Here are some example configuration files for DomTool, our distributed configuration management system.

1. Domains

1.1. The Model T

If you just want to declare your domain with a www.yourdomain virtual host serving out of ~/public_html/ and all mail forwarded to your mailbox, use:

dom "yourdomain" with
end;

Or, if you don't want all mail to be forwarded to your mailbox, use:

dom "yourdomain" where
  DefaultAlias = false;
with end;

1.2. Upgraded Model T

If you like everything dom gives you but want to add additional configuration, include it between with..end. For instance, to add an extra web virtual host other:

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "other" with
    (* More configuration could go here *)
  end;
end;

1.3. Model T with customized www.yourdomain

You wouldn't want to copy the last example with "www" instead of "other", because dom already creates a www vhost. Instead, there's a more convenient way to configure this most common of vhosts:

dom "yourdomain" where
  DocumentRoot = "/my/custom/docroot";
  (* See "Bucking all the trends" in the Apache section for other options you can
     use like DocumentRoot. *)
  WWW = begin
    alias "/from" "/to";
    alias "/from2" "/to2";
    (* These are just examples.  Arbitrary vhost config goes here. *)
  end
with
  (* And other domain configuration can go here, including more vhosts. *)
end;

1.4. Model T with redirect from www.yourdomain to yourdomain

To redirect all URLs from http://www.mydomain/some/path/ to http://mydomain/some/path/ you need to disable the automatic creation of the www host, and then create it manually specifying a permanent redirect rule.

dom "mydomain.com" where
 CreateWWW = false;
with
 vhostDefault with
 end;

 web "www" with
   rewriteRule "^(.*)$" "http://mydomain.com$1" [redirectWith permanent]
 end;
end;

1.5. Attack of the Model T Clones

We can take the Model T and use it with some alternate names for the domain we're configuring.

dom "yourdomain" where
  Aliases = ["yourotherdomain", "yourotherotherdomain"]
with
end;

A single Apache virtual host is created, answering to multiple names. Other configuration is duplicated like you had entered it in a separate dom block for each alias.

1.6. Subdomain Redirection

This example aliases a subdomain and redirects it to the "www" virtual host. This means that when accessing yourSubdomain.yourdomain.com you will actually be receiving content defined by www.yourdomain.com.

dom "yourdomain.com" where
  CreateWWW = false
with
  dnsIP "yourSubdomain" web_ip;
  web "www" with
    serverAlias "yourSubdomain"
  end
end;

1.7. The Do-It-Yourself

The lowest-level way of configuring a domain is the domain directive, which does nothing but set up basic DNS parameters and provide a space for including further directives. You shouldn't use the domain directive unless you really know what you're doing when it comes to Internet protocols, and you have a good reason not to like the defaults that dom includes.

domain "yourdomain" with
  (* Your directives here *)
end;

2. DNS

Here's a tour through the available DNS features. You probably don't want to use any nameserver, dnsDefault, or dnsMail directives in your configuration, since dom will include the proper defaults for you. It's worth reminding that you probably shouldn't use the domain directive. We only use it here for illustrative purposes.

domain "yourdomain" with
  nameserver "ns1.hcoop.net";
  nameserver "ns3.hcoop.net";
  (* Specify two DNS servers that are authoritative for yourdomain *)
  dnsDefault "69.90.123.68";
  (* Add a mapping from yourdomain to IP address 69.90.123.68 *)
  dnsIP "host" "1.2.3.4";
  (* Add a mapping from host.yourdomain to IP address 1.2.3.4 *)
  dnsMail 23 "mail.yourdomain";
  (* Register mail.yourdomain as an SMTP handler for yourdomain, with priority 23 *)
  dnsAlias "hcoop" "hcoop.net";
  (* Add an alias such that hcoop.yourdomain resolves to the same thing as hcoop.net *)
  dnsIP "dynamic" "5.6.7.8" where
    TTL = 100
  end;
  (* Add an IP mapping with an abnormally low time-to-live of 100, see the section about dynamic DNS below *)
  (* IPv6 alternatives to some of the above *)
  dnsIPv6 "host" "1111:2222:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888";
  dnsDefaultv6 "1111:2222:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888";
  (* Map every remaining hostname to 2.2.2.2. *)
  dnsWildcardIP "2.2.2.2";
end;

2.1. Keeping DNS elsewhere

This example shows how to configure mail handling for a domain that is primarily hosted off of HCoop. We only use domain instead of dom because dom already includes the handleMail directive that we want to demonstrate.

domain "yourdomain" where
  DNS = noDns
with
  handleMail;
end;

2.2. Dynamic DNS

It's possible to easily use HCoop DNS as a dynamic DNS server for clients with frequently changing IP addresses.

