Apache Module mod_macro

Usage

Macros are defined using <Macro> blocks, which contain the portion of your configuration that needs to be repeated, complete with variables for those parts that will need to be substituted.

For example, you might use a macro to define a <VirtualHost> block, in order to define multiple similar virtual hosts:

<Macro VHost $name $domain>
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName $domain
    ServerAlias www.$domain

    DocumentRoot "/var/www/vhosts/$name"
    ErrorLog "/var/log/httpd/$name.error_log"
    CustomLog "/var/log/httpd/$name.access_log" combined
</VirtualHost>
</Macro>

Macro names are case-insensitive, like httpd configuration directives. However, variable names are case sensitive.

You would then invoke this macro several times to create virtual hosts:

Use VHost example example.com
Use VHost myhost hostname.org
Use VHost apache apache.org

UndefMacro VHost

At server startup time, each of these Use invocations would be expanded into a full virtualhost, as described by the <Macro> definition.

The UndefMacro directive is used so that later macros using the same variable names don't result in conflicting definitions.

A more elaborate version of this example may be seen below in the Examples section.

Tips

Parameter names should begin with a sigil such as $, %, or @, so that they are clearly identifiable, and also in order to help deal with interactions with other directives, such as the core Define directive. Failure to do so will result in a warning. Nevertheless, you are encouraged to have a good knowledge of your entire server configuration in order to avoid reusing the same variables in different scopes, which can cause confusion.

Parameters prefixed with either $ or % are not escaped. Parameters prefixes with @ are escaped in quotes.

Avoid using a parameter which contains another parameter as a prefix, (For example, $win and $winter) as this may cause confusion at expression evaluation time. In the event of such confusion, the longest possible parameter name is used.

If you want to use a value within another string, it is useful to surround the parameter in braces, to avoid confusion:

<Macro DocRoot ${docroot}>
    DocumentRoot "/var/www/${docroot}/htdocs"
</Macro>

Examples

Virtual Host Definition

A common usage of mod_macro is for the creation of dynamically-generated virtual hosts.

## Define a VHost Macro for repetitive configurations

<Macro VHost $host $port $dir>
  Listen $port
  <VirtualHost *:$port>

    ServerName $host
    DocumentRoot "$dir"

    # Public document root
    <Directory "$dir">
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    # limit access to intranet subdir.
    <Directory "$dir/intranet">
      Require ip 10.0.0.0/8
    </Directory>
  </VirtualHost>
</Macro>

## Use of VHost with different arguments.

Use VHost www.apache.org 80 /vhosts/apache/htdocs
Use VHost example.org 8080 /vhosts/example/htdocs
Use VHost www.example.fr 1234 /vhosts/example.fr/htdocs

Removal of a macro definition

It's recommended that you undefine a macro once you've used it. This avoids confusion in a complex configuration file where there may be conflicts in variable names.

<Macro DirGroup $dir $group>
  <Directory "$dir">
    Require group $group
  </Directory>
</Macro>

Use DirGroup /www/apache/private private
Use DirGroup /www/apache/server  admin

UndefMacro DirGroup

<Macro LocalAccessPolicy>
    Require ip 10.2.16.0/24
</Macro>

<Macro RestrictedAccessPolicy $ipnumbers>
    Require ip $ipnumbers
</Macro>

UndefMacro LocalAccessPolicy
UndefMacro RestrictedAccessPolicy

Use LocalAccessPolicy
...
Use RestrictedAccessPolicy "192.54.172.0/24 192.54.148.0/24"

Require ip 10.2.16.0/24
...
Require ip 192.54.172.0/24 192.54.148.0/24