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If you need to set up a compact, secure, easily configurable Web server in as short a time, then we recommend installing Abyss Web Server. The software is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD operating systems. Depending on your needs, you may choose one of the two available editions. The free personal edition (X1) is a fully usable web server with no limitations. The professional edition (X2) includes an immediate access at no additional cost to new minor and major versions for a small amount of money. The differences between both versions you can find here. Abyss isn't open source software, but it is an interesting product and can provide a full web server with no cost, on older hardware, and with high-performance results. The following workshop describes how to install and configure Abyss Web Server (X1) on Mandriva 2008 server.
Step 1: Installing Abyss Web Server
Download Abyss Web Server (X1) from the following website:
http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/download.php
Copy the file in the users home directory and unzip it and change ownership and permissions:
tar xzf abwsx1.tgz
cp –R abyssws /home
chown –R user:user /home/abyssws
Remark: “user” should be a valid user on your system. Please notice that you must run it as a common user (not as root). This makes sense anyway for security reasons. Nervertheless, it is possible to allow the server's execution under root privileges by using the option –r during startup.
Step 2: First Run
After the installation, just start the software with the command ./abyssws from your console. I recommend using the option –d which will run the server as a daemon. Abyss Web Server is executed in the background and no messages are displayed on the terminal. The server will run on port 8000 by default. You are now able to configure it at port 9999.
Find additional command line options here.
Open your favourite browser and open the following address:
http://localhost:9999
You can use the netstat command to double-check if the web server is really running. Use the following command from your console to do so:
netstat –al
The server supports the languages English, French, Arabian by default. If you like to use additional languages, please continue with step 3. Otherwise run step 4.
Step 3: Install additional languages
Download the language file here:
http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/languages/
Save or copy the selected file inside the lang/ subdirectory located inside the directory where you have installed Abyss Web Server. Stop Abyss Web Server if it is running or restart it using the following commands:
abyssws --stop (Send a stop signal to the currently running instance of Abyss Web Server)
abyssws --restart (Send a restart signal to the currently running instance of Abyss Web Server.)
Browse the console using your preferred browser:
http://localhost:9999
Select Console Configuration, click on Language, and select the new language you have installed.
Step 4: Configuring Abyss Web server
An intuitive web management interface called the “Console” makes the web server configuration as easy as browsing a web site. You do not need to edit configuration files. This tools helps you setting the server parameters in an effortless manner and can be accessed from a local or a remote computer. Open the Console like this:
http://localhost:9999
On the next screen, create an Abyss administrator username and password. You must then immediately enter the Console by using this credentials.
If you like to change the port Abyss uses to the standard 80, please click on Configure (next to "Default host on port 8000") to change that.
Please use the web interface to configure Abyss to your needs. Here is a list of server features you can configure:
- Configurable MIME Types
- Aliases
- URL Rewriting
- Custom Error Pages
- Logging
- Unicode support
- Secure SSL/TLS Connections (HTTPS)
- Directories Listing
- Index Files
- Bandwidth Throttling
- FastCGI support
- IP address based access control
- Users and Groups management (password protection)
- Anti-hacking system
- Anti-leeching system
- Robustness Anti-crash system
Conclusion:
Compared to Apache, Abyss is a nice tool you can use for quick solutions and for testing purposes in the development. But it also could be used as a full Web server with no cost and configuration hassle. Give it a try!
More information:
Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/faq.html
Adding PHP Support
http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/php.html
Documentation
http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/doc.html
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