If you install DomTool locally, you can simply generate and execute suitable domtool programs from a cron job. You can find a shell script to do this at /afs/hcoop.net/user/b/bp/bpt/public/ddns.

There is a PHP script for it here, which generates a Domtool file based on a template you specify and fills in the dynamic parts (IP address, domain, and pretty much everything else you need). The script then compares the result to a file stored in ~/.domtool, and if it's not identical, the script saves the new data in that file and runs Domtool.

To checkout run: svn co http://svn.firestats.cc/stuff/trunk/dns-update/

Be sure to read the README file. Please report any issues to Omry Yadan. (omry |at| yadan dot net).

3. Mail

We only use domain instead of dom because dom already includes the handleMail directive that we want to demonstrate.

domain "yourdomain" with
  handleMail;
  (* HCoop should provide relaying for yourdomain *)
  emailAlias "user1" "user1@gmail.com";
  (* Forward mail from user1@yourdomain to user1@gmail.com *)
  emailAlias "user2" "me";
  (* Forward mail from user2@yourdomain to HCoop user me *)
  aliasMulti "pals" ["pal1@yahoo.com", "pal2@prodigy.com", "pal3"];
  (* Forward mail from pals@yorudomain to pal1@yahoo.com, pal2@prodigy.com, and HCoop user pal3 *)
  aliasDrop "spamtrap";
  (* Silently drop all mail to spamtrap@yourdomain *)
  defaultAlias "me";
  (* Send all yourdomain mail, period, to user me *)
end;

4. Apache

.htaccess files are not processed on our servers for security reasons, as explained on DomTool/WhyNoHtaccess. See the examples below to learn how to use Apache features that are often controlled with .htaccess files.

4.1. The Default

The standard dom directive gives you a web site at www.yourdomain and yourdomain, pulling content from your ~/public_html directory.

dom "yourdomain" with
end;

4.2. Extending the Default

You can tweak the configuration for your domain's www virtual host like this:

dom "yourdomain" where
  DocumentRoot = home "somewhere/else";
  (* Serve static content from ~/somewhere/else. *)
  WWW = begin
    (* Here you can put any of the web configuration directives found in the sections below. *)
  end
with
  (* ...and you can still put other domain configuration here. *)
end

4.3. Simple Additional Web Sites

It's easy to add extra web sites to your domain when they just serve static content from subdirectories of your home directory:

dom "yourdomain" with
  simpleWeb "site1" "sites/site1";
  (* This creates a web virtual host site1.yourdomain, serving content from ~/sites/site1. *)
  simpleWeb "site2" "sites/site2";
end

4.4. The Model T

Now we come to the web directive, which should be your main tool for creating additional virtual vhosts with custom configuration.

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    (* This is a web host found at mywebhost.yourdomain. *)
  end;
end;

Note that the web directive also adds the right DNS mapping for your virtual host. Never use web "www" within a dom directive. Instead, see the examples at the beginning of the Apache section. All of the directives demonstrated in the rest of the Apache section can be used between the begin and end demonstrated in that example.

4.5. The Do-It-Yourself

dom "yourdomain" with
  vhost "mywebhost" with
  end;
end;

This one doesn't add any DNS mappings. You probably never want to use vhost instead of web.

4.6. The Top-Level Do-It-Yourself

The same can also be done to create a vhost accessible via http://yourdomain/.

dom "yourdomain" with
  vhostDefault with
  end;
end;

4.7. Using a nonstandard web server

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" where
    WebPlaces = [web_place_default "fyodor"]
  with
  end;
end;

4.8. Using SSL (HTTPS)

For this example, we assume that you've applied for and been granted permissions on the SSL certificate /etc/apache2/ssl/user/yourdomain.pem and the IP address 1.2.3.4 on mire.

dom "yourdomain.com" where
  CreateWWW = false;
with
  webAtIp "1.2.3.4" "www" where
    SSL = use_cert "/etc/apache2/ssl/user/yourdomain.pem"
  with
  end;
end;

4.9. Allowing non-secure & secure connection with same behaviour

In order to allow access to your website both securely and insecurely, you should simply replicate the whole web directive and add the SSL certificate.

dom "yourdomain.com" where
  CreateWWW = false;
  DocumentRoot = home "public_html"
with
  web "www" with
  end;
  web "www" where
    SSL = use_cert "/etc/apache2/ssl/user/yourdomain.pem"
  with
  end;
end;

4.10. Bucking all the trends

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" where
    DocumentRoot = home "private_html";
    User = "me_web";
    Group = "me_web";
    SSL = use_cert "/home/me/mycert.pem"
  with
  end;
end;

home "private_html" builds the full path to subdirectory private_html of your home directory.

