. This obviates the need to collate/interleave the many separate logfiles, which can be / highly/ problematic. \layout Itemize People acquainted with the power of SQL SELECT statements will know the flexibility of the extraction possibilities at their fingertips. \layout Standard For example, do you want to see all your 404's? Do this: \layout LyX-Code select remote_host,status,request_uri,bytes_sent,from_unixtime(time_stamp) from acc_log_tbl where status=404 order by time_stamp; \layout LyX-Code +-----------------------------------+--------+--------------------------+------- -----+--------------------------- \layout LyX-Code + remote_host | status | request_uri | bytes_sent | from_unixtime(time_stamp)| \layout LyX-Code +-----------------------------------+--------+--------------------------+------- -----+--------------------------- \layout LyX-Code | marge.mmm.co.uk | 404 | /favicon.ico | 321 | 2001-11-20 02:30:56 | \layout LyX-Code | 62.180.239.251 | 404 | /favicon.ico | 333 | 2001-11-20 02:45:25 | \layout LyX-Code | 212.234.12.66 | 404 | /favicon.ico | 321 | 2001-11-20 03:01:00 | \layout LyX-Code | 212.210.78.254 | 404 | /favicon.ico | 333 | 2001-11-20 03:26:05 | \layout LyX-Code +-----------------------------------+--------+--------------------------+------- -----+---------------------------+ \layout Standard Or do you want to see how many bytes you've sent within a certain directory or site? Do this: \layout LyX-Code select request_uri,sum(bytes_sent) as bytes,count(request_uri) as howmany from acc_log_tbl where request_uri like '%mod_log_sql%' group by request_uri order by howmany desc; \layout LyX-Code +-----------------------------------+---------+---------+ \layout LyX-Code | request_uri | bytes | howmany | \layout LyX-Code +-----------------------------------+---------+---------+ \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/style_1.css | 157396 | 1288 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/ | 2514337 | 801 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/mod_log_sql.tar.gz | 9769312 | 456 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/faq.html | 5038728 | 436 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/INSTALL | 1196161 | 202 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/directives.html | 1096821 | 171 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/CHANGELOG | 424481 | 107 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/README | 796072 | 97 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/directives-old.html | 42480 | 6 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/index.html | 9531 | 3 | \layout LyX-Code +-----------------------------------+---------+---------+ \layout Standard Or maybe you want to see who's linking to you? Do this: \layout LyX-Code select count(referer) as num,referer from acc_log_tbl where request_uri='/mod_lo g_sql/' group by referer order by num desc; \layout LyX-Code +-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------+ \layout LyX-Code | num | referer | \layout LyX-Code +-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------+ \layout LyX-Code | 271 | http://freshmeat.net/projects/mod_log_sql/ | \layout LyX-Code | 96 | http://modules.apache.org/search?id=339 | \layout LyX-Code | 48 | http://freshmeat.net/ | \layout LyX-Code | 8 | http://freshmeat.net | \layout LyX-Code | 7 | http://freshmeat.net/daily/2001/11/30/ | \layout LyX-Code | 6 | http://freshmeat.net/daily/2001/11/20/ | \layout LyX-Code +-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------+ \layout Standard As you can see, there are myriad possibilities that can be constructed with the wonderful SQL SELECT statement. Logging to an SQL database can be really quite useful! \layout Subsection Why use MySQL? Are there alternatives? \layout Standard MySQL is a robust, free, and very powerful production-quality database engine. It is well supported and comes with detailed documentation. Many 3rd-party software pacakges (e.g. Slashcode, the engine that powers Slashdot) run exclusively with MySQL. In other words, you will belong to a very robust and well-supported community by choosing MySQL. \layout Standard That being said, there are alternatives. PostgreSQL is probably MySQL's leading "competitor" in the free database world. There is also an excellent module available for Apache to permit logging to a PostgreSQL database, called \begin_inset LatexCommand \url[pgLOGd]{(http://www.digitalstratum.com/pglogd/)} \end_inset . \layout Subsection Is this code production-ready? \layout Standard By all accounts it is. It is known to work without a problem on many-thousands-of-hits-per-day webservers. Does that mean it is 100% bug free? Well, no software is. But it is well-tested and /believed/ to be fully compatible with production environments. (The usual disclaimers apply. This software is provided without warranty of any kind.) \layout Subsection How well does it perform? \layout Standard mod_log_sql scales to very high