lighttpd(http://lighttpd.net/)和apache一样是开源的，与apache相比，虽然功能不及apache完善，稳定性也不如apache，但是，不管是服务静态页面，还是服务动态内容(CGI，PHP)，它都比apache快，用于ad banner之类的WEB服务器是最恰当不过了。

本文从应用的角度，说明如何安装、配置lighttpd。

(1) 安装

可从http://lighttpd.net/download/下载最新的源码(.tar.gz)或者rpm包。如果下载的是.tar.gz文件，则和GNU的其他软件一样，先./configure一下，然后 make && make install就搞定了。但是如果你想定制一些功能，就得好好看看解压后README, INSTALL以及./configure --help的输出结果了。这里仅仅说一下如何从源码安装，其他安装方式可参考 http://trac.lighttpd.net/trac/wiki/TutorialInstallation。

$ gzip -cd lighttpd-1.4.9.tar.gz 　 tar xf -
...
$ cd lighttpd-1.4.9
$ ./configure --help
`configure' configures lighttpd 1.4.9 to adapt to many kinds of systems.

Usage: ./configure [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...

To assign environment variables (e.g., CC, CFLAGS...), specify them as
VAR=VALUE. See below for descriptions of some of the useful variables.

Defaults for the options are specified in brackets.

Configuration:
...

Installation directories:
--prefix=PREFIX install architecture-independent files in PREFIX
[/usr/local]
--exec-prefix=EPREFIX install architecture-dependent files in EPREFIX
[PREFIX]

By default, `make install' will install all the files in
`/usr/local/bin', `/usr/local/lib' etc. You can specify
an installation prefix other than `/usr/local' using `--prefix',
for instance `--prefix=$HOME'.

For better control, use the options below.

Fine tuning of the installation directories:
...

Program names:
...

System types:
...

Optional Features:
--disable-FEATURE do not include FEATURE (same as --enable-FEATURE=no)
--enable-FEATURE[=ARG] include FEATURE [ARG=yes]
--enable-maintainer-mode enable make rules and dependencies not useful
(and sometimes confusing) to the casual installer
--disable-dependency-tracking speeds up one-time build
--enable-dependency-tracking do not reject slow dependency extractors
--enable-static[=PKGS]
build static libraries [default=no]
--enable-shared[=PKGS]
build shared libraries [default=yes]
--enable-fast-install[=PKGS]
optimize for fast installation [default=yes]
--disable-libtool-lock avoid locking (might break parallel builds)
--enable-lfs Turn on Large File System (default)
--disable-ipv6 disable IPv6 support

Optional Packages:
--with-PACKAGE[=ARG] use PACKAGE [ARG=yes]
--without-PACKAGE do not use PACKAGE (same as --with-PACKAGE=no)
--with-gnu-ld assume the C compiler uses GNU ld [default=no]
--with-pic try to use only PIC/non-PIC objects [default=use
both]
--with-tags[=TAGS]
include additional configurations [automatic]
--with-mysql[=PATH]
Include MySQL support. PATH is the path to
'mysql_config'
--with-ldap enable LDAP support
--with-attr enable extended attribute support
--with-valgrind enable internal support for valgrind
--with-openssl[=DIR]
Include openssl support (default no)
--with-openssl-includes=DIR
OpenSSL includes
--with-openssl-libs=DIR OpenSSL libraries
--with-kerberos5 use Kerberos5 support with OpenSSL
--with-pcre Enable pcre support (default yes)
--with-bzip2 Enable bzip2 support for mod_compress
--with-fam fam/gamin for reducing number of stat() calls
--with-webdav-props properties in mod_webdav
--with-gdbm gdbm storage for mod_trigger_b4_dl
--with-memcache memcached storage for mod_trigger_b4_dl
--with-lua lua engine for mod_cml

Some influential environment variables:
...
如上所述，可通过--prefix指定安装路径，默认安装在/usr/local下。可以指定启用哪些特征(插件)，禁用哪些特征(插件)。假定我们要把lighttpd安装到/usr/local/lighttpd-1.4.9下面。

$ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/lighttpd-1.4.9
$ make
$ make install
$ cp doc/lighttpd.conf /usr/local/lighttpd-1.4.9/ # 拷贝配置文件
$ cd /usr/local/lighttpd-1.4.9
$ vi lighttpd.conf # 修改配置文件
配置文件很直观明了，一般只要把server.document-root、server.errorlog、accesslog.filename改成你的实际目录和文件名字就可以了。

$ sbin/lighttpd -f lighttpd.conf # 启动lighttpd服务
$ ps aux 　 grep lighttpd
www 15403 0.0 0.9 2860 1148 ? S 00:15 0:00 sbin/lighttpd -f
这就完成了从安装到启动的整个过程，很简单吧。从最后一行的输出可以看出，lighttpd是单进程服务的，这和apache不一样（也许是它的稳定性不如apache的一个原因）。

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