OS/Linux Distributions using Apache

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You are viewing an outdated report. The latest version of this report was published on January 1st, 2021

May 1st, 2013

Report Description

The Apache server has in virtually any unbiased metric available (either from us or elsewhere) a majority market share in the web server market. Couple this with the fact that Apache will often provide hints as to the nature of the host OS it is running on, and one can view trends of linux distributions, how specialty OS' are performing in the server market and so on.

Methodology

The principal is simple: when issuing a request for a page to an Apache web server, the response received consists of HTTP Response Headers as well as the body of the web page being requested. For example, consider if we connect to a host on port 80 and request the root document. Our transaction might look something like this:


$ telnet 192.168.1.1 80
Trying 192.168.1.1...
Connected to 192.168.1.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
GET / HTTP/1.0

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:24:24 GMT
Server: Apache/2.2.3 (Debian) DAV/2 PHP/4.4.4-8+etch4 mod_perl/2.0.2 Perl/v5.8.8
Last-Modified: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:01:07 GMT
ETag: "62c786-15eb-43c23eac2cec0"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 5611
MS-Author-Via: DAV
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/strict.dtd">

<html>
...<snip>
</html>

The above response headers show the Server: header indicating the version of Apache, various add-on modules, as well as the fact that this platform is running the Debian linux distribution.

Reporting by Hostname (Sample size: 10,054,186 web sites)

It should be noted that not all web servers will report back the Host OS signature. In an Apache configuration file, the ServerTokens directive can be used to to disable the disclosure of this information. Only configurations that do not specify the ServerTokens directive, or set it to Full may reveal sufficient information to allow disclosure of the OS and distribution hosting the server.

In this month's survey, 43,859,167 Apache servers were detected, but only 10,054,186 (22.92%) revealed sufficient information to detect the host OS. The remainder of the survey by host information shown below is based on this subset of Apache servers that revealed the host OS.

OS/Distribution April 2013
Hostname Count April 2013
% March 2013
Hostname Count March 2013
% Growth
%

Debian 2,893,645 28.78 2,839,379 28.08 2.51

CentOS 2,884,850 28.69 2,925,003 28.92 -0.80

Ubuntu 1,431,765 14.24 1,412,637 13.97 1.95

Red Hat 923,874 9.19 946,578 9.36 -1.83

Fedora 638,873 6.35 624,657 6.18 2.87

FreeBSD 524,839 5.22 602,862 5.96 -12.43

Windows 374,784 3.73 371,487 3.67 1.48

SuSE 277,553 2.76 287,048 2.84 -2.74

Darwin 15,507 0.15 15,966 0.16 -2.31

Scientific Linux 12,458 0.12 12,249 0.12 2.30

Mandriva 12,164 0.12 10,578 0.10 15.67

Gentoo 11,769 0.12 12,144 0.12 -2.52

APMServ 10,952 0.11 10,679 0.11 3.16

Turbolinux 8,692 0.09 8,709 0.09 0.39

IBM 6,578 0.07 6,743 0.07 -1.88

Oracle 5,519 0.05 5,318 0.05 4.39

Sun Cobalt 5,211 0.05 5,445 0.05 -3.74

Trustix 4,940 0.05 5,054 0.05 -1.68

Mac OS X 3,120 0.03 3,216 0.03 -2.42

Netware 2,041 0.02 2,107 0.02 -2.57

ASPLinux 1,031 0.01 1,048 0.01 -1.05

BlueQuartz 861 0.01 883 0.01 -1.92

Asianux 728 0.01 750 0.01 -2.36

White Box 601 0.01 625 0.01 -3.28

ALT Linux 410 0.00 407 0.00 1.33

UnitedLinux 303 0.00 302 0.00 0.92

OpenVMS 246 0.00 251 0.00 -1.42

OpenPKG 169 0.00 172 0.00 -1.17

OS/2 153 0.00 156 0.00 -1.35

rPath 150 0.00 161 0.00 -6.29

ClarkConnect 83 0.00 84 0.00 -0.61

PCLinuxOS 66 0.00 90 0.00 -26.24

Yellow Dog 66 0.00 62 0.00 7.08

OpenNA 33 0.00 34 0.00 -2.37

Miracle 27 0.00 28 0.00 -3.01

iSeries 23 0.00 56 0.00 -58.69

Solaris 19 0.00 21 0.00 -8.99

Lineox 19 0.00 19 0.00 0.59

Momonga 12 0.00 15 0.00 -19.53

Tao 12 0.00 12 0.00 0.59

Aurox 8 0.00 10 0.00 -19.53

OpenBSD 6 0.00 6 0.00 0.59

Haansoft 6 0.00 6 0.00 0.59

Novell 5 0.00 5 0.00 0.59

RedFlag 5 0.00 5 0.00 0.59

Rogue Penguin 5 0.00 5 0.00 0.59

Cygwin 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.59

Slackware 2 0.00 2 0.00 0.59

Reporting by Installation (Sample size: 961,901 IP Addresses)

