[Zope] Using proxypass for virtual servers + root install

[M. Oesterwinter]

I tried posting a similar post before on egroups.com, but it didn't seem
to work, as I can't find my post anywhere.

I have been trying endlessly to use Zope with virtual domains with no
luck.  I started out with the VirtualHostFolder product by Adam Feuer and
tried to install it with version 2.2.x of zope, but there is a patch
script for zope that is made for version 2.0.x, and it didn't seem to
work.  I cantacted Adam about the product, and he said that Michel
Pelletier was working on a new similar product, and he was waiting for the
release of that product.  Does anyone have any info on this project?

Next, I tried using the apache+zope+ssl howto that was recently put out,
and that didn't work (I think because of a screw up in my IP alias
settings), so I scraped that install.

Most recently, I spent half a day trying to use the ProxyPass method, but
for some reason, I can't seem to get it to work correctly.  I believe I
have all the settings correct (I followed the howto precisely, with the
exception that I took the / off the end of the URL in SiteRoot because I
was getting a bunch of pages with two /s in the middle.  Either way, it
didn't work with the / at the end either.

I can load the page, but it comes up unusably slow.  I am using a
squishdot site to test.  It is located at http://www.capitaltips.com.  If
I access zope directly (not using SiteRoot), performance is fine.  As soon
as I add siteroot, and try to contact by the VirtualHost, it turns
unusable (even the admin screens for that directory.  I have a feeling
that it is apache, which I am running on a different server, but I have no
idea what the problem is.

Anyways, here is my configuration in case anyone cares:
Zope box:
Celeron 366 with 128MB RAM
Mandrake 6.1 - no apache installed
IP 204.203.69.136
Port 8080
Zope: Installed from SRC - newest version
capitaltips test site: /testdot 

Apache box:
Pentium 133 with 96MB RAM
Mandrake 6.1 - Apache 1.3.9 installed from RPM
IP 204.203.69.132
IP alias 204.203.69.133-135

vhost0.conf on Apache box:
(defualt httpd.conf unless changed by linuxconf)
<VirtualHost 204.203.69.134>
ServerName www.capitaltips.com
ServerAdmin admin@capitaltips.com
ProxyPass / http://204.203.69.136:8080/testdot/
ProxyPassReverse / http://204.203.69.136:8080/testdot/
ProxyPass /misc_ http://204.203.69.136:8080/misc_
ProxyPass /p_ http://204.203.69.136:8080/p_
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost 204.203.69.133>
ServerName www.pfgllc.com
ServerAdmin admin@pfgllc.com
ProxyPass / http://204.203.69.136:8080/pfgllc/
ProxyPassReverse / http://204.203.69.136:8080/pfgllc/         
ProxyPass /misc_ http://204.203.69.136:8080/misc_
ProxyPass /p_ http://204.203.69.136:8080/p_
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost 204.203.69.135>
ServerName www.financeXpert.com
ServerAdmin admin@financeXpert.com
ProxyPass / http://204.203.69.136:8080/financexpert/
ProxyPassReverse / http://204.203.69.136:8080/financexpert/
ProxyPass /misc_ http://204.203.69.136:8080/misc_
ProxyPass /p_ http://204.203.69.136:8080/p_
</VirtualHost>

If anyone can give me a clue as to what the problem is, I would greatly
appreciate it.

I have also been having one little problem with IP aliases.  I was unable
to do assign IP aliases with linuxconf, so I tried to use netcnf, which
allows me to make the aliases, however I check start at boot, but they
don't start at boot (and yes, I have saved the configuration).  I have to
manually go in and ifup eth0:0, eth0:1, etc.

One more issue: I have heard all this talk about whether zope should be
installed with root.  What I have been doing is installing with root and
then 'chown -R nobody:nobody' the zope root directory.  Is there any
problem with this?  I also typically do this to the /home/httpd directory.
Is this okay to do?  Is there any problem with assigning nobody a password
that way I don't have to log into root and 'su nobody' all the time?

It is getting time for me to get up, and I haven't gone to bed yet!  Any
help would be very much appreciated.  Thanks.

- Marcus