Automatically start web server

Question

Automatically start web server

Hi,
I'm running an intranet on OS X server 10.3 on a G5 tower. Each time the server restarts, I have to manually start the Web Server. Can I set the Web Server up to automatically restart after the machine restarts? All the other services start automatically, just not the web server.
Thanks,
Justinian

20 iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Mar 27, 2006 10:03 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 27, 2006 10:34 AM in response to Justinian Hatfield

What are the contents of /etc/hostconfig? Do you have WEBSERVER=-YES-?

If so, what does the error log (/var/log/httpd/error_log, typically) say after a reboot, before you try to start the web server manually?

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Answer 2

Mar 27, 2006 11:41 AM in response to Wesley Furgiuele

Webserver is set to no.
How do I change it? I used pico to edit it, but when I go to save the file, it says "cannot open file for writing"
I'm really new to the whole terminal thing. How can I open the file using TextEdit?

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Answer 3

Mar 27, 2006 12:18 PM in response to Justinian Hatfield

sudo pico /etc/hostconfig

You need to isse the sudo command, otherwise you can not edit.

Never use TextEdit to alter system files! If you must use a text editor, try BBedit or TexWrangler to name a few.

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Answer 4

Mar 27, 2006 12:26 PM in response to sonofcolin

Thanks,
That worked!

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Answer 5

Mar 27, 2006 12:28 PM in response to Justinian Hatfield

As mentioned above, I suggest using TextWrangler. You can install some command line tools that allow you to type:
username$ edit /etc/hostconfig
on the command line and have it open automatically for you with TextWrangler, and it is good at preserving the state of the file (unlike TextEdit, which could accidentally append an extension or you could switch it to RTF).

I'm not sure why the hostconfig file doesn't get updated -- I've had that experience in the past as well.

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Answer 6

Mar 27, 2006 12:36 PM in response to Wesley Furgiuele

Yeah, I noticed that on my machine (not the server) I was able to type " edit /filename " and it opened the file in TextWrangler. When I tried that on the server it said edit is an unknown command. Maybe it's becasue my iMac is running Tiger and the server is running Panther?

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Answer 7

Camelot

Level 9

54,333 points

Mar 27, 2006 11:13 PM in response to Justinian Hatfield

It's more likely to be because TextWrangler isn't installed on the server, rather than just because it's a server.

TextWrangler is a third party application that is not shipped with Mac OS X.

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Answer 8

MacWorks

Level 2

340 points

Apr 7, 2006 10:00 AM in response to Wesley Furgiuele

I've got almost the same problem with a 10.4.6 server -- web server does not start automatically upon restart. The hostconfig has WEBSERVER set to -YES-, but it's still not starting automatically.

Any suggestions?

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