4.11. Basic URL handling

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    alias "/doc" "/usr/local/doc";
    (* Serve all URIs beginning in /doc out of directory /usr/local/doc.
       Note that the second argument can't be just any old path.  You need to have
       been granted permission to read from the path.  You should have permission
       to read from any path within your home directory, as well as a few others,
       like /usr/share/moin. *)
    scriptAlias "/my-script" "/var/cgi/a-program";
    (* Handle requests for /my-script by calling the CGI program /var/cgi/a-program.
       The example here uses a file, but scriptAlias directive can also alias CGI
       directories, as you'd expect: scriptAlias "/location/" "/directory/" *)
    errorDocument "404" "not_found.html";
    (* Handle HTTP error code 404 by sending file not_found.html *)
  end;
end;

4.12. Location-specific configuration

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    location "/private" with
       errorDocument "404" "not_found_private.html";
    end;
    (* When in the /private tree of URI-space, handle 404s with not_found_private.html *)
    directory "/usr/local/doc" with
       errorDocument "404" "not_found_doc.html";
    end;
    (* When looking for a file in real directory /usr/local/doc, handle 404s with not_found_doc.html *)
    location "/cgi-bin" with
       options [execCGI];
       cgiExtension "cgi"
    end;
    (* Any path like /cgi-bin/*.cgi should be executed as a CGI script. *)
  end;
end;

4.13. Server aliases

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    serverAliasHost "www2.yourdomain";
    serverAliasHost "www.otherdomain";
    (* www2.yourdomain and www.otherdomain are alternate names for this vhost *)
    serverAlias "www3";
    (* Short form for an alternate name within the current domain *)
    serverAliasDefault;
    (* Make this virtual host answer to yourdomain, with no extra hostname needed in front. *)
  end;
end;

Note that you must have Domtool configuration rights to all domains you name with serverAlias. See the example "Attack of the Model T Clones" for a more convenient way of duplicating all of a domain's configuration for one or more other domains.

4.14. Directory options

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    options [execCGI, indexes];
    (* Use exactly the Apache options execCGI and indexes by default for this vhost *)
    set_options [includesNOEXEC];
    (* Add the option includesNOEXEC, leaving the others alone *)
    unset_options [followSymLinks];
    (* Ask not to follow symbolic links. *)
    directoryIndex ["index.html", "index.php", "index.txt"];
    (* When looking for the default file to serve for a directory, consider these possibilities in order *)
    action "image/gif" "/cgi-bin/images.cgi";
    (* Run /cgi-bin/images.cgi to serve images *)
    addDefaultCharset "utf-8";
    (* Use the UTF-8 character set by default *)
    location "/prefix" with
       forceType "text/plain";
       (* Serve all files in this location as plain text *)
       forceTypeOff;
       (* Change our mind about that! *)
       (* All the other directives mentioned above can be used in locations, too, but forceType* _must_ be in a location. *)
    end;
  end;
end;

4.15. Access control

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    location "/loc1" with
      authType basic;
      (* Use HTTP basic authentication in this location *)
      authName "my domain";
      (* Tell users that they're authenticating for "my domain" *)
      authUserFile "/etc/webusers";
      (* Look up user/password information in /etc/webusers *)
      orderAllowDeny;
      (* Access is denied by default *)
      requireValidUser;
      (* Anyone providing a valid password is allowed *)
      denyFrom "badguys.evil.net";
      (* However, anyone coming from this domain is banned *)
      denyFrom "1.2";
      (* Also ban anyone with a 1.2.*.* IP address *)
    end;
    location "/loc2" with
       authType basic;
       authName "my other domain";
       authUserFile "/etc/otherone";
       denyFromAll;
       (* Deny everyone by default *)
       requireUser ["fred", "barney"];
       (* Allow fred and barney in *)
       requireGroup ["prehistoric"];
       (* Also require membership in the prehistoric group *)
    end;
  end;
end

