There are several ways to install Apache on your server. You could start by downloading a binary distribution built specifically for your operating system, or locate a RPM for your version of Red Hat Linux (or "Fedora," as it is now known), or you could do what I always do - install it from scratch by compiling the source code.

Before you get started with the compilation, I've prepared a little checklist of the requirements in order to ensure a smooth ride:

• A working installation of your favorite flavor of Linux; mine's Slackware.
  
  
• Root access to your Linux box to avoid any permissions issues.
  
  
• A functional C compiler, such as gcc.
  
  
• *NIX utilities such tar and gzip/gunzip to work with source code files.
  
  
• A Linux guru, who is only a phone call way to resolve all those pesky "unforeseen" problems.

Next, you'll need to download the source code of the "best available" version (2.0.52, as of this writing) of the Apache Web server. Note that I've selected the Apache 2.0 version over than "widely-installed" 1.3.x version and the "alpha" 2.1 version, for several reasons.

This 2.0 version is equipped with several enhancements, such as platform-specific multi-processing modules (MPMs) and the Apache Portable Runtime (APR), support for latest IPv6 protocol, ease of configuration with a consistent build mechanism and much, much more, as compared to its predecessor, the 1.3.x version. For hardcore techies, this article titled "Apache 2.0: The Internals of the New, Improved" on LinuxJournal.com - http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4559 - should be an interesting read.

Coming back to the download - select an appropriate mirror website from the download page located at http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi and save the file "httpd-2.0.52.tar.gz" at an appropriate location (say the "/tmp" folder) on your server.

In the next section, I'll show you how to install the Apache using the default settings that are sufficient to get the Web server to serve static HTML pages.