GlassFish Web Stack and other topics Jeff Trawick

This is not as straightforward as one would hope for, so I put together a quick and dirty guide to get running.

 Prereqs: Ruby, Sun Studio Express, and AMP are installed.

1. See if Ruby gem compile settings for native code need to be corrected.  This works around an OpenSolaris 2008.05 defect.
   
   If /usr/ruby/1.8/lib/ruby/1.8/i386-solaris2.11/rbconfig.rb refers to /opt/SUNWspro, rename the file and replace it with http://blogs.sun.com/prashant/resource/sun_studio/rbconfig.rb.   With that change, native code for gems will be successfully compiled with Sun Studio Express.
   
   (In OpenSolaris 2008.11 b95, a workable rbconfig.rb is present which will use gcc to compile native code for gems.)
2. Build the FastCGI programming library using Sun Studio Express.
   
   

   $ wget http://fastcgi.com/dist/fcgi.tar.gz
   $ gtar -xzf fcgi-2.4.0.tar.gz
   $ cd fcgi-2.4.0
   $ CC=cc CXX=CC ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/fcgi-2.4.0
   $ make
   $ pfexec make install

3. Install the Ruby fcgi gem.
   
   

   $ pfexec gem install fcgi -- --with-fcgi-lib=/usr/local/fcgi-2.4.0/lib \
    --with-fcgi-include=/usr/local/fcgi-2.4.0/include 

4. Create a FastCGI application.
   
   Put these two files in $HOME/fastcgi:
   
   • the app itself, myfcgi.rb
     

     require "fcgi"
     
     FCGI.each { |request|
         request.out.print "Content-Type: text/plain\n\nHello from #{__FILE__}"
         request.finish
     }
     

   • a wrapper, myfcgi
     #!/bin/sh
     ROOT=`dirname $0`
     exec ruby -I /var/ruby/1.8/gem_home/gems/fcgi-0.8.7/lib/ $ROOT/myfcgi.rb
     
     

     Make the wrapper executable:
     

     $ chmod 0755 myfcgi

5. Enable FastCGI in Apache
   
   
   • Add this file to the directory /etc/apache2/2.2/conf.d; call it mod_fcgid.conf.  Be sure to substitute the proper directory on the Alias directive.
     
     

     LoadModule fcgid_module libexec/mod_fcgid.so
     SharememPath /var/run/fcgid_shm
     SocketPath /tmp/fcgid_sock/
     # !!!Replace /export/home/trawick/fastcgi with the location
     # where you placed the sample app.!!!
     Alias /fastcgi /export/home/trawick/fastcgi

     <Location /fastcgi>
         SetHandler fcgid-script
         Options ExecCGI
         allow from all
     </Location>

   • Restart Apache to pick up the new config.
     
     

     $ pfexec svcadm restart apache22

6. Run the app
   
   

   $ firefox http://127.0.0.1/fastcgi/myfcgi

Hints for one issue or another were gathered from these and other places:

1. http://www.hardhathosting.com/community/forums/archive/index.php/t-201.html
2. http://blogs.sun.com/prashant/entry/where_s_my_ruby
3. http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/Rails+on+CentOS+4.3+with+Apache+and+FastCGI+Simply
   

Todo:

1. Understand why fcgi isn't in the default Ruby search path.
2. Try with current 2008.11 development drivers and see if it is simpler.