# Running Racket on a web server

**URL:** <https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251>\
**Category:** Questions & Answers\
**Created:** [October 23, 2024, 10:06am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251 "2024-10-23T10:06:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![damien\_mattei](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/damien_mattei/32/2706_2.png) [@damien\_mattei](https://racket.discourse.group/u/damien_mattei)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 10:06am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/1 "2024-10-23T10:06:17Z")

</div>

hello,

i have this problem when trying to run a Racket application from an Apache web server. I modify a PHP application that call a command line application (could be Fortran,Python,Scheme....)

the application caller in PHP looks like this:

```scheme
function generateCmdField() {

  file_put_contents('php://stderr', print_r("generateCmdField : CubeURL = $this->CubeURL\n", TRUE));

  //$this->cmd= "python -c \"print('Real Python')\""; // OK

  //$this->cmd= "/opt/homebrew/var/www/cgi-bin/test-cgi"; // KO

  $this->cmd= "/opt/homebrew/var/www/cgi-bin/interpole_fields"; // Scheme

if ($this->DebugShowCmd) {
    $this->warning .= " FORTRAN command=".$this->cmd;
  }

  file_put_contents('php://stderr', print_r("generateCmdField : this->cmd=$this->cmd\n", TRUE));
  file_put_contents('php://stderr', print_r("CoordinateSpecified : this->warning=$this->warning\n", TRUE));
}

}

  // execute the command (interpolation)
  function GeneralReturn() {

    $test=0;
    $message="";
    $msg="";

    while (($test < 3) && (strpos(strtoupper($message),'CPU') === FALSE)) {
      sleep(3);
      $test+=1;
      if (file_exists($this->url_input.".txt")) { // input file 
        $message=exec($this->cmd." 0>&1",$outp,$retc); // execute the command line
        // $message=exec($this->cmd." 2>&1",$outp,$retc);		
        $msg = $msg.$message.'['.$retc.']|'; // concatenate return message
	file_put_contents('php://stderr', print_r("GeneralReturn : msg=$msg\n outp=$outp\n", TRUE));
      }
	  //else {throw new SoapFault("1", "Writting pb");}
    }
    
    if ($test > 0) { $this->warning.=",TESTS=".$test." ".$msg; }
    
    exec("rm ".$this->url_input) ; // remove input file
    
    if (strpos(strtoupper($message),'CPU') === FALSE) {
      //CPU TIME is the last line of the code if it works
      //throw new SoapFault("1", "Interpolation error".$msg);
      $this->warning.="; Interpolation routines did not succeed";
    }
    
    if (strpos(strtoupper($message),"ERROR") !== FALSE) { throw new SoapFault("1", "Interpolation error ".$msg); }
    if (strpos(strtoupper($message),"WARNING") !== FALSE) { $this->warning.="; ".$message; }
    
    $ret="http://impex.latmos.ipsl.fr/getWSFile.php?location=".str_replace("/var/www/html/IMPEx/","",$this->url_output); // getWSFile.php ? return the raw output file or modified?
    
    if ($this->warning != "") {
      $header = new SoapHeader('http://impex.latmos.ipsl.fr/','warning',"WARNING:".$this->warning,false);
      $GLOBALS['server']->addSoapHeader($header);
    }
    
    return $ret;
  }

```

interpolate\_fields is a Scheme program that will prepare data and call later Python code...

for now it is just this:

```scheme
#! /usr/bin/env racket
#lang reader SRFI-105

;; interpolate field caller

;; Damien MATTEI

(module interpolate-field-caller racket
	
	(require Scheme+)

 (display "Scheme+ : interpole_fields") (newline)

) ; end module

```

i put this code in cgi-bin ,even if cgi-bin test has fail to allow code, there is no problem in running python or code from PHP, so i suppose,PHP has rights to run any code it want,and this is the case as it can run Python and Racket, but the problem is that my Racket code can not find some stuff to start...

