This page answers most of the common queries that we receive about our software and the Apache Software Foundation. Much of the mail we receive falls into certain categories; this page addresses the most common of these. Please read this ENTIRE page; there may be information pertaining to your query in it.

WARNING: If you send us mail about something that is clearly covered by the information on this page, your mail will probably be ignored. Please accept our apologies for such an impersonal response, but with several million users and fewer than forty volunteer developers, we cannot provide personalised email support.

Please check the following list to see if any of the descriptions match your situation. Each one is described in more detail in the following paragraphs.

Frequent Subjects for Mail Sent to apache@apache.org

You unexpectedly see an Apache installation page when you visit a Web site. You see an Apache installation message on your own computer. Your security software reported an intrusion. You think Apache has stolen or hijacked one of your favourite Web sites. You're tracing spam. You have questions about the Apache licence. You have questions about Apache software and U.S. export control numbers (ECCNs). You have questions specifically about the Apache XML projects. You have questions specifically about the Apache Java projects. If none of the above addresses your query, please check the resources at the bottom of this page for general information.

Here are the detailed answers for each of the categories above.

1. You unexpectedly see an Apache installation page when you visit a Web site.

   If you have sent us mail because you saw a page saying 'It Worked!' (or something similar indicating that Apache has been installed) on your screen or a Web site you visited, please go back and READ the page. It should explain what is going on. The page is the equivalent of a demo or the ReadMe file from a Windows application installation; it is intended for the person who installed the software and is supposed to show that the installation was completed successfully. The problem you are experiencing has nothing to do with us, and we cannot help you. You need to contact the Webmaster for the site. If the site is www.foo.com, for instance, try sending mail to <webmaster@foo.com>. If it's www.toddsbeer.org, send mail to <webmaster@toddsbeer.org>. And so on.

   Some older versions of the 'It Worked!' page (supplied with older versions of the software) don't say that, or are mysterious or ambiguous. What they should say, and what the recent versions say, is something like this!

      "It Worked! The Apache Web Server is Installed on this Web
      Site!
   
      "If you can see this page, then the people who own this
      domain have just installed the Apache Web server software
      successfully. They now have to add content to this directory
      and replace this placeholder page, or else point the server
      at their real content.
      ---
      "If you are seeing this page instead of the site you expected,
      please contact the administrator of the site involved. (Try
      sending mail to <Webmaster@domain>.) Although this site is
      running the Apache software it almost certainly has no other
      connection to the Apache Group, so please do not send mail
      about this site or its contents to the Apache authors. If you
      do, your message will be ignored.
      ---"
    
             

2. You see an Apache installation message on your own computer.

   If you think that the Apache software has somehow been installed on your PC or laptop, don't worry: IT HASN'T. The page you are seeing is from a remote Web site which has installed our software and which you have visited. See paragraph [1] above for an explanation.

3. Your security software reported an intrusion.

   If you sent your message because your intrusion detection reported an attack on your system and you clicked on the name or IP address of the attacking system, please use the whois (if it reported a name) or the ARIN (if it reported an address) databases to locate the actual owner of the system. These databases are the master ones for the Internet. See the links to them at the end of this page.

4. You think Apache has stolen or hijacked one of your favourite Web sites.

   If you think that Apache has somehow 'hijacked,' 'taken over,' or otherwise blocked access to a Web site, IT HASN'T -- the people who actually *run* the Web site have installed or upgraded the Apache software which answers browser requests, and haven't completed the upgrade yet. See paragraph [1] above for suggestions on how to reach them for a status update.

5. You're tracing spam.

   If you have sent us mail because you think you have traced spam to a system that displays the 'It Worked!' page, or another page indicating that Apache is running on the system, the same advice applies: it is not our system, they are just using Web software we develop and distribute for free. The Web software has nothing to do with email or spam, it's just running on the same system. Apache has as much to do with email as Tetris does, and assuming we're responsible in any way for the spam is as reasonable as blaming Microsoft and Microsoft Excel because someone used Netscape to send you a nasty message. We are not and can not be responsible for their activity. See the last set of URLs below for Internet databases that will help you find out who actually owns the systems, domains, and/or IP addresses involved.

