Linux install and configure pound reverse proxy for Apache http / https web server

Install Pound Software

Type the following command to install pound:
$ sudo apt-get install pound

Sample configuration: HTTP Proxy

Forward all incoming request at 202.54.1.5 port 80 request to 192.168.1.5 Apache server running at 8080 port:
Open /etc/pound/pound.cfg file:
# vi /etc/pound/pound.cfg


To translate HTTP requests to a local internal HTTP server, enter (make sure 192.168.1.5 Apache running listing on port 8080):

ListenHTTP
        Address 202.54.1.5
        Port    80
        Service
                 BackEnd
                      Address 192.168.1.5
                      Port    8080
                 End
         End
End


Save and close the file. Restart pound:
# /etc/init.d/pound restart
Following example will distribute the all HTTP/HTTPS requests to two Web servers:
ListenHTTP
         Address 202.54.1.5
         Port    80
End
ListenHTTPS
        Address 202.54.1.5
        Port    443
        Cert    "/etc/ssl/local.server.pem"
End
Service
                 BackEnd
                     Address 192.168.1.5
                     Port    80
                 End
                 BackEnd
                     Address 192.168.1.6
                     Port    80
                 End
End
For testing purpose you may generate self signed ssl certificate (/etc/ssl/local.server.pem), by entering the following command:
# cd /etc/ssl && openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout local.server.pem -out local.server.pem -days 365 -nodes

Pound log file

By default pound log message using syslog:
# tail -f /var/log/messages
# grep pound /var/log/messages

Sample complete configuration file

## Minimal sample pound.cfg
######################################################################
## global options:
User "www-data"
Group "www-data"
#RootJail "/chroot/pound"
## Logging: (goes to syslog by default)
## 0 no logging
## 1 normal
## 2 extended
## 3 Apache-style (common log format)
LogLevel 1
## check backend every X secs:
Alive 30
## use hardware-accelleration card supported by openssl(1):
#SSLEngine ""
######################################################################
## listen, redirect and ... to:
# Here is a more complex example: assume your static images (GIF/JPEG) are to be served from  #a  single  back-end  192.168.0.10.  In
#       addition,  192.168.0.11  is  to  do  the  hosting for www.myserver.com with #URL-based sessions, and 192.168.0.20 (a 1GHz PIII) and
#       192.168.0.21 (800Mhz Duron) are for all other requests (cookie-based sessions).  The #logging will be done by the back-end servers.
#       The configuration file may look like this:
             # Main listening ports
             ListenHTTP
                 Address 202.54.1.10
                 Port    80
                 Client  10
             End
             ListenHTTPS
                 Address 202.54.1.10
                 Port    443
                 Cert    "/etc/pound/pound.pem"
                 Client  20
             End
             # Image server
             Service
                 URL ".*.(jpg|gif)"
                 BackEnd
                     Address 192.168.1.10
                     Port    80
                 End
             End
            # Virtual host www.myserver.com
             Service
                 URL         ".*sessid=.*"
                 HeadRequire "Host:.*www.nixcraft.com.*"
                 BackEnd
                     Address 192.168.1.11
                     Port    80
                 End
                 Session
                     Type    PARM
                     ID      "sessid"
                     TTL     120
                 End
             End
             # Everybody else
             Service
                 BackEnd
                     Address 192.168.1.20
                     Port    80
                     Priority 5
                 End
                 BackEnd
                     Address 192.168.1.21
                     Port    80
                     Priority 4
                 End
                 Session
                     Type    COOKIE
                     ID      "userid"
                     TTL     180
                 End
             End