NAME
CGI::SpeedyCGI - Speed up CGI scripts by running them persistently
SYNOPSIS
#!/usr/local/bin/speedy
### Your CGI Script Here
##
## Optionally, use the CGI::SpeedyCGI module for various things
##
# Create a SpeedyCGI object
use CGI::SpeedyCGI;
my $sp = CGI::SpeedyCGI->new;
# See if we are running under SpeedyCGI or not.
print "Running under speedy=", $sp->i_am_speedy ? 'yes' : 'no', "\n";
# Set up a shutdown handler
$sp->set_shutdown_handler(sub { do something here });
# Set/get some SpeedyCGI options
$sp->setopt('timeout', 30);
print "maxruns=", $sp->getopt('maxruns'), "\n";
DESCRIPTION
SpeedyCGI is a way to run CGI perl scripts persistently, which usually
makes them run much more quickly. Converting scripts to use SpeedyCGI is
in most cases as simple has changing the interpreter line at the top of
the script from
#!/usr/local/bin/perl
to
#!/usr/local/bin/speedy
After the script is initially run, instead of exiting, SpeedyCGI keeps
the perl interpreter running in memory. During subsequent runs, this
interpreter is used to handle new requests, instead of starting a new
perl interpreter for each execution.
SpeedyCGI conforms to the CGI specification, and does not work inside
the web server. A very fast cgi-bin (written in C) is executed for each
request. This fast cgi-bin then contacts the persistent Perl process,
which is usually already in memory, to do the work and return the
results.
Since all of these processes run outside the web server, they can't
cause problems for the web server itself. Also, each perl program runs
as its own Unix process, so one program can't interfere with another.
Command line options can also be used to deal with programs that have
memory leaks or other problems that might keep them from otherwise
running persistently.
OPTIONS
How to Set
SpeedyCGI options can be set in several ways:
Command Line
The speedy command line is the same as for regular perl, with the
exception that SpeedyCGI specific options can be passed in after a
"--".
For example:
#!/usr/local/bin/speedy -w -- -t300
at the top of your script will call SpeedyCGI with the perl option
"`-w'" and will pass the "`-t'" option to speedy, telling it to exit
if no new requests have been received after 300 seconds.
Environment
Environment variables can be used to pass in options. This can only
be done before the initial execution (ie not from within the script
itself).
CGI::SpeedyCGI
The CGI::SpeedyCGI module provides a method, setopt, to set options
from within the perl script at runtime. There is also a getopt
method to retrieve the current options.
mod_speedycgi
If you are using the optional Apache module, SpeedyCGI options can
be set in the httpd.conf file.
Options Available
The following options are available:
TIMEOUT
Command Line : -tN
Environment : SPEEDY_TIMEOUT
CGI::SpeedyCGI : TIMEOUT
mod_speedycgi : SpeedyTimeout
Default Value : 3600 (one hour)
Description:
If no new requests have been received after N
seconds, exit the persistent perl interpreter.
Use 0 to indicate no timeout.
MAXRUNS
Command Line : -rN
Environment : SPEEDY_MAXRUNS
CGI::SpeedyCGI : MAXRUNS
mod_speedycgi : SpeedyMaxruns
Default Value : 0 (ie no max)
Description:
Once the perl interpreter has run N times, exit.
TMPBASE
Command Line : -Tstr
Environment : SPEEDY_TMPBASE
CGI::SpeedyCGI : n/a
mod_speedycgi : SpeedyTmpbase
Default Value : /tmp/speedy
Description:
Use the given prefix for creating temporary files.
This must be a filename prefix, not a directory name.
BUFSIZ_POST
Command Line : -bN
Environment : SPEEDY_BUFSIZ_POST
CGI::SpeedyCGI : n/a
mod_speedycgi : n/a
Default Value : 1024
Description:
Use N bytes for the buffer that sends data
to the CGI script.
BUFSIZ_GET
Command Line : -BN
Environment : SPEEDY_BUFSIZ_GET
CGI::SpeedyCGI : n/a
mod_speedycgi : n/a
Default Value : 8192
Description:
Use N bytes for the buffer that receives data
from the CGI script.
METHODS
The following methods are available in the CGI::SpeedyCGI module.
new
Create a new CGI::SpeedyCGI object.
my $sp = CGI::SpeedyCGI->new;
set_shutdown_handler($function_ref)
Register a function that will be called right before the perl
interpreter exits. This is not at the end of each request, it is
when the perl interpreter decides to exit completely (due to a
timeout, maxruns, etc)
$sp->set_shutdown_handler(sub {$dbh->logout});
i_am_speedy
Returns a boolean telling whether this script is running under
SpeedyCGI or not. A CGI script can run under regular perl, or under
SpeedyCGI. This method allows the script to tell which environment
it is in.
$sp->i_am_speedy;
setopt($optname, $value)
Set one of the SpeedyCGI options given in the OPTIONS section.
Returns the previous value that the option had. $optname is case-
insensitive.
$sp->setopt('TIMEOUT', 300);
getopt($optname)
Return the current value of one of the SpeedyCGI options. $optname
is case-insensitive.
$sp->getopt('TIMEOUT');
INSTALLATION
SpeedyCGI has been tried with perl versions 5.004_04 and 5.005_02, and
under Solaris 2.6, Redhat Linux 5.1, and FreeBSD 3.1. There may be
problems wither other OSes or earlier versions of Perl.
To install, do the following:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
This will install a "speedy" binary in the same directory where "perl"
was installed. If you want to install the optional Apache module, see
the README in the apache directory.
BUGS
* Under heavy load we may run out of sockets (especially on FreeBSD),
since they hang around in a TIME_WAIT state after closing. Might do
better with fifos (named pipes).
Workaround on FreeBSD is to increase the "maxusers" value in the
kernel config file and compile/install a new kernel. The default
value of 32 is too low -- use 256 or more.
* On Solaris w/Netscape Enterprise 3.x, occasionally the CGI front-end
gets stuck in the poll() call in speedy.c.
* "make test" reportedly fails under sun4 sunos 4.1.4
* Release 1.6 reportedly runs very slow on Dec Alpha running Unix 4.0b and
fails the intial_eof test. 1.5 runs OK.
TODO
* Need benchmarks of speedy vs mod_perl
* Pass file descriptors 0/1 to the Perl prog using I_SENDFD on systems
that support it (like Solaris). Avoids the overhead of copying
through the CGI front-end.
* Need to figure out whether speedyhandler still works/is useful, and if
so document how to use it.
* In start_perl, use a poll() timeout instead of an alarm to implement the
timeout while waiting for an accept. It's cleaner than a signal.
* Need to allow more program control from perl via the CGI::SpeedyCGI
module. Should be able to have the perl prog wait for a new
connection, etc.
* Need an option to limit the maximum number of processes per cgi-bin.
* Add option to check the amount of memory in use and exit when it gets
too high.
* Need tests for:
* getopt, setopt and i_am_speedy methods.
* multiple persistent perl processes
* mod_speedycgi
* Add option to have a single perl process handle multiple cgi-bin's.
MAILING LIST
speedycgi@newlug.org. Subscribe by sending a message to speedycgi-
request@newlug.org with "subscribe" in the body.
Archive is at http://newlug.org/mailArchive/speedycgi
DOWNLOADING
SpeedyCGI can be retrieved from:
http://daemoninc.com/speedycgi
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-authors/id/H/HO/HORROCKS/
AUTHOR
Sam Horrocks
Daemon Consulting Inc.
http://daemoninc.com
sam@daemoninc.com
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1999 Daemon Consulting Inc. All rights reserved. This
program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as Perl itself.