{"id":4823,"date":"2018-07-02T10:18:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T14:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=4823"},"modified":"2025-06-17T11:31:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T15:31:56","slug":"what-is-mod_passenger","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/what-is-mod_passenger\/","title":{"rendered":"What is mod_passenger?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a style=\"color:#fff; text-decoration:none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/tags\/vps\/\"><p style=\"background-color:#1a3d6e !important;color:#fff;padding:6px; display:inline-block!important;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold; border-radius:3px;\">VPS<\/p><\/a> <a style=\"color:#fff; text-decoration:none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/tags\/qs-dedicated\/\"><p style=\"background-color:#1a3d6e !important;color:#fff;padding:6px; display:inline-block!important;font-size:12px; font-weight:bold; border-radius:3px;\">Dedicated<\/p><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>What is mod_passenger?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mod_passenger enables <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.phusionpassenger.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phusion Passenger<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to host Ruby, Python, and Node.js apps on the Apache server. Phusion Passenger specializes in managing these types of apps by restarting them in the case of an app crash, keeping heavy-resource usage in check, and more. By enabling this feature, you will be able to add Ruby, Python, and Node.js apps onto your server.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are interested in Phusion Passenger configurations with Apache, see<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.phusionpassenger.com\/library\/config\/apache\/reference\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Phusion Passenger\u2019s Apache configuration page<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How do I use mod_passenger?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting up mod_passenger requires you to enable the module in the Apache Options interface and to set up your web app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Enabling mod_passenger<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can enable mod_passenger in your VPS or Dedicated Account Control Center (ACC). To enable, follow these steps:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose the tutorial that reflects your ACC interface type:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#if-you-are-using-the-legacy-interface\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legacy Interface<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#if-you-are-using-the-new-acc-interface\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New ACC Interface<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not sure what the difference is? See<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/pair.com\/support\/kb\/which-acc-interface-am-i-using\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Which ACC Interface Am I Using?\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are using the Legacy Interface:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log in to the ACC on your VPS or Dedicated account at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pairnet.zendesk.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/my.pair.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">my.pair.com<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the left sidebar, click<\/span><b> Dedicated<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, then click <\/span><b>Apache Options<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the drop-down<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Apache Module section, check the box next to <\/span><b>mod_passenger<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Make Changes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are using the New ACC Interface:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log in to the ACC on your VPS or Dedicated account at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pairnet.zendesk.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/my.pair.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">my.pair.com<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the top navigation bar, click <\/span><b>Hosting<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Dedicated<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Server Management<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> drop-down and select <\/span><b>Manage Apache<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Switch on the <\/span><b>mod_passenger<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> toggle<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the <\/span><b>Make Changes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will enable mod_passenger on your server, though it may take up to 15 minutes for the change to go into effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Setting Up Apps<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can set up a variety of web app types once mod_passenger has been enabled. You can find the basic steps for setting up the different kinds of web apps below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Setting Up Ruby<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After mod_passenger has been enabled, you can set up your Ruby web app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adding a Ruby app does not require much additional set up. Create the Ruby app on your server <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and name it, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><kbd>config.ru<\/kbd><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Next,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 map a domain to the \u201cpublic\u201d directory within the app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After installing an app, you will need to restart the Apache server. For information about how to do this from the ACC, see our<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pair.com\/support\/kb\/how-to-restart-apache\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How to Restart Apache article.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have restarted the Apache server, Phusion Passenger will automatically detect your Ruby app and serve it on the domain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Setting Up Node.js<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To set up a Node.js apps with mod_passenger, create the Node.js app on the server <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and name it, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><kbd>app.js<\/kbd><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Next, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">map a domain to the \u201cpublic\u201d directory within the app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Setting Up Python<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After enabling mod_passenger, you can host Python web apps, like Flask or Django, on your server.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add the Python web app to your server<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and name it, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><kbd>passenger_wsgi.py<\/kbd><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Next, map a domain to the \u201cpublic\u201d directory within the app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is mod_passenger? mod_passenger enables Phusion Passenger to host Ruby, Python, and Node.js apps on the Apache server. Phusion Passenger specializes in managing these types of apps by restarting them in the case of an app crash, keeping heavy-resource usage in check, and more. By enabling this feature, you will&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"ht-kb-category":[175],"ht-kb-tag":[193,178,177],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is mod_passenger? - Knowledge Base - Pair Networks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"mod_passenger enables Phusion Passenger to host Ruby, Python, and Node.js apps on the Apache server. 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