FMS9 being hostile to Apache

[mortee]

Hello!

I use Web Publishing with FMS9, and I have a few issues regarding its integration with Apache.

My primary concern is that it insists on including its own server-status config into httpd.conf, which in turn has an AddDefaultCharset directive. This turns on the charset header globally, which interferes with the sites hosted on the same server.

Is this absolutely unavoidable? Why is it so important for FMS to have Apache serve pages with an UTF-8 header added?

I tried adding an "AddDefaultCharset off" line after the FMS Includes, which solved my problem temporarily, while I could access my databases too. Too bad anytime I update the deployment options for FMS, it deletes from httpd.conf the line I added.

Furthermore, I'm not sure if this is related to my charset override being added to httpd.conf, but after some hours or days of operation, Web Publishing stops working, and the admin console shows a red light next to it. If I try to disable and then re-enable it, it stays gray, and I can't start it until I update the server deployment, which breaks my web sites' charset settings again. I couldn't find any useful hint in any of the logfiles.

All this said, is it possible to have FMS embed its config Includes in a specific VirtualHost directive, so that its arbitrary settings won't mess my global Apache config up? That'd be nice, if already it can't be less hostile in general.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Have you applied the recently released 9.0v2 updater? If these problems eprsist thereafter, I recommend you contact FMI Tech Support. You may have uncovered something here.

Steven

[John May - Point In Space]

Nice find! I was already pissed they felt OK setting server-status and server-info stuff however they wanted, but this is even worse.

A fix: just add "AddDefaultCharset Off" to the end of your httpd.conf file, and it'll override the previous setting without having to modify FMI's files.

- John

[John May - Point In Space]

P.S. This wouldn't affect stability of the WPE at all.

- John

[mortee]

If you look at it again, I wrote that I've found this very "solution" myself too, and applied it. It seems like the stability issue is indeed unrelated (I haven't updated to v2 previously), but the line I add to httpd.conf gets overwritten/deleted whenever I have to update server deployment for one reason or another.

Thanks anyway.

[John May - Point In Space]

Oop, didn't notice that, sorry...

Odd that FileMaker is editing that line out, guess it just likes wiping from it's include lines to the end.

- John

[mortee]

Interesting approach from their part for sure. I wonder what I am supposed to do if I happen to use two different software which both assume they own and can overwrite httpd.conf from their config start to the end.

I'm starting to get pissed by that FileMaker, in business for at least 10 years, introduces year-by-year into their software very basic programming concepts known for at least 30 years...

This httpd.conf issue again proves that they have absolutely no understanding of even the most basic integration principles...