The racket code run from command line ,the web server can run racket but i have an error.

First the command line test of my Racket code that works:

```scheme
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar cgi-bin % ls -la
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 7 mattei admin 224 23 oct 11:17 .
drwxr-xr-x 37 mattei admin 1184 23 oct 11:37 ..
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 mattei admin 222 23 oct 11:03 interpole_fields
-rw-r--r-- 1 mattei admin 820 18 avr 2024 printenv
-rw-r--r-- 1 mattei admin 1074 18 avr 2024 printenv.vbs
-rw-r--r-- 1 mattei admin 1133 18 avr 2024 printenv.wsf
-rwxr-xr-x@ 1 mattei admin 1269 23 oct 11:17 test-cgi
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar cgi-bin % ./interpole_fields
SRFI-105 Curly Infix parser for Racket Scheme by Damien MATTEI
(based on code from David A. Wheeler and Alan Manuel K. Gloria.)

Possibly skipping some header's lines containing space,tabs,new line,etc or comments.

SRFI-105.rkt : number of skipped lines (comments, spaces, directives,...) at header's beginning : 9

Parsed curly infix code result = 

(module interpolate-field-caller racket
  (require Scheme+)
  (display "Scheme+ : interpole_fields")
  (newline))
Scheme+ : interpole_fields

```

the output is correct ,it display a single line.

but when ran from client that call the PHP code ,it ran racket but racket got problem to find all the normal stuff ,here the error in httpd log:

```scheme
generateCmdField : this->cmd=/opt/homebrew/var/www/cgi-bin/interpole_fields
CoordinateSpecified : this->warning= Following parameters ignored=OutputFileType;units=1; FORTRAN command=/opt/homebrew/var/www/cgi-bin/interpole_fields
standard-module-name-resolver: collection not found
  for module path: SRFI-105
  collection: "SRFI-105"
  in collection directories:
   /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/collects
   /Applications/Racket/collects/
   ... [170 additional linked and package directories]
  context...:
   /Applications/Racket/collects/syntax/module-reader.rkt:265:4: get
   /Applications/Racket/collects/syntax/module-reader.rkt:315:4: read-fn
[Wed Oct 23 11:37:46.077700 2024] [php:warn] [pid 22248] [client ::1:58578] PHP Warning: Array to string conversion in /opt/homebrew/var/www/IMPExWS.php on line 801
GeneralReturn : msg=[1]|
 outp=Array

```

note: forget FORTRAN text it is now Scheme code.

note i put the PHP code but it is not directly the problem seems Racket can not load my library the same way in GUI or command line when running on a web server

when writting that i think now of an authorisation problem : can Racket access /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/collects from a PHP call on a web server?

Update:

in fact there is no directory that search Racket:

```scheme
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar cgi-bin % ls -la /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/collects
ls: /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/collects: No such file or directory
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar cgi-bin % ls -la /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/        
total 8
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 mattei staff 192 23 oct 10:54 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 mattei staff 128 11 oct 15:10 ..
drwxr-xr-x@ 24 mattei staff 768 23 oct 10:55 doc
-rw-r--r--@ 1 mattei staff 696 23 oct 10:54 links.rktd
drwxr-xr-x@ 15 mattei staff 480 23 oct 10:54 pkgs
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 mattei staff 96 11 oct 15:11 share