The following graph and table are based on the same underlying data set as in the previous graphs and table, but with the distinction that we count unique IP addresses instead of unique hostnames, thus getting a more accurate representation of the number of actual web servers installed. (See Web Survey by IP for more details).

In this month's survey, 3,123,255 distinct IP Addresses hosted Apache servers, but only 961,901 (30.80%) revealed sufficient information to detect the host OS. The data below is based on this subset of servers that revealed the host OS.

OS/Distribution April 2013
IP Address Count April 2013
% March 2013
IP Address Count March 2013
% Growth
%

CentOS 253,043 26.31 255,494 26.35 -0.15

Debian 213,680 22.21 213,005 21.96 1.14

Ubuntu 176,879 18.39 175,645 18.11 1.53

Red Hat 95,751 9.95 98,305 10.14 -1.80

Windows 72,347 7.52 72,835 7.51 0.14

Fedora 52,971 5.51 55,035 5.67 -2.96

FreeBSD 39,529 4.11 40,330 4.16 -1.18

SuSE 36,202 3.76 37,357 3.85 -2.30

APMServ 5,383 0.56 5,365 0.55 1.16

Darwin 3,635 0.38 3,748 0.39 -2.22

Scientific Linux 2,512 0.26 2,464 0.25 2.78

Mandriva 1,870 0.19 1,913 0.20 -1.45

Turbolinux 1,538 0.16 1,552 0.16 -0.09

Oracle 1,204 0.13 1,171 0.12 3.66

Sun Cobalt 1,156 0.12 1,205 0.12 -3.28

Netware 1,100 0.11 1,134 0.12 -2.20

Gentoo 700 0.07 726 0.07 -2.79

IBM 664 0.07 695 0.07 -3.68

Mac OS X 238 0.02 240 0.02 -0.02

BlueQuartz 212 0.02 219 0.02 -2.40

ASPLinux 198 0.02 201 0.02 -0.68

Asianux 187 0.02 191 0.02 -1.29

Trustix 155 0.02 164 0.02 -4.71

OpenVMS 137 0.01 139 0.01 -0.63

White Box 130 0.01 136 0.01 -3.63

UnitedLinux 83 0.01 83 0.01 0.82

rPath 79 0.01 84 0.01 -5.18

ALT Linux 68 0.01 70 0.01 -2.06

OpenPKG 64 0.01 71 0.01 -9.12

OS/2 37 0.00 39 0.00 -4.35

ClarkConnect 32 0.00 34 0.00 -5.11

PCLinuxOS 20 0.00 24 0.00 -15.98

OpenNA 18 0.00 17 0.00 6.75

Miracle 18 0.00 18 0.00 0.82

iSeries 10 0.00 27 0.00 -62.66

Yellow Dog 7 0.00 7 0.00 0.82

Solaris 7 0.00 8 0.00 -11.78

Momonga 6 0.00 7 0.00 -13.58

Lineox 6 0.00 6 0.00 0.82

Haansoft 5 0.00 5 0.00 0.82

Aurox 5 0.00 7 0.00 -27.99

Novell 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.82

Rogue Penguin 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.82

Tao 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.82

OpenBSD 2 0.00 2 0.00 0.82

Cygwin 2 0.00 2 0.00 0.82

RedFlag 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.82

Slackware 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.82

Note: Readers are cautioned that the Growth percentages are based on a server's market share penetration rather than the absolute number of servers we detected. Thus, it is possible for the number of servers to increase, while the growth is actually a negative value.

