When you have tested that the Apache server works on your machine, it's time to configure the mod_perl part. Although some of the configuration directives are already familiar to you, mod_perl introduces a few new ones.

It's a good idea to keep all mod_perl-related configuration at the end of the configuration file, after the native Apache configuration directives, thus avoiding any confusion.

To ease maintenance and to simplify multiple-server installations, the mod_perl-enabled Apache server configuration system provides several alternative ways to keep your configuration directives in separate places. The Include directive in httpd.conf lets you include the contents of other files, just as if the information were all contained in httpd.conf. This is a feature of Apache itself. For example, placing all mod_perl-related configuration in a separate file named conf/mod_perl.conf can be done by adding the following directive to httpd.conf:

Include conf/mod_perl.conf

If you want to include this configuration conditionally, depending on whether your Apache has been compiled with mod_perl, you can use the IfModule directive :

<IfModule mod_perl.c>
  Include conf/mod_perl.conf
</IfModule>

mod_perl adds two more directives. <Perl> sections allow you to execute Perl code from within any configuration file at server startup time. Additionally, any file containing a Perl program can be executed at server startup simply by using the PerlRequire or PerlModule directives, as we will show shortly.