```

why racket is it searching here? this error only happens when launching by httpd and PHP

update 2:

```scheme
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar cgi-bin % ls -la /Applications/Racket/collects/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x@ 26 mattei admin 832 9 aoû 19:59 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 16 mattei admin 512 11 oct 15:07 ..
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 mattei admin 128 9 aoû 19:59 acks
drwxr-xr-x@ 17 mattei admin 544 9 aoû 19:59 compiler
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 mattei admin 192 9 aoû 19:59 data
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 mattei admin 96 9 aoû 19:59 db
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 mattei admin 160 9 aoû 19:59 dynext
drwxr-xr-x@ 12 mattei admin 384 9 aoû 19:59 ffi
drwxr-xr-x@ 18 mattei admin 576 9 aoû 19:59 file
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 mattei admin 128 9 aoû 19:59 info
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 mattei admin 96 9 aoû 19:59 info-domain
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 mattei admin 128 9 aoû 19:59 json
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 mattei admin 192 9 aoû 19:59 launcher
drwxr-xr-x@ 16 mattei admin 512 9 aoû 19:59 net
drwxr-xr-x@ 13 mattei admin 416 9 aoû 19:59 openssl
drwxr-xr-x@ 14 mattei admin 448 9 aoû 19:59 pkg
drwxr-xr-x@ 9 mattei admin 288 9 aoû 19:59 planet
drwxr-xr-x@ 116 mattei admin 3712 9 aoû 19:59 racket
drwxr-xr-x@ 12 mattei admin 384 9 aoû 19:59 raco
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 mattei admin 96 9 aoû 19:59 reader
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 mattei admin 96 9 aoû 19:59 realm
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 mattei admin 96 9 aoû 19:59 s-exp
drwxr-xr-x@ 38 mattei admin 1216 9 aoû 19:59 setup
drwxr-xr-x@ 46 mattei admin 1472 9 aoû 19:59 syntax
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 mattei admin 192 9 aoû 19:59 version
drwxr-xr-x@ 9 mattei admin 288 9 aoû 19:59 xml

```

Update 3:

i think that my program comes from the user that ran the racket code is Apache user \_www not me (mattei) and that my libraries are installed in my home dir...

so now the question is to install my libraries (SRFI-105 ,Scheme+) system wide or tell Racket to look in my home directory....

Update 4:

digging... and digging again... i find that my personnal modules are "linked" as installation :

```scheme
> (current-library-collection-links)
'(#f #<path:/Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd> #<path:/Applications/Racket v8.14/collects/../share/links.rktd>)

```

```scheme
less /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd

(("scribble-math" (#"pkgs" #"scribble-math"))
 ("scribble-code-examples" (#"pkgs" #"scribble-code-examples"))
 ("scribble-code-examples" (#"pkgs" #"scribble-code-examples-lib"))
 ("Scheme+R6RS" (up up #"CloudStorage" #"Dropbox" #"git" #"Scheme-PLUS-for-Racket-R6RS"))
 (root (#"pkgs" #"reprovide-lang-lib"))
 (root (#"pkgs" #"lang-file-lib"))
 (root (#"pkgs" #"syntax-macro-lang"))
 (root (#"pkgs" #"sci"))
 (root (#"pkgs" #"pretty-format"))
 ("colors" (#"pkgs" #"colors"))
 (root (#"pkgs" #"debug"))
 ("SRFI-105" (up up #"CloudStorage" #"Dropbox" #"git" #"SRFI-105-for-Racket"))
 ("Scheme+" (up up #"CloudStorage" #"Dropbox" #"git" #"Scheme-PLUS-for-Racket" #"main" #"Scheme-PLUS-for-Racket")))

/Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd (END)

```

i suppose this is not used by "\_www racket" , i will check that soon, in last solution i suppose making a standalone executable in Racket (i made it years ago for a command line application ,not web server) that incorporate all the libraries should works but this is not an easy develoment procedure as i must compile code many times in the day...