loads. Apache 1.3.22 + mod_log_sql was benchmarked using the "ab" (Apache Bench) program that comes with the Apache distribution; here are the results. \layout Standard Overall configuration: \layout Itemize Machine A: Apache webserver \layout Itemize Machine B: MySQL server \layout Itemize Machines A and B connected with 100Mbps Ethernet \layout Standard Webserver configuration: \layout Itemize Celeron 400 128 MB RAM IDE storage \layout Standard Apache configuration: \layout LyX-Code Timeout 300 \layout LyX-Code KeepAlive On \layout LyX-Code MaxKeepAliveRequests 100 \layout LyX-Code KeepAliveTimeout 15 \layout LyX-Code MinSpareServers 5 \layout LyX-Code StartServers 10 \layout LyX-Code MaxSpareServers 15 \layout LyX-Code MaxClients 256 \layout LyX-Code MaxRequestsPerChild 5000 \layout LyX-Code LogSQLTransferLogFormat AbHhmRSsTUuvc \layout LyX-Code LogSQLWhichCookie Clicks \layout LyX-Code CookieTracking on \layout LyX-Code CookieName Clicks \layout Standard "ab" commandline: \layout LyX-Code ./ab -c 10 -t 20 -v 2 -C Clicks=ab_run http://www.hostname.com/target \layout Standard ( 10 concurrent requests; 20 second test; setting a cookie "Clicks=ab_run"; target = the mod_log_sql homepage. ) \layout Standard Ten total ab runs were conducted: five with MySQL logging enabled, and five with all MySQL directives commented out of httpd.conf. Then each five were averaged. The results: \layout Itemize Average of five runs employing MySQL \emph on and \emph default standard text logging: 139.01 requests per second, zero errors. \layout Itemize Average of five runs employing \emph on only \emph default standard text logging: 139.96 requests per second, zero errors. \layout Standard In other words, any rate-limiting effects on this particular hardware setup are not caused by MySQL. Note that although this very simple webserver setup is hardly cutting-edge -- it is, after all, a fairly small machine -- 139 requests per second equal over twelve million hits per day \emph on . \layout Standard If you run this benchmark yourself, take note of three things: \layout Enumerate Use a target URL that is on your own webserver :-). \layout Enumerate Wait until all your connections are closed out between runs; after several thousand requests your TCP/IP stack will be filled with hundreds of connections in TIME_WAIT that need to close. Do a "netstat -t|wc -l" on the webserver to see. If you don't wait, you can expect to see a lot of messages like "ip_conntrack: table full, dropping packet" in your logs. (This has nothing to do with mod_log_sql, this is simply the nature of the TCP/IP stack in the Linux kernel.) \layout Enumerate When done with your runs, clean these many thousands of requests out of your database: \layout LyX-Code mysql> delete from access_log where agent like 'ApacheBench%'; mysql> optimize table access_log; \layout Subsection Who's using mod_log_sql? \layout Standard Good question! It would be great to find out! If you are a production-level mod_log_sql user, please contact \begin_inset LatexCommand \url[the maintainer, Chris Powell]{chris@grubbybaby.com} \end_inset so that you can be mentioned here. \layout Subsection How do I extract the data in a format that my analysis tool can understand? \layout Standard mod_log_sql would be virtually useless if there weren't a way for you to extract the data from your database in a somewhat meaningful fashion. To that end there's a Perl script enclosed with the distribution. That script (make_combined_log.pl) is designed to extract N-many days worth of access logs and provide them in a Combined Log Format output. You can use this very tool right in /etc/crontab to extract logs on a regular basis so that your favorite web analysis tool can read them. Or you can examine the Perl code to construct your own custom tool. \layout Standard For example, let's say that you want your web statistics updated once per day in the wee hours of the morning. A good way to accomplish that would be the following entries in /etc/crontab: \layout LyX-Code # Generate the temporary apache logs from the MySQL database (for webalizer) \layout LyX-Code 05 04 * * * root /usr/local/sbin/make_combined_log.pl 1 www.grubbybaby.com > /var/log/httpd/mysql-grubbybaby \layout LyX-Code # Run webalizer on httpd log \layout LyX-Code 30 04 * * * root /usr/local/bin/webalizer -c /etc/webalizer.conf; rm -f /var/log/ httpd/mysql-grubbybaby \layout Standard Or if you have a newer system that puts files in /etc/cron.daily etc., create a file called \begin_inset Quotes sld \end_inset webalizer \begin_inset Quotes srd \end_inset in the cron.____ subdir of your choice. Use the following as the contents of your file, and make sure to chmod 755 it when done. \layout LyX-Code #!