6. You have questions about the Apache licence.

   If you have sent mail about a licence issue or question, please review the online licence at the URL listed below. The gist of the licence is that you may use, modify, and/or [re]distribute the Apache software as-is. As long as you do not change the software, you may re-distribute it and call it "Apache." If you alter the software in any way, other than tailoring the configuration files or making it compilable on your platform, you may only refer to it as being based upon Apache. In all cases, altered or not, you must include attribution as described in section 3 of the licence. If you have further questions, see our licence FAQ; if that doesn't answer them, send us mail.

7. You have questions about Apache software and U.S. export control numbers (ECCNs).

   The ASF has not registered ECCNs for any of the software that is developed and distributed under the ASF licence. If a vendor is choosing to distribute ASF software, then it is their responsibility to get whatever licences or other blessings are needed for their application. See the following from our licence:

     * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED
     * WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
     * OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
     * DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE APACHE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION OR
     * ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
     * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
     * LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
     * USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
     * ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
     * OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT
     * OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
     * SUCH DAMAGE.
             

8. You have questions specifically about the Apache XML projects.

   If you have sent us mail about one of the Apache XML software projects (Xerces, FOP, Cocoon, et cetera), please use the following contact instead:

   Dirk-Willem van Gulik <dirkx@WebWeaving.Org>

9. You have questions specifically about the Jakarta project (not XML, see #7 above) projects.

   If you have a usage or technical question about one of the projects, then it is often best to subscribe to the appropriate projects' user mailing list to ask for support. By subscribing to the user mailing list, your question will have a higher chance of being answered by another fellow user as well as having the benefit of the answer being available in the mailing list archives. In fact, it might be good if you try searching the archives before asking your question. Because we have many users, chances are that your question has already been answered numerous times before.

   You can find a listing of mailing lists here:

   <URL:http://jakarta.apache.org/site/mail.html>

   If you have any other type of question about Jakarta and need a human response, please contact:

   Webmaster <webmaster@jakarta.apache.org>

We recommend the following sources for more information or assistance:

The Apache Software Foundation Web site

Home page: <URL:http://www.apache.org> The Apache software licence: <URL:http://www.apache.org/LICENSE> The Apache licence FAQ: <URL:http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ.html>

Apache Software Foundation projects

<URL:http://www.apache.org/foundation/projects.html> HTTP server <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/> mod_perl <URL:http://perl.apache.org/> JServ <URL:http://java.apache.org/> (merged with Jakarta) Jakarta <URL:http://jakarta.apache.org/> XML <URL:http://xml.apache.org/> The Apache Incubator <URL:http://incubator.apache.org/>

The Apache HTTP Server Web site

Home page: <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/> Server documentation: <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/> (version 2.0) Server documentation: <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs/> (version 1.3 and earlier) Download area: <URL:http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/> Frequestly-asked questions (the FAQ): <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html> Software problem reports: <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/bug_report.html> API documentation: <URL:http://dev.apache.org/apidoc/> 3rd-party Module registry: <URL:http://modules.apache.org/> Related projects: <URL:http://www.apache.org/related_projects.html>

Commercial support of the Apache Web server

<URL:http://www.covalent.net/> <URL:http://www.apache.org/info/support.cgi>

Mailing lists

If you are looking for a mailing list within an ASF project, please see the project's hompage for information on how to subscribe to the appropriate mailing lists. Discussions for Apache users: <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/userslist.html>

Online magazines and other articles about Apache

Weekly email/Web magazine: <URL:http://www.apacheweek.com/> <URL:http://apachetoday.com/> Tutorials: <URL:http://linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/subjects/44/> <URL:http://apachetoday.com/> <URL:http://Apache-Server.Com/tutorials/>

Books about Apache

<URL:http://Apache-Server.Com/store.html> <URL:http://www.apache.org/info/apache_books.html>

USENET newsgroups

comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix [nntp] [google] comp.infosystems.www.servers.ms-windows [nntp] [google] comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi [news] [google]

Domain ownership lookup/IP address tracing

Look up the owner of a domain (such as foo.com): <URL:http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois> WHOIS database (tells you who owns a domain, such as foo.com) Look up the owner of an IP address (such as 10.0.35.147): <URL:http://www.arin.net/whois/> ARIN (Registered Internet Numbers) database (tells you who owns an IP address, such as 10.0.35.147, or which other database to query if the address is assigned outside the USA)