LAMPdocs: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP

I do often monitor server apache status as most often reason of server outages is Apache overload. Some web hosting panels are sending notifications when your server is down; some web services like Alertra.com provide you with different notification options and one of my hosters has his internal monitoring service. But what to do if you need to go anywhere where you can’t get access to your server? You’ll need a cron task that will check whether apache is up and will restart it if not.

I’ve found a solution at a forum. You’ll need a simple shell script and here it is:

#!/bin/sh
run=`ps ax | grep /usr/sbin/httpd | grep -v grep | cut -c1-5 | paste -s -`
if [ "$run" ];
then
echo “Apache is running”
else
/etc/init.d/httpd start
fi

This script will check for a number of running script processes and will try to start apache if it is not running. You should add this script to crontab with any frequency you like. I’d suggest to run it every 3 minutes as it doesn’t cause server load, but your apache stability is vital.

Sometimes you need to have a look at Apache status, especially, if your server serves many users and if often busy. You should monitor you server’s CPU load, and view other Apache performance information.

There is a simple solution in httpd.conf, that allows you to do this directly from your browser. All you need is just to add some lines to your configuration file. First of all, you should have the following sting, that makes this possible:
LoadModule status_module modules/mod_status.so

Usually at the bottom of the httpd.conf you can find some lines about server status. Let’s take the comments off.
ExtendedStatus On

This will show you more information, it’s what you exactly need. You don’t have to make this information public, but it will be very informative and useful for you. Then go down and add these lines:
<Location /server-status>
SetHandler server-status
</Location>

This URL will be relative to your Servername, so make sure you have set it up. You also should protect this location  just as shown in the sample httpd.conf:

#    Order deny,allow
#    Deny from all
#    Allow from .example.com

Just add your own limits and have fun! Apache visualization is done!