Althttpd

Building A Stand-alone Binary
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This document describes how to build a completely self-contained, statically linked "althttpd" binary for Linux (or similar unix-like operating systems).

What You Need

  1. The althttpd.c source code file from this website.
  2. A tarball of the latest OpenSSL release.
  3. The usual unix build tools, "make", "gcc", and friends.
  4. The OpenSSL build requires Perl.

Build Steps

  1. Compiling a static OpenSSL library.

    • Unpack the OpenSSL tarball. Rename the top-level directory to "openssl".
    • CD into the openssl directory.
    • Run these commands: 
      ./config no-ssl3 no-weak-ssl-ciphers no-shared no-threads no-tls-deprecated-ec --openssldir=/usr/lib/ssl
make CFLAGS=-Os
    • Fix a cup of tea while OpenSSL builds.... Note that the no-tls-deprecated-ec option is only available with OpenSSL-3.5.0 and later, so omit that option for earlier versions.

  2. Compiling althttpd

    • CD back up into the top-level directory where the althttpd.c source file lives.
    • Run: 
      make VERSION.h
gcc -I./openssl/include -Os -Wall -Wextra -DENABLE_TLS \
  -o althttpd althttpd.c -L./openssl -lssl -lcrypto -ldl
    • The commands in the previous bullet builds a binary that is statically linked against OpenSSL, but is still dynamically linked against system libraries.
    • The "make VERSION.h" step above constructs a generated file named "VERSION.h" that contains the specific version number of althttpd that you are building.

  3. Completely Static Build

    • Sometimes it is necessary to do a full static build, in order to move the binary to systems with older or incompatible C-libraries.
    • Note that with a static build using GLibC, the getpwnam() interface will not work, and hence the "--user" option to althttpd won't work. When invoking a static althttpd build, avoid using the --user option. Set the owner of the --root directory to the desired user instead. Both the owner and group-owner of the --root diretory must be non-zero, something other than root.
    • Run: 
      make VERSION.h
cc -static -I$OPENSSLDIR/include -Os -Wall -Wextra -DENABLE_TLS \
  -o althttpd althttpd.c $OPENSSLDIR/*.a $OPENSSLDIR/*.a
    • In the previous $OPENSSLDIR resolves to the name of the openssl build directory. For example: "$HOME/openssl/openssl-3.5.5".
    • Yes, it really is necessary to do the "$OPENSSLDIR/*.a" twice. That is not a typo.
    • Verify using commands like this: 
      ./althttpd --version
ldd ./althttpd
./althttpd --popup

Using The Binary

The above is all you need to do. After compiling, simply move the resulting binary into the /usr/bin directory of your server.