Overview of new features in Apache 2.4

Core Enhancements

Module Enhancements

Program Enhancements

Module Developer Changes

Check Configuration Hook Added

A new hook, check_config, has been added which runs between the pre_config and open_logs hooks. It also runs before the test_config hook when the -t option is passed to httpd. The check_config hook allows modules to review interdependent configuration directive values and adjust them while messages can still be logged to the console. The user can thus be alerted to misconfiguration problems before the core open_logs hook function redirects console output to the error log.

Expression Parser Added

We now have a general-purpose expression parser, whose API is exposed in ap_expr.h. This is adapted from the expression parser previously implemented in mod_include.

Authorization Logic Containers

Advanced authorization logic may now be specified using the Match directive and the related container directives, such as <MatchAll>, all provided by the mod_authz_core module.