/bin/sh \layout LyX-Code /usr/local/sbin/make_combined_log.pl 1 www.yourdomain.com > /var/log/httpd/templog \layout LyX-Code /usr/local/bin/webalizer -q -c /etc/webalizer.conf \layout LyX-Code rm -f /var/log/httpd/templog \layout Standard See? Easy. \layout Subsection Why doesn't the module also replace the Apache ErrorLog? \layout Standard There are circumstances when that would be quite unwise -- for example, if Apache could not reach the MySQL server for some reason and needed to log that fact. Without a text-based error log you'd never know anything was wrong, because Apache would be trying to log a database connection error to the database... you get the point. \layout Standard Error logs are usually not very high-traffic and are really best left as text files on a web server machine. \layout Subsection \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:cookie} \end_inset How can I log mod_usertrack cookies? \layout Standard A number of people like to log mod_usertrack cookies in their Apache TransferLog to aid in understanding their visitors' clickstreams. This is accomplished, for example, with a statement as follows: \layout LyX-Code LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \backslash "%r \backslash " %s %b \backslash "%{Referer}i \backslash " \backslash "%{User-Agent}i \backslash "" \backslash "%{cookie}n \backslash "" \layout Standard Naturally it would be nice for mod_log_sql to permit the admin to log the cookie data as well, so as of version 1.10 you can do this. You need to have already compiled mod_usertrack into httpd -- it's one of the standard Apache modules. \layout Standard First make sure you have a column called "cookie" in the MySQL database to hold the cookies, which can be done as follows if you already have a working database: \layout LyX-Code alter table acc_log_tbl add column cookie varchar(255); \layout Standard Next configure your server to set usertracking cookies as follows, and make sure you include the new 'c' directive in your LogSQLTransferLogFormat, which activates cookie logging. Here's an example: \layout LyX-Code \layout LyX-Code CookieTracking on \layout LyX-Code CookieStyle Cookie \layout LyX-Code CookieName Foobar \layout LyX-Code LogSQLTransferLogFormat huSUsbTvRAc \layout LyX-Code LogSQLWhichCookie Foobar \layout LyX-Code \layout Standard The first three lines configure mod_usertrack to create a COOKIE (RFC 2109) format cookie called Foobar. The last two lines tell mod_log_sql to log cookies named Foobar. You have to choose which cookie to log because more than one cookie can/will be sent to the server by the client. \layout Standard FYI, you are advised NOT to use CookieStyle Cookie2 -- it seems that even newer browsers (IE 5.5, etc.) have trouble with the new COOKIE2 (RFC 2965) format. Just stick with the standard COOKIE format and you'll be fine. \layout Standard Perform some hits on your server and run a select: \layout LyX-Code mysql> select request_uri,cookie from access_log where cookie is not null; \layout LyX-Code +--------------------------------------------+---------------------------------- ------------------+ \layout LyX-Code | request_uri | cookie | \layout LyX-Code +--------------------------------------------+---------------------------------- ------------------+ \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/ | ool-18e4.dyn.optonline.net.1300510071 02700823 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/usa.gif | ool-18e4.dyn.optonline.net.13005100710 2700823 | \layout LyX-Code | /mod_log_sql/style_1.css | ool-18e4.dyn.optonline.net.13005100710 2700823 | \layout LyX-Code ...etc... \layout Subsection What if I want to log more than one cookie? \layout Standard No problem. As of version 1.17, you have a choice. If you are just interested in a single cookie, follow the instructions in section \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cookie} \end_inset above. That cookie will be logged to a column in the regular access_log table. \layout Standard However, if you need to log multiple cookies, you'll employ the LogSQLWhichCooki es (note the plural) directive. The cookies you specify will be logged to a separate table, and entries in that table will be linked to the regular access_log entries via the unique ID that is supplied by mod_unique_id. Without mod_unique_id the information will still be logged but you will be unable to correlate which cookies go with which access-requests. \layout Standard LogSQLWhichCookie and LogSQLWhichCookies can coexist without conflict, but you're better off choosing the one you need. \layout Subsection What are the SSL logging features, and how do I activate them? \layout Standard If you run an SSL-enabled server you may benefit from logging some SSL details. mod_log_sql now supports this ability. By adding certain characters to your LogSQLTransferLogFormat string you can tell mod_log_sql to log the SSL cipher, the SSL keysize of the connection, and the Max-keysize that was available. This would let you tell, for example, which clients were using only export-grad e security to access your secure software area. \layout Standard You can compile mod_log_sql with SSL logging support if you have the right packages installed. If