Why is apache.exe always renamed?

[Twinky]

I've been using uniformserver since 7.0.1 Orion (infact that is my preferred version which i still use along with a later version on a different port).

For reasons unknown, you always rename apache.exe to something else - such as httpd_z.exe in the latest versions. Why is this?

In Orion there was no easy way to create virtual hosts without restarting. By using "apache -k restart" all of apaches child threads will reload their configurations from httpd.conf when they have finished their current task - without apache itself being restarted. In short, you don't need to restart apache each time you create a new vhost.

However.. this fails with a renamed apache executable. Also you seem to install it into the service manager with a different name too - i had to uninstall mine and reinstall it as apache2.2 and then the reload option worked a treat.

So why do you always rename apache? - I'm not criticising, I love US (xampp is trash) but this I find it odd that you do this.

[Dima D]

 I also have this problem from time to time. Some viruses and malware can rename or delete files to hide their presence or make them harder to remove. If you suspect that your computer is infected with a virus or malware, you should run an anti-virus scan.

[Twinky]

On 7/3/2024 at 8:16 PM, Dima D said:

 I also have this problem from time to time. Some viruses and malware can rename or delete files to hide their presence or make them harder to remove. If you suspect that your computer is infected with a virus or malware, you should run an anti-virus scan.

It's not a virus, this is the way that uniformserver creators have designed the uniformserver setup. Even inside the archive the apache webserver .exe file is always called httpd_z.exe instead of Apache.exe. This seems to go back to when older versions would allow you to create and run multiple apache instances (for whatever reason I have no idea - virtual hosting has been around for years so this was never going to be a big feature).

It just seems odd to rename it.

[Christian71]

On 10/14/2023 at 2:01 PM, Twinky said:

I've been using uniformserver since 7.0.1 Orion (infact that is my preferred version which i still use along with a later version on a different port).

For reasons unknown, you always rename apache.exe to something else - such as httpd_z.exe in the latest versions. Why is this?

In Orion there was no easy way to create virtual hosts without restarting. By using "apache -k restart" all of apaches child threads will reload their configurations from httpd.conf when they have finished their current task - without apache itself being restarted. In short, you don't need to restart apache each time you create a new vhost.

However.. this fails with a renamed apache executable. Also you seem to install it into the service manager with a different name too - i had to uninstall mine and reinstall it as apache2.2 and then the reload option worked a treat. Btw I often check lists of companies specializing in Flutter — it’s interesting to see which flutter app development agency is pushing the boundaries nowadays and how they handle cross-platform challenges.

So why do you always rename apache? - I'm not criticising, I love US (xampp is trash) but this I find it odd that you do this.

Hey. From what I understand, Uniform Server renames apache.exe like to httpd_z.exe mainly to avoid conflicts with other Apache installations on the system. It helps keep things portable and allows multiple instances to run without stepping on each other, especially in development environments where people might have different stacks running at once.

The downside, as you mentioned, is that standard Apache commands like apache -k restart rely on the binary being named apache.exe. When it's renamed, those commands fail unless you manually reinstall the service under the expected name, like you did with apache2.2.

I agree it would be great if there was an option to keep the original executable name for users who need full compatibility with Apache's CLI and service tools.