Devel:...Apache(3pm)

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version 6.15 · 9 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💅 Devel:...Apache(3pm) 💅

okay bestie, you found the Devel:...Apache(3pm) page (yep, that's Devel::NYTProf::Apache, section 3pm, straight out of the user contributed perl docs) and honestly? it's giving abandoned 2010 energy but we're gonna read it together, no cap. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

Devel::NYTProf::Apache — profile mod_perl applications with Devel::NYTProf. periodt. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

okay so here's the whole vibe, in your Apache config file with mod_perl installed:

# in your Apache config file with mod_perl installed
PerlPassEnv NYTPROF
PerlModule Devel::NYTProf::Apache

and if you're doing virtual hosts with PerlOptions that include either +Parent or +Clone, then literally go scroll down to VIRTUAL HOSTS below, because you've got extra steps. 💖

⚠️ CAUTION ⚠️

ngl, using Devel::NYTProf::Apache is officially discouraged. like, on purpose, in writing. 💀

The Apache module is not exercised anywhere in Devel-NYTProf's test suite. to test it you'd need an Apache/mod_perl environment, and that would require a major redirection of developer efforts. so: the code may be perfectly sound — which is why they're not officially deprecating it — but it was last modified in 2010. it's a legacy icon, your honor. 👑

If …

  1. You are an experienced user of Devel-NYTProf;
  2. you can set up a development/testing environment with Apache/mod_perl;
  3. can devise some tests that would demonstrate that Devel::NYTProf::Apache works as intended; and
  4. would be willing to support it as an independent CPAN distribution,

then please let us know! fr fr, they're asking. 🙈

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

This module allows mod_perl applications to be profiled using Devel::NYTProf. that's the whole point, bestie.

If the NYTPROF environment variable isn't set at the time Devel::NYTProf::Apache is loaded, then Devel::NYTProf::Apache will issue a warning and default it to:

file=/tmp/nytprof.$$.out:addpid=1:endatexit=1

The file actually created by NTProf will also have the process id appended to it, because the addpid option is enabled by default. (yes, it says NTProf up there. we do not fix the original's typos in this house, we preserve them like museum pieces. 🏛️)

See "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES" in Devel::NYTProf for more details on the settings effected by this environment variable.

Try using PerlPassEnv in your httpd.conf if you can set the NYTPROF environment variable externally. Note that if you set the NYTPROF environment variable externally then the file name obviously can't include the parent process id. For example, to set stmts=0 externally, use:

NYTPROF=file=/tmp/nytprof.out:out:addpid=1:endatexit=1:stmts=0

Each profiled mod_perl process will need to have terminated cleanly before you can successfully read the profile data file. lowkey the most important sentence on this whole page. The simplest approach is to start the httpd, make some requests (e.g., 100 of the same request), then stop it and process the profile data.

Alternatively you could send a TERM signal to the httpd worker process to terminate that one process. The parent httpd process will start up another one for you ready for more profiling. slay, self-healing. 🌈

🧚 Example httpd.conf 🧚

It's usually a good idea to use just one child process when profiling, which you can do by setting the MaxClients to 1 in httpd.conf.

Set MaxRequestsPerChild to 0 to avoid worker processes exiting and restarting during the profiling, which would split the profile data across multiple files. (splitting the data = the vibe check fails. we do not want that.)

Using an IfDefine blocks lets you leave the profile configuration in place and enable it whenever it's needed by adding -D NYTPROF to the httpd startup command line.

<IfDefine NYTPROF>
    MaxClients 1
    MaxRequestsPerChild 0
    PerlModule Devel::NYTProf::Apache
</IfDefine>

With that configuration you should get two profile files — one for the parent process and one for the worker. two files, two icons, both valid. ✨

🫧 VIRTUAL HOSTS 🫧

If your httpd configuration includes virtual hosts with PerlOptions that include either +Parent or +Clone, then mod_perl2 will create a new perl interpreter to handle requests for that virtual host. This causes some issues for profiling. 😭

If Devel::NYTProf::Apache is loaded in the top-level configuration, then activity in any virtual hosts that use their own perl interpreter won't be profiled. Normal virtual hosts will be profiled just fine. 💖

You can profile a single virtual host that uses its own perl interpreter by loading Devel::NYTProf::Apache inside the configuration for that virtual host. In this case do not use the PerlModule directive. You need to use a Perl directive instead, like this:

<VirtualHost *:1234>
    ...
    <Perl> use Devel::NYTProf::Apache; </Perl>
    ...
</VirtualHost>

put that in the wrong spot and it simply will not work. iykyk. 🙈

🚫 LIMITATIONS 🚫

Profiling mod_perl on Windows is not supported, because NYTProf currently doesn't support threads. that's it, that's the limitation. sorry windows girlies. 💀

🔧 TROUBLESHOOTING 🔧

  • Truncated profile: Profiles for large applications can take a while to write to the disk. Allow sufficient time after stopping apache, or check the process has actually exited, before trying to read the profile.
  • Truncated profile: The mod_perl child_terminate() function terminates the child without giving perl an opportunity to cleanup. Since Devel::NYTProf::Apache doesn't intercept the mod_perl child_terminate() function (yet) the profile will be corrupted if it's called. You're most likely to encounter this when using Apache::SizeLimit, so you may want to disable it while profiling.
two separate things both give you a truncated profile and they show up under the same name. not confusing at all. 😭 but now you know both.

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

  • Devel::NYTProf

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Adam Kaplan, "<akaplan at nytimes.com>" Tim Bunce, <http://blog.timbunce.org> Steve Peters, "<steve at fisharerojo.org>"

Copyright (C) 2008 by Adam Kaplan and The New York Times Company.
Copyright (C) 2008 by Steve Peters.
Copyright (C) 2008-2012 by Tim Bunce.

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.8 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available. 🍓

and that's the page, bestie!! this one shipped as perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-08-20 (yes, the date is iconic and slightly haunted, we don't question it) — go profile responsibly, kill your workers cleanly, and don't call child_terminate(). mwah 💅💖✨

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