Re: Can't get mod_ruby to work

Hi Arnold,

Rails won't work by default in a mod_ruby environment where multiple  
applications are sharing the same setup. mod_ruby shares the Ruby  
instance across all the applications and Rails use essentially global  
variables that are not compatible with having that information shared  
across multiple applications.

I don't know of any other hosts that takes Rails hosting serious that  
are using mod_ruby. Everyone else are using either FastCGI or Mongrel.  
Given your constraints, I don't think running Rails is going to be  
something you can offer.

I do know that some experimental support for running Rails under  
mod_ruby was done a few years back, but I don't think it solved the  
fundamental issue of having a shared Ruby instance, which is not safe.

> To give you a bit of background. I'm setting up a test project to  
> see if we can support Ruby on Rails for our hosting company. I need  
> a solution which fits in a 100% automated set-up. Tomcat does not  
> and I don't know mongrel, but I doubt if it does. Also in our setup  
> the Apache process switches to the user, for security purposes, so  
> running another daemon is not an option. Supporting fastcgi is also  
> not an option for security issues and running it as normal cgi is a  
> performance killer. In short I want to run it using mod_ruby. I'm  
> not sure how I gave the impression that using mod_ruby or supporting  
> Rails was optional, but it's not. Otherwise I would not have posted  
> in on the mod_ruby mailing list.
>
> I assume that mod_ruby is working for other people and I'm doing  
> something wrong. I would like to hear from people who do have it  
> working, because I can't get it to work at all. I don't see any  
> errors. Where should I look to find what is wrong or is this a known  
> issue?
>
> So please, anybody who doesn't like Ruby, Ruby on Rails, mod_ruby or  
> Apache, I am not interested in your opinion.
>
> Best regards,
> Arnold Daniels
>
> ---------------------
>
> Trying 127.0.0.1...
> Connected to localhost.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> GET http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/TheProject.html HTTP/1.1
>
> (No response on this)
>
> --------------------
>
> arnold@arnold-laptop:/etc/apache2$ sudo apache2 -M
> Loaded Modules:
> core_module (static)
> log_config_module (static)
> logio_module (static)
> mpm_itk_module (static)
> http_module (static)
> so_module (static)
> alias_module (shared)
> auth_basic_module (shared)
> authn_file_module (shared)
> authz_default_module (shared)
> authz_groupfile_module (shared)
> authz_host_module (shared)
> authz_user_module (shared)
> autoindex_module (shared)
> cgi_module (shared)
> cgid_module (shared)
> dir_module (shared)
> env_module (shared)
> evasive20_module (shared)
> info_module (shared)
> macro_module (shared)
> mime_module (shared)
> negotiation_module (shared)
> php5_module (shared)
> proxy_module (shared)
> proxy_http_module (shared)
> rewrite_module (shared)
> ruby_module (shared)
> setenvif_module (shared)
> status_module (shared)
> userdir_module (shared)
> xsendfile_module (shared)
>
>
> David Heinemeier Hansson wrote:
>> Please. Before you throw your arms up in despair and forsake all  
>> that is good, have a look at what's been a best-practice deployment  
>> scenario for a long time now: Web server -> proxy -> mongrels.
>>
>> If you like Apache, you can for example use mod_proxy_balancer (see http://blog.innerewut.de/2006/04/21/scaling-rails-with-apache-2-2-mod_proxy_balancer-and-mongrel 
>>  for detailed instructions). Or you could use HAProxy (see http://rubyworks.rubyforge.org/installation/installation-continued.html 
>>  for more). There are tons of options out there and thousands of  
>> sites putting them to good use in production.
>>
>> Abandoning Rails because you haven't looked into deployment  
>> scenarios is like scrapping your car in favor of a horse because  
>> you can't figure out how to open the trunk. An overreaction.
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I can't help you, but I've pass through for almost the same
>>> configuration problems.
>>> I like very much the way things work in Ruby on Rails but when we  
>>> need
>>> to deploy to production in Apache the problems arise.
>>> Why don't you take a look in grails that works like ruby and is very
>>> simple to deploy to Apache Tomcat?
>>> Here is the link -> http://grails.codehaus.org/
>>>
>>> Manuel
>>>
>>> On Nov 15, 2007 3:10 PM, Arnold Daniels <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> I'm trying to use mod_ruby to serve a Ruby On Rails application.  
>>>> The
>>>> applications currently works with dispatch.cgi. I'm running  
>>>> Ubuntu Gutsy
>>>> and installed ruby, mod_ruby and rails using apt-get. This  
>>>> package only
>>>> comes with a ruby.load configuration file, which loads mod_ruby,  
>>>> but
>>>> does nothing more. I've created a ruby.conf file, based on the
>>>> information on the site. However as soon as I add 'RubyRequire
>>>> apache/ruby-run', the server stops responding. It accepts the
>>>> connection, but never handles the request. This is not only for  
>>>> ruby
>>>> scripts, but for all requests, even for static content. I do not  
>>>> get any
>>>> report in the error log.
>>>>
>>>> Does this make sense to someone? I can't retrieve info, so I'm  
>>>> stuck.
>>>>
>>>> Any help would be highly appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> Arnold Daniels
>>>>
>>>> -------------------
>>>>
>>>> root@arnold-laptop:/var/log/apache2# apache2 -v
>>>> Server version: Apache/2.2.4 (Ubuntu)
>>>> Server built:   Oct  7 2007 22:17:24
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> root@arnold-laptop:/etc/apache2/mods-enabled# cat ruby.load
>>>> LoadModule ruby_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_ruby.so
>>>> root@arnold-laptop:/etc/apache2/mods-enabled# cat ruby.conf
>>>> <IfModule mod_ruby.c>
>>>> RubyRequire apache/ruby-run
>>>>
>>>> # Execute files under /ruby as Ruby scripts
>>>> #  <Location /ruby>
>>>> #  SetHandler ruby-object
>>>> #  RubyHandler Apache::RubyRun.instance
>>>> #  </Location>
>>>>
>>>> # Execute *.rb files as Ruby scripts
>>>> <Files *.rb>
>>>> SetHandler ruby-object
>>>> RubyHandler Apache::RubyRun.instance
>>>> </Files>
>>>> </IfModule>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> -- 
>> David Heinemeier Hansson
>>
>>
>

--
David Heinemeier Hansson