4.16. Fancy directory index generation

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    addDescription "The planet Mars" "/web/pics/mars.gif";
    (* Describe /web/pics/mars.gif as "The planet Mars" on index pages *)
    indexOptions [fancyIndexing, htmlTable, iconHeight 10, iconWidth 10];
    (* Set some index-generation options *)
    headerName "header.html";
    (* Include header.html at the start of a directory listing *)
    footerName "footer.html";
    (* Include footer.html at the end of a directory listing *)
  end;
end;

4.17. mod_rewrite

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    rewriteRule "^(.+)\.php$" "$1.sml" [];
    (* Rewrite all URLs ending in .php to end in .sml *)
    rewriteRule "/gone.html" "http://somewhere.else/there.html" [redirectWith permanent];
    (* Redirect /gone.html to http://somewhere.else/there.html, giving an HTTP code indicating a permanent relocation *)
    rewriteLogLevel 1;
    (* Turn on some more logging for rewrite debugging in /afs/hcoop.net/usr/$USER/apache/log/$NODE/www.yourdomain/rewrite.log *)
    rewriteCond "%{REQUEST_FILENAME}" "-f" [cond_nocase, ornext];
    (* An example of Apache's RewriteCond directive *)
    rewriteRule "/a.html" "http://a/b.html" [gone, chain, skip 5];
    (* An example of specifying multiple rewrite flags *)
  end;
end;

4.18. mod_proxy

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    proxyPass "/mirror/foo/" "http://localhost:5555/";
    (* Proxy path /mirror/foo/ to a local server with URL base http://localhost:5555/ *)
    proxyPassReverse "/mirror/foo/" "http://localhost:5555/";
    (* Adjust Location and other HTTP headers appropriately for the above proxying *)
  end;
end;

4.19. SSI

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mywebhost" with
    set_options [includesNOEXEC];

    (* Or you could enable it for just some URIs: *)
    location "/ssi_world" with
      set_options [includesNOEXEC];
    end;
  end;
end;

5. Mailman

The following example will:

• Permit delivery of email of the form LIST@yourdomain to Mailman, provided that LIST is a valid Mailman list that you own.

• Set up a web interface at http://lists.yourdomain/listinfo, which contains a general overview of the lists that you own and permits you to administer them.

• Add a valid DNS mapping for lists.yourdomain.

dom "yourdomain" with
  mailman "lists";
  (* The default server for web interfaces to this domain's mailing lists is lists.yourdomain *)
end;

6. Common Web Applications

6.1. MoinMoin

6.1.1. A Standalone Site

dom "yourdomain" with
  moinMoin "mywiki" where
    Script = home "mywiki/moin.cgi"
  end
end

6.1.2. Adding a Wiki to a Bigger Site

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mysite" with
    (* Other normal web config goes here.... *)
    addMoinMoin where
      Script = home "mywiki/moin.cgi";
      Htdocs = "/where/static/content/is/accessed/in/URLs";
      Prefix = "/url/prefix/for/wiki/page/names"
    end
  end
end

6.2. WordPress

6.2.1. A Standalone Blog

dom "yourdomain" with
  wordPress "myblog" where
    DocumentRoot = home "path/to/wordpress"
  end
  (* Creates a WordPress blog at http://myblog.yourdomain/ *)
end

Make sure you have the WordPress distribution installed at the appropriate DocumentRoot.

6.2.2. If the Blog is Your Entire Site

dom "yourdomain.com" where
  DocumentRoot = home "path/to/wordpress";
  WWW = begin
    addWordPress "/";
  end;
  (* Creates a WordPress blog at http://www.yourdomain.com/ *)
with end;

Again, make sure you have the WordPress distribution installed at the appropriate DocumentRoot.

6.2.3. Adding a Blog to a Bigger Site

dom "yourdomain" with
  web "mysite" with
    (* Other normal web config goes here.... *)
    addWordPress "/url/prefix"
  end
end

Make sure you have the WordPress distribution installed at the filesystem location implied by the URL prefix you choose. Your blog will be accessible at http://mysite.yourdomain/url/prefix/....

7. Live Examples in HCoop AFS

This is a listing of some of the files in the HCoop AFS area which contain in-production examples of DomTool configuration.

• /afs/hcoop.net/user/d/do/docelic/.domtool/spinlocksolutions.com

To find other files and possibly grep for particular examples in them, you can use the following shell commands:

cd /afs/hcoop.net/user/

find ?/??/*/.domtool/ -type f

grep KEYWORD ?/??/*/.domtool/*

8. Putting It All Together

In order to help you put all of the pieces together, some full working examples are available in separate subpage.