you already have an SSL-enabled Apache then you by definition have the correct packages already installed: OpenSSL and mod_ssl. \layout Standard You need to ensure that your database is set up to log the SSL data. Issue the following commands to MySQL once you have your basic access_log table built: \layout LyX-Code alter table access_log add column ssl_cipher varchar(25); \layout LyX-Code alter table access_log add column ssl_keysize smallint unsigned; \layout LyX-Code alter table access_log add column ssl_maxkeysize smallint unsigned; \layout Standard Finally configure httpd.conf to activate the SSL fields. Note that this is only meaningful in a VirtualHost that is set up for SSL. \layout LyX-Code \layout LyX-Code LogSQLTransferLogFormat AbHhmRSsTUuvcQqz \layout LyX-Code \layout Standard The last three characters (Qqz) in the directive are the SSL ones; see the directives documentation for details. \layout Standard Perform some hits on your server and run a select: \layout LyX-Code mysql> select remote_host,request_uri,ssl_cipher,ssl_keysize,ssl_maxkeysize from access_log where ssl_cipher is not null; \layout LyX-Code +--------------------------+---------------------------------------------------- +------------+-------------+----------------+ \layout LyX-Code | remote_host | request_uri | ssl_cipher | ssl_keysize | ssl_maxkeysize | \layout LyX-Code +--------------------------+---------------------------------------------------- +------------+-------------+----------------+ \layout LyX-Code | 216.190.52.4 | /dir/somefile.html | RC4-MD5 | 128 | 128 | \layout LyX-Code | 216.190.52.4 | /dir/somefile.gif | RC4-MD5 | 128 | 128 | \layout LyX-Code | 216.190.52.4 | /dir/somefile.jpg | RC4-MD5 | 128 | 128 | \layout LyX-Code ...etc... \layout Subsection Does mod_log_sql connect to MySQL via TCP/IP or a socket? \layout Standard It depends! Actually this isn't determined by mod_log_sql. mod_log_sql relies on a connection command that is supplied in the MySQL API, and that command is somewhat intelligent. When mod_log_sql issues the connect command to MySQL, this intelligent connect command uses sockets to communicate with MySQL if the specified MySQL database is on the same machine (because sockets are more efficient than TCP/IP). However, if the specified MySQL db is on a different machine, mod_log_sql connects using TCP/IP. You don't have any control of which methodology is used. \layout Standard You do have control over where mod_log_sql looks for the socket. The LogSQLSocketFile runtime configuration directive overrides the default of "/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock" to whatever you wish. (Applies to mod_log_sql 1.16 or later only.) \layout Subsection Why do I occasionally see a "connection lost, attempting reconnect" message in my error-log? \layout Standard This message may appear every now and then in your Apache error log, especially on very lightly loaded servers. This doesn't mean that anything is necessarily wrong. Within each httpd child process, mod_log_sql will open (and keep open) a connection to the MySQL server. MySQL, however, will close connections that haven't been used in a while; the default timeout is 8 hours. When this occurs, mod_log_sql will notice and re-open the connection. That event is what is being logged, and looks like this: \layout LyX-Code [Thu Dec 13 05:42:18 2001] [error] mod_log_sql: connection lost, attempting reconnect \layout LyX-Code [Thu Dec 13 05:42:18 2001] [error] mod_log_sql: reconnect successful \layout Standard Reference: \begin_inset LatexCommand \url[MySQL documentation]{http://www.mysql.com/documentation/mysql/bychapter/manual_Problems.html#Gone_away} \end_inset \layout Subsection Does mod_log_sql work with Apache 2.x? \layout Standard As of this writing, no. The Apache Group significantly altered the module API with the release of Apache 2.0. All modules written for 1.3, including mod_log_sql, will not work with 2.0. \layout Standard mod_log_sql will eventually be ported to Apache 2.x, but not immediately. It is going to take some time, and there are other features that have higher priority. Please sign up for the announcements list (on the main website) or monitor the website for updates to learn when the port (and other releases) are available. \layout Standard If you're a *NIX user, stick with Apache 1.3.x for now. Major modules like mod_ssl and PHP are not even ready for 2.0 yet, and the main benefits in 2.0 are for Win32 users anyway. Apache 1.3.x is rock-stable and performs equally well on *NIX as 2.0. \layout Subsection I have discovered a bug. Who can I contact? \layout Standard Please contact \begin_inset LatexCommand \url[the maintainer]{chris@grubbybaby.com} \end_inset ! Your comments, suggestions, bugfixes, bug catches, and usage testimonials are always welcome. As free software, mod_log_sql is intended to be a community effort -- any code contributions or other ideas will be fully and openly credited, of course. \the_end