[plug] mod_perl2 issues resolved

[Bernard Blackham]

Here's one for the archives...

On Thu, 2006-11-23 at 11:26 +0800, Timothy White wrote:
> We are trying to get mod_perl2 running on sarge, to fix the stupid
> mod_perl segfaults we get on the members server. Grabbing
> libapache2-mod-perl2 from backports, and also getting a CGI.pm package
> installed, gives us the following. I have no idea where the original
> definition of load is, and can't find it. I don't even know if that's
> the problem!! I know that for PerlResponseHandler in the apache confs,
> we can have many different functions. It is current ModPerl::Registry,
> no idea if something else will work, remembering we are updating from
> mod_perl1
> 
> [Thu Nov 23 11:06:27 2006] [error] [client 85.7.191.411] failed to
> resolve handler `ModPerl::Registry': Subroutine load redefined at
> /usr/lib/perl5/Apache2/XSLoader.pm line 28.\nCompilation failed in
> require at /usr/lib/perl5/Apache2/ServerUtil.pm line 24.\nBEGIN
> failed--compilation aborted at /usr/lib/perl5/Apache2/ServerUtil.pm
> line 24.\nCompilation failed in require at
> /usr/lib/perl5/ModPerl/RegistryCooker.pm line 29.\nBEGIN
> failed--compilation aborted at
> /usr/lib/perl5/ModPerl/RegistryCooker.pm line 29.\nCompilation failed
> in require at (eval 3) line 3.\n\t...propagated at
> /usr/share/perl/5.8/base.pm line 84.\nBEGIN failed--compilation
> aborted at /usr/lib/perl5/ModPerl/Registry.pm line 25.\nCompilation
> failed in require at (eval 2) line 3.\n

Sarge's Perl CGI package doesn't know about the Apache2 perl modules
provided by the latest package. A couple of hideous s/Apache/Apache2/g's
later (and also a s/Apache->request/Apache::RequestUtil->request()/g
later) inside /usr/share/perl/5.8/CGI*, and we encounter the same
segfault as before.

Open up apache under gdb and find that it's crashing in
modperl_env_request_tie() with a NULL pointer dereference. Google for
the function name, discover the patch, discover that Debian knows of the
issue but hasn't done anything about it, and for the rest of the story,
see http://bugs.debian.org/384622 . I rebuilt the package with the
upstream patch.

Members section should no longer have the annoying blank pages.

Bernard.