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I have apache server on a VPS. Sometimes the cpu loads is skyrocketing (more than 15), while there are no many visitors to the website (invision board forum).

I checked the apache status, it shows a lot of

vps.mydomain.com OPTIONS * HTTP/1.0

each on of these entries is eating part of CPU.

Apache version is latest 2.2.16. I read that it should be redirected. But I don't understand how and why should I redirect it than "prevent" it.

Yousf
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You shouldn't prevent it or redirect it, but basically it performs 2 tasks - it will close the worker down i.e. when apache sees a worker has reached MaxRequestsPerChild it will do the internal dummy connection - so increasing (or removing) MaxRequestsPerChild will lower the number your seeing.

It is also used to wake spare/sleeping workers - so adjusting Max/MinSpareServers will also reduce the number.

Oh and as its a VPS, i would be talking to the VPS company as it could simply be another tenant on that server is causing your load to rocket by hogging CPU or I/O

But yeah - don't block it, and don't try to redirect it ;)

Geraint Jones
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  • Redirect is mentioned here: http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/InternalDummyConnection – Yousf Sep 22 '10 at 07:27
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    Being in a Wiki doesn't necessarily make it a smart thing to do, if it was in the official docs that would be another matter... ;-) – Geraint Jones Sep 22 '10 at 07:28
  • `In 2.2.6 and earlier, in certain configurations, these requests may hit a heavy-weight dynamic web page and cause unnecessary load on the server. You can avoid this by using mod_rewrite to respond with a redirect when accessed with that specific User-Agent or IP address.` seems like a good reason to do a redirect IMHO – isalgueiro Jun 16 '17 at 10:48