Editing httpd.conf

I have been told by my provider that I need to change the Max Clients setting for my server. I have been told to use this command to make the changes -

vi etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

then change the "MaxClients=" setting to a larger number. However when I run this command, I get nothing but a series of blank lines down the side of the window, and means to proceed.

I would appreciate some expert help here, as I don't want to pay them $100 for what looks like a couple of minutes work.

Surely there must be someone in this forum who knows the answer to my problem. But maybe you're all too highly skilled professionals to take the time to respond to such a simple question.

The blank lines means your system couldn't find a file at that location and has created one for you (if/when you save).
The same thing would happen if you type vi some/file/that/doesnt/exist

Chances are you've installed HTTPD somewhere else, you'll need to find the conf file there.

Thanks for the reply. I was beginning to think no one ever visited this forum.

As you can obviously tell, I'm not accustomed to working directly on the server. But in this case, my provider has told me to use that particular command to do the edit. I guess I'll have to let them do it, but I really hate to pay the $100 for what I am sure is an easy task for someone experienced in this field.

Perhaps ask them to verify the location of the conf file.

The reason you are seeing all those blank lines is because hte httpd.conf isn't at that location.

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how I make out.

I assume your using linux since you showed us the /etc/httpd/ part.

what distribution of linux are you using. Probably Redhat or Fedora? some distributors place the Apache server in different directory than others.

To help locate the httpd directory you can type at prompt:

whereis httpd

and you should get listing after showing you where it has listings for it.

also after you find the httpd.conf file make certain you are root as you do the vim httpd.conf

Sometime my linux will insist I am root to even open the file. Depends on what your permissions are set at.

hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply. I was got my hosting provider to give me some additiional instructions on how to access the file, and I was able to edit it.

If you are the only owner of server box the only thing you sould do is to add a slash before the provided path

If you are the only owner of your server box you sould use absolute path startin with '/' root