Update 5:

yes exactly the same on the client-server web application the PHP calls Racket that display those paths:

```scheme
command=./cgi-bin/interpole_fields
GeneralReturn : msg=Scheme+ : interpole_fields[0]|
 tmp3=Array
(
    [0] => (/Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/lib /Applications/Racket/lib)
    [1] => (#f /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd /Applications/Racket/collects/../share/links.rktd)
    [2] => Scheme+ : interpole_fields
)

```

when i launch :

```scheme
#! /usr/bin/env racket

;;#lang reader SRFI-105

;; interpolate field caller

;; Damien MATTEI

(module interpolate-field-caller racket
	
	;;(require Scheme+)

	(require setup/dirs)
	(display (get-lib-search-dirs)) (newline)
	(display (current-library-collection-links)) (newline)
	(display "Scheme+ : interpole_fields") (newline)

) ; end module

```

i do not understand why it can not load SRFI-105 and Scheme+ as :

```scheme
("SRFI-105" (up up #"CloudStorage" #"Dropbox" #"git" #"SRFI-105-for-Racket"))
 ("Scheme+" (up up #"CloudStorage" #"Dropbox" #"git" #"Scheme-PLUS-for-Racket" #"main" #"Scheme-PLUS-for-Racket"))

```

from `/Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd` if do: `(up up #"CloudStorage" #"Dropbox" #"git" #"SRFI-105-for-Racket")` i'm well in the SRFI-105 module source code:

```scheme
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar tmp % cd /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/          
(base) mattei@MacBook-Pro-Touch-Bar 8.14 % ls -la ../../CloudStorage/Dropbox/git/SRFI-105-for-Racket 
total 104
drwx------@ 12 mattei staff 384 1 oct 12:00 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 23 mattei staff 736 4 sep 21:58 ..
drwx------@ 13 mattei staff 416 27 sep 11:39 .git
-rw-------@ 1 mattei staff 35149 20 aoû 02:17 LICENSE
-rw-------@ 1 mattei staff 417 2 oct 08:47 README.md
drwx------@ 7 mattei staff 224 23 oct 10:54 compiled
drwx------@ 4 mattei staff 128 17 aoû 23:06 deprecated
drwx------@ 14 mattei staff 448 3 sep 11:22 doc
-rw-------@ 1 mattei staff 563 20 oct 01:08 info.rkt
-rw-------@ 1 mattei staff 7494 21 oct 00:31 main.rkt
drwx------@ 4 mattei staff 128 3 sep 11:22 scribblings
drwx------@ 8 mattei staff 256 18 oct 02:02 src

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![damien\_mattei](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/damien_mattei/32/2706_2.png) [@damien\_mattei](https://racket.discourse.group/u/damien_mattei)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/2 "2024-10-23T14:19:07Z")

</div>

PHP :

```scheme
$this->cmd= "/bin/ls /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd";

```

`tail -f /opt/homebrew/var/log/httpd/error_log` :

```scheme
command=/bin/ls /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd
ls: /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd: Permission denied

```

ah ah ah 😀

if the parent proccess has no right to access i'm sure the child can not access it too....

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![damien\_mattei](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/damien_mattei/32/2706_2.png) [@damien\_mattei](https://racket.discourse.group/u/damien_mattei)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/3 "2024-10-23T15:22:11Z")

</div>

solution could be to create an executable ,stand-alone or distribution options in Racket-\>create executable in the Racket GUI program  
but as i develop and test often my code i prefered to do the terrible thing of cutting the security of my system with two UNIX weapons ,`chmod` and `groupmod` by creating a path in the filesystem to my personal folder and even cloud box using `chmod g+rx` on directories and adding \_www to my staff group : `sudo dseditgroup -o edit -a _www -t user staff`. For development stage this is supportable....

pleasure to see Scheme+ for Racket and SRFI-105 curly infix loaded on the web apps:

```scheme
Scheme+ : interpole_fields[0]|
 tmp3=Array
(
    [0] => SRFI-105 Curly Infix parser for Racket Scheme by Damien MATTEI
    [1] => (based on code from David A. Wheeler and Alan Manuel K. Gloria.)
    [2] => 
    [3] => Possibly skipping some header's lines containing space,tabs,new line,etc or comments.
    [4] => 
    [5] => SRFI-105.rkt : number of skipped lines (comments, spaces, directives,...) at header's beginning : 10
    [6] => 
    [7] => Parsed curly infix code result =
    [8] => 
    [9] => (module interpolate-field-caller racket
    [10] => (require Scheme+)
    [11] => (require setup/dirs)
    [12] => (display (get-lib-search-dirs))
    [13] => (newline)
    [14] => (display (current-library-collection-links))
    [15] => (newline)
    [16] => (display "Scheme+ : interpole_fields")
    [17] => (newline))
    [18] => (/Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/lib /Applications/Racket/lib)
    [19] => (#f /Users/mattei/Library/Racket/8.14/links.rktd /Applications/Racket/collects/../share/links.rktd)
    [20] => Scheme+ : interpole_fields

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gneuner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@gneuner](https://racket.discourse.group/u/gneuner)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/4 "2026-04-03T14:59:49Z")

</div>

Another solution might be to use "mount bind" to link your code directories to somewhere Apache allows you to access. I've used bind successfully to get around chroot jails when necessary.

I've never tried to launch Racket directly from Apache, but I have run "backend" Racket programs as system services and used Apache to redirect access to them over local ports.

You don't need to create executables ... you can run Racket directly as a service (or bg daemon), point it to your source, and let it compile on the fly.

My attempts to run Racket based web servers have resulted in "lock ups" where the program stops responding ... but I haven't tried since early 7.x [before the change to CS] so take my experience with salt as it may be no longer relevant.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![soegaard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/soegaard/32/19_2.png) [@soegaard](https://racket.discourse.group/u/soegaard)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/5 "2026-04-04T16:39:28Z")

</div>

An alternative is to run the Racket web server on a local port.  
Then make nginx or Apache act as a proxy.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![damien\_mattei](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/racket.discourse.group/damien_mattei/32/2706_2.png) [@damien\_mattei](https://racket.discourse.group/u/damien_mattei)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/6 "2026-04-04T20:52:05Z")

</div>

Another solution to use Scheme on web server would be to generate Java/Jakarta byte-code from a Scheme source file and run it on an [apache tomcat](https://tomcat.apache.org/) web server.

I'm also upgrading a [scheme based web application](https://sidonie.oca.eu) from Java to Jakarta that is compiled in Java/Jakarta classes packaged in a .war file and the application is hosted on a tomcat web server.

I had written when porting the original web application from microsoft windows ASP scripts,(and originally hosted on windows web server ) to scheme and java classes under Linux hoste with Tomcat a [technical documentation](https://sidonie.oca.eu/Sidonie/technical-doc.html) still available.

I use scheme implementation that can generates Java/Jakarta classes: Kawa,Bigloo.  
Since this i have written,a few years ago, a [Scheme+ version for Kawa](https://github.com/damien-mattei/Scheme-PLUS-for-Kawa) that can be compiled in Java/Jakarta classes,so i can even use Scheme+ to upgrade the application.

An interesting feature would be to be able to generate Java/Jakarta classes from Racket code.This would allow to host Racket application on Tomcat web server.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gneuner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@gneuner](https://racket.discourse.group/u/gneuner)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 7:17am UTC](https://racket.discourse.group/t/running-racket-on-a-web-server/3251/7 "2026-04-05T07:17:09Z")

</div>

> [@soegaard](#):
>
> An alternative is to run the Racket web server on a local port.  
> Then make nginx or Apache act as a proxy.

That's what I ended up doing.

When I tried serving HTTP directly from Racket programs, they inevitably would lock up after a while. Didn't matter encrypted or not. Sometimes they worked for many thousands of requests, but eventually they always stopped responding. However, they were not crashed: only the "web server" part stopped - other threads still ran and the program could be accessed via those threads (if designed properly).

Once I put them behind a proxy server [Apache] and removed the need to serve static pages, they worked like a charm. 🤔

But note that this was with BC Racket. I have never tried serving HTTP directly with CS Racket.