apache_helper

A little helper script to set up common configurations for Mac OS Apache local dev environments.

Requirements

Commander gem -- gem install commander

Commands

add vhost            Add new VirtualHost
edit conf            Opens Apache's configuration file in your editor.
edit hosts           Opens hosts file in your editor.
edit userconf        Opens user-specific configuration file in your editor.
help                 Display global or [command] help documentation.
php                  Modifies Apache configuration to enable PHP support.
setup userconf       Configures Apache to load a user-specific configuration file.

Setup

First, run apache_helper.rb setup userconf. This generates a file "apache.conf" in your home directory and modifies Apache's main configuration to load it. This makes it easier to keep track of all the VirtualHosts you have defined.

If you plan to develop PHP sites, run apache_helper.rb php to enable the PHP module in Apache's configuration. (It is disabled by default in Mac OS.)

Then, to add new virtual hosts, you can use the "add vhost" command:

apache_helper.rb add vhost myproject.local --path /Users/me/Sites/myproject/htdocs

If you're setting up a Rails project (served by the Passenger Apache module) use the --rails flag:

apache_helper.rb add vhost myproject.local --rails --path /Users/me/Sites/myproject

You don't need to point it to the "public" folder; it finds that automatically. The path should just be the root of your Rails app.