Compiling a Program from Source

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Compiling a Program from Source

Building programs from source has many uses. Among these are installing software that is not in a package manager, installing brand new or older releases, and modifying the source code prior to installation to meet a particular need. This hands-on lab is designed to test you on installing programs from source code. In order to complete this lab, you need to obtain the source and extract it in the proper location. Then, you can use the program-specific `configure` script to create a Makefile. Finally, you need to compile source code and install it to the correct location.

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Aug 27, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Download and Extract the Source Files to /usr/local/src
Change directories to /usr/local/src and download the source files with wget using the URLs provided:
- nginx: https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.19.6.tar.gz
- httpd: https://archive.apache.org/dist/httpd/httpd-2.2.9.tar.bz2
Then, extract the source files to /usr/local/src.
Challenge

Install nginx to /usr/local
Change directories to the top level directory for nginx-1.19.6. Then, run the configure script to create the Makefile based on the instructions provided (resolve any dependencies).
- The install location should be /usr/local/nginx.
- The rewrite and gzip modules should be excluded.
Compile the program, install the program, and validate the installation by starting the service.
- The nginx service can be started by issuing ./nginx from the sbin directory within the install.
- The nginx service can be stopped by issuing ./nginx -s stop from the sbin directory.
- Ensure the service is shut down before proceeding to the next step.
Challenge

Install apache httpd to /opt
Change directories to the top level directory for httpd-2.2.9. Then, run the configure script to create the Makefile.
- The install location should be /opt/httpd-2.2.9.
Compile the program, install the program, and validate the installation by starting the service.
- The service can be started by issuing ./apachectl -k start from the bin directory within the install.

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