run python3 script on linux apache 2.4

Question

I have looked everywhere and tried many suggested solutions, still without the required result: to run a python file from my lamp server. I can not seem to integrate all the pieces of the puzzle ... Complicating the story is that many solutions either use old apache version (<2.4), which changed the config files significantly. No more httpd.conf! so this executing-a-python-script-in-apache2 does not help; But also the python version being> 3 complicates matters.

specs:

• linux Kubuntu, apache 2.4, python 3.5
• apache is running
• website files are in root/var/www/html/, I have sudo access to this folder.
• apache2 cgi module enabled: a2enmod cgi
• the python 3.5 path is usr/bin/env python3

• the python script, simplest of scripts, has been made executable

  #!/usr/bin/env python3
  print ("Content-type: text/html\n")
  print ("Hello world!")
  

lets boil it down to the simplest case: I would like to have apache interpret the spark.py script and spit out the html: "Hello world!"

Questions:

• is the script file correct as is?
• which config files do I need to change and what do I need to add to these config files?

I know for security reasons, you should not have apache run script in your root dir.

• MattDMo: Look into mod_wsgi, it's much better than plain old CGI. The main Ubuntu archives have a libapache2-mod-wsgi-py3 package, I'm sure there's one available for Kubuntu as well.
• hewi: I am looking into the wsgi modules, but that seems to be even harder to get implemented. Maybe you have a very basic simple example of this?
• hewi: I have google'd it into oblivion, believe me, hence the delay in my response :) don't forget youtube, also quite helpfull, but none of the examples are really explaining a-to-z, where does the wsgi script lives, what are the apache server settings, where does your actual application live? Google "basic python wsgi example" reveals 155,000 results, I just check and I have actually visited aprox 60 links, still not working :( anyway, thanks for your energy, I will post a new question ...

Answer 1

The python documentation for modwsgi seems to fit what you are asking for. The following webpage has a really simple example and the necessary configuration for a python3-apache2 setup.

http://modwsgi.readthedocs.io/en/develop/user-guides/quick-configuration-guide.html

You will need to install the mod_wsgi for the configuration to work. Take note of the different "_" underscore and "-" dash character used in apt and pip3.

$ sudo apt install apache2-dev libapache2-mod-wsgi-py3
$ sudo pip3 install mod_wsgi

libapache2-mod-wsgi-py3 and mod_wsgi seems to be the same thing. However, my test deployment only works after installing mod_wsgi. Could be configuration issue. The following are the details of the configuration I have tested on Ubuntu 16.04.2.

Application file /home/user/wsgi_sample/hello.wsgi:

def application(environ, start_response):
 status = '200 OK'
 output = b'Hello World!'
 response_headers = [('Content-type', 'text/plain'),
 ('Content-Length', str(len(output)))]
 start_response(status, response_headers)
 return [output]

Apache2 configuration /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-test.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
 ServerName testmachine
 <Directory /home/user/wsgi_sample>
 Order allow,deny
 Allow from all
 Require all granted
 </Directory>
 WSGIScriptAlias /hello /home/user/wsgi_sample/hello.wsgi
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site in apache2.

sudo a2ensite 000-test.conf

Open your browser to testmachine/hello.

wsgi may also be deployed on Apache2 using passenger. It demands a slighter longer configuration. Ask a new question if passenger/python3 is desired.

• Fabian Horlacher: Welcome to Stack Overflow. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the target site is unreachable or goes permanently offline.

Answer 2

Yes, your minimum code seem correct. The Apache config information is answered here https://stackoverflow.com/a/57531411/4084546