Good news – we’ve just released the new build of Helicon Ape – 3.0.0.32.
So, what’s new:

• from now on you can write mod_proxy directives inside .htaccess files (previously only global context was supported);
• “Zip and save Ape configuration” option in Ape Manager automatically saves and zips all Ape configs and logs for selected location (site, folder) so you could then send them to our support team;
• bug fix related to processing of long URLs.

Best wishes,
Anton, Helicon Tech Team

And it’s not just a couple of bug-fixes; we’ve introduced:

• three new modules:
  • mod_dbd which allows creation and management of SQL database connections;
  • mod_authn_dbd which provides user authentication by searching users in SQL tables; and
  • mod_dir which cares about “trailing slash” redirects and directory index files handling;
• really important and highly anticipated by the clients ErrorDocument directive that gives a possibility to set custom error pages upon error;
• two parameters for Options directive:
  • ShowErrorInResponse which tells Ape to show detailed error explanation or omit it;
  • StopOnError which regulates whether to ignore unknown directives or give out 500 error;
• some important fixes, in mod_linkfreeze in particular.

Feel free to download.

Best wishes,
HeliconTech Team

It offers:

• free use on up to 3 sites;
• 30+ Apache-like modules;
• admin-free installation on shared hosting;
• improved performance;
• redesigned, easier-to-use manager;
• license manager

Test Ape 3 for free during 45 days.
Looking forward to your feedback.

P.S. New articles on Ape 3 features are coming soon. Stay tuned!

These modules allow to cache dynamically generated content on the hard disk or in RAM respectively.
The article covering all aspects of new caching modules is coming soon.

We are really grateful to our clients who help us discover unobvious bugs which we attempt to fix in the shortest terms possible.

P.S. The next module to be introduced is mod_linkfreeze implementing LinkFreeze features for Windows Server 2008 bypassing ISAPI limitations.

Stay with us!

HeliconTech Team.

• 3 new modules added:
  • mod_mime destined to associate requested filename extensions with the file’s behavior (handlers and filters) and content (mime-type, language, character set and encoding);
  • mod_evasive is an efficient instrument to get rid of DoS/DDoS and brute force attacks;
  • mod_developer is a perfect HTTP-level tool for web developers providing a bunch of all-round information for the HTTP request.
• and some improvements implemented:
  • enhanced algorithm for generation of web sites tree in Helicon Ape manager (does not cause delays even with hundreds of sites on your server);
  • sites list in Helicon Ape manager tree in now sorted alphabetically;
  • new core level directive – StopOnError – makes it possible to tell Helicon Ape how to process unknown directives: when it’s on, the browser will throw 500 error; when it’s off (default), unknown directives are ignored.

So, our achievements in 1.2.0.19 are:
– new functionality: possibility to register Helicon Ape for specific sites/applications in Helicon Manager;
– implementation of special environment variable (on_auth_create_user) used to create ASP.NET request context user after successful basic or digest authentication (this capability may be useful if you need to know the user that has authenticated via basic or digest authentication but you don’t use ASP.NET native authentication);
– case-insensitive map files processing (RewriteMap mapfile txt:mapfile.txt [NC]);
– fixed CacheStorePrivate directive processing;
– fixes for authz_groupfile_module and groups file processing.

We wish you successful testing of our freshest build and hope you’ll be satisfied with it.

Regards,
HeliconTech Team

Always yours,
HeliconTech Team

• now ISAPI_Rewrite deals well with map files paths with spaces (e.g. C:\Program Files\…);
• RewriteHeader directive is now correctly converted from v2 syntax using our syntax converting tool;
• and some improvements in Unicode representation in the rewrite log were made.

That’s all for now:)

So what new features has Ape obtained? Well, this post will shed some light on this issue.

Helicon Manager

Server variables autocompletion was added to the editor. This feature can be very helpfulfor mod_rewrite and mod_setenvif users. Ctrl+Space combination is used to open autocompletion form:

mod_hotlink implemented (NEW)

The module is aimed at protecting your web server frompeople stealing your traffic by directly linking to the content on your server.This is especially important for those having image, video, documents archivesand other downloadable content.

After enabling mod_hotlink your site will work as ifnothing happened, all search engines and backward links will still be valid,all user’s favorites will remain working. But if someone tries to embed yourstuff directly on their site, they will only see an error message or yoursite’s logo. You can save tons of traffic and thus money. You can even turnthese hotlinks into real visitors by redirecting hotlink request to your site’shomepage.

We also recommend you to have a look at this article: Strong hotlink protection with Helicon Ape mod_hotlink module.

mod_filter implemented (NEW)

This module provides selective filter application depending on the content type.Currently mod_hotlink, mod_gzip and mod_deflate can be managed by mod_filter directives.

mod_deflate implemented (NEW)

We’ve added mod_deflate directivessupport. Please note that technically mod_deflateand mod_gzip have the same compressionalgorithm.

mod_expires

Regular expressions support for ExpiresByType directive.

mod_setenvif

• Extended conditions syntax implemented (AND, OR and grouping support). Now you can easily create smart conditions to control Helicon Ape modules
• Mime and Query_String attributes support implemented
• Server variable can be used as an attribute. Two syntaxes are possible. You may use mod_rewrite style: %{VARIABLE_NAME} or simply VARIABLE_NAME:

mod_cache and mod_gzip

Management through environment variables implemented.