Cherokee Basics
Getting started

Why Cherokee?Feature overview.
RequirementsHardware and software requirements.
DownloadWhere and how to download Cherokee.
InstallationInstallation instructions.
Upgrading CherokeeUpgrading from a previous release?
Running CherokeeBasic steps to run Cherokee.

Configuration
Set up process explained

WalkthroughOverview and walkthrough.
HomeMain section.
StatusServer status information.
GeneralGeneral settings.
Virtual serversServer definition.
Information SourcesDefining information sources.
AdvancedAdvanced tweaking. Not for the faint of heart.
WizardsConfiguration assistants for many known scenarios.

Cookbook
Recipes for specific tasks

AuthenticationHow to set up authenticated resources.
Cross compilationHow to cross compile Cherokee.
DBSlayerHow to set up DBSlayer MySQL balancing.
Embedding CherokeeCherokee on embedded devices.
MaintenanceSeamlessly switching to maintenance mode.
Managing logsSeamless log rotation.
Optimizing CherokeeRecommendations and tweaks.
RedirectionsCommon redirection examples.
SSL/TLS, certsSecure connection tips.
HTTPS acceleratorSSL Offloading with Cherokee.
StreamingHow to stream Audio and Video with Cherokee.
PHPHow to run PHP apps with Cherokee.
Ruby on RailsHow to run Ruby on Rails apps with Cherokee.
DjangoHow to run Django apps with Cherokee.
ColdFusionHow to run ColdFusion apps with Cherokee.
DrupalHow to run Drupal on Cherokee.
WordpressHow to run Wordpress on Cherokee.
AlfrescoHow to run Alfresco on Cherokee.
ASP.NETHow to run ASP.NET apps with Mono and Cherokee.
GlassFishHow to run Java apps with Cherokee.
JoomlaHow to run Joomla on Cherokee.
KumbiaHow to run Kumbia apps with Cherokee.
LiferayHow to run Liferay on Cherokee.
MailmanHow to run Mailman on Cherokee.
MoodleHow to run Moodle on Cherokee.
NagiosHow to run Nagios with Cheroke.
phpBBHow to run phpBB on Cherokee.
phpMyAdminHow to run phpMyAdmin on Cherokee.
SugarCRMHow to run SugarCRM on Cherokee.
Concrete5How to run Concrete5 on Cherokee.
SymfonyHow to run Symfony apps with Cherokee.
TracHow to run Trac on Cherokee.
ZendHow to run Zend apps with Cherokee.
uWSGISetting up Cherokee for uWSGI.
HTTP to HTTPSHow to redirect all traffic from HTTP to HTTPS.
Restricting traffic by IPHow to restrict traffic based on incoming IP.
Domain matchingMatching domains and subdomains with Cherokee.

Modules
Information about the standard modules

HandlersConnection handling modules.
ValidatorsAuthentication mechanisms.
EncodersCompression and filtering.
LoggersLogging mechanisms.
BalancersLoad balancing strategies.

Other information
Miscellaneous

FAQList of Frequently Asked Questions.
Front-line CacheSpecifics of the Caching subsystem.
System TuningTweaking the OS for maximum performance.
Cherokee GoodiesInteresting Cherokee features.
Usage graphsInformation on the several graphs available.
SignalsSignals supported by Cherokee.
CommunityMore information sources.
Common errorsSome typical production errors and their cause.
Man pagesDetails about each program bundled with Cherokee.

Development info
Things of interest to developers

QuickstartWhere to start?
DebuggingResources available to debug Cherokee.
cherokee.confInternal configuration specs.
Quality AssuranceSome info about QA in Cherokee.
CTKDive into the Cherokee Toolkit.

Cherokee’s Distribution
Web Apps distribution on Cherokee

Introduction to DevelopmentHow to build a package.

Cherokee Basics

Index → Getting started

Why Cherokee?

Welcome to the Cherokee 1.0 documentation. Cherokee is a high-performance web server. It is very fast, flexible and easy to configure. It offers support for the widespread technologies nowadays: FastCGI, SCGI, PHP, CGI, SSI, TLS and SSL encrypted connections, Virtual hosts, Authentication, on the fly encoding, Load Balancing, Apache compatible log files, Data Base Balancer, downtime-free updates and upgrades, Reverse HTTP Proxy, and much more.

It is highly efficient, extremely lightweight and provides rock solid stability. Among its many features there is one that deserves special credit: a user friendly interface called cherokee-admin that is provided for a no-hassle configuration of every single feature of the server. This administration interface allows you to configure the web server without having to worry about editing a text file written with a certain syntax.

Unlike many other web servers out there, Cherokee gracefully handles many concurrent connections, has a low memory footprint, and provides load balancing facilities. As such, it is suitable for usage among a wide variety of systems, from tiny embedded devices to huge enterprise grade infrastructures. It is also multi-platform, offering native performance for Unix, Linux and Windows systems.

By simply upgrading your existing web server to Cherokee, you can literally multiply your existing hardware’s performance, extending its life cycle or allowing you to have a smaller, more efficient, compact and easier to maintain IT infrastructure.

Best of all, Cherokee is free software, has a thoroughly designed architecture, is completely modular and has a clean and neat code base. Anyone and everyone can have access to the code for study and tinkering, thus allowing you to customize, modify, or extend everything to suit specific needs. It is also very actively maintained, and every interesting feature request is carefully considered.

As you can see, Cherokee comes with many goodies that allow to achieve unprecedented performance.

But don’t trust everything you are told. Check out the benchmarks and the rest of the documentation to learn more, and give it a try to squeeze your hardware to the fullest. You will not be disappointed. That you can trust.