OS/Distribution	April 2013 Hostname Count	April 2013 %	March 2013 Hostname Count	March 2013 %	Growth %
Debian	2,893,645	28.78	2,839,379	28.08	2.51
CentOS	2,884,850	28.69	2,925,003	28.92	-0.80
Ubuntu	1,431,765	14.24	1,412,637	13.97	1.95
Red Hat	923,874	9.19	946,578	9.36	-1.83
Fedora	638,873	6.35	624,657	6.18	2.87
FreeBSD	524,839	5.22	602,862	5.96	-12.43
Windows	374,784	3.73	371,487	3.67	1.48
SuSE	277,553	2.76	287,048	2.84	-2.74
Darwin	15,507	0.15	15,966	0.16	-2.31
Scientific Linux	12,458	0.12	12,249	0.12	2.30
Mandriva	12,164	0.12	10,578	0.10	15.67
Gentoo	11,769	0.12	12,144	0.12	-2.52
APMServ	10,952	0.11	10,679	0.11	3.16
Turbolinux	8,692	0.09	8,709	0.09	0.39
IBM	6,578	0.07	6,743	0.07	-1.88
Oracle	5,519	0.05	5,318	0.05	4.39
Sun Cobalt	5,211	0.05	5,445	0.05	-3.74
Trustix	4,940	0.05	5,054	0.05	-1.68
Mac OS X	3,120	0.03	3,216	0.03	-2.42
Netware	2,041	0.02	2,107	0.02	-2.57
ASPLinux	1,031	0.01	1,048	0.01	-1.05
BlueQuartz	861	0.01	883	0.01	-1.92
Asianux	728	0.01	750	0.01	-2.36
White Box	601	0.01	625	0.01	-3.28
ALT Linux	410	0.00	407	0.00	1.33
UnitedLinux	303	0.00	302	0.00	0.92
OpenVMS	246	0.00	251	0.00	-1.42
OpenPKG	169	0.00	172	0.00	-1.17
OS/2	153	0.00	156	0.00	-1.35
rPath	150	0.00	161	0.00	-6.29
ClarkConnect	83	0.00	84	0.00	-0.61
PCLinuxOS	66	0.00	90	0.00	-26.24
Yellow Dog	66	0.00	62	0.00	7.08
OpenNA	33	0.00	34	0.00	-2.37
Miracle	27	0.00	28	0.00	-3.01
iSeries	23	0.00	56	0.00	-58.69
Solaris	19	0.00	21	0.00	-8.99
Lineox	19	0.00	19	0.00	0.59
Momonga	12	0.00	15	0.00	-19.53
Tao	12	0.00	12	0.00	0.59
Aurox	8	0.00	10	0.00	-19.53
OpenBSD	6	0.00	6	0.00	0.59
Haansoft	6	0.00	6	0.00	0.59
Novell	5	0.00	5	0.00	0.59
RedFlag	5	0.00	5	0.00	0.59
Rogue Penguin	5	0.00	5	0.00	0.59
Cygwin	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.59
Slackware	2	0.00	2	0.00	0.59

OS/Distribution	April 2013 IP Address Count	April 2013 %	March 2013 IP Address Count	March 2013 %	Growth %
CentOS	253,043	26.31	255,494	26.35	-0.15
Debian	213,680	22.21	213,005	21.96	1.14
Ubuntu	176,879	18.39	175,645	18.11	1.53
Red Hat	95,751	9.95	98,305	10.14	-1.80
Windows	72,347	7.52	72,835	7.51	0.14
Fedora	52,971	5.51	55,035	5.67	-2.96
FreeBSD	39,529	4.11	40,330	4.16	-1.18
SuSE	36,202	3.76	37,357	3.85	-2.30
APMServ	5,383	0.56	5,365	0.55	1.16
Darwin	3,635	0.38	3,748	0.39	-2.22
Scientific Linux	2,512	0.26	2,464	0.25	2.78
Mandriva	1,870	0.19	1,913	0.20	-1.45
Turbolinux	1,538	0.16	1,552	0.16	-0.09
Oracle	1,204	0.13	1,171	0.12	3.66
Sun Cobalt	1,156	0.12	1,205	0.12	-3.28
Netware	1,100	0.11	1,134	0.12	-2.20
Gentoo	700	0.07	726	0.07	-2.79
IBM	664	0.07	695	0.07	-3.68
Mac OS X	238	0.02	240	0.02	-0.02
BlueQuartz	212	0.02	219	0.02	-2.40
ASPLinux	198	0.02	201	0.02	-0.68
Asianux	187	0.02	191	0.02	-1.29
Trustix	155	0.02	164	0.02	-4.71
OpenVMS	137	0.01	139	0.01	-0.63
White Box	130	0.01	136	0.01	-3.63
UnitedLinux	83	0.01	83	0.01	0.82
rPath	79	0.01	84	0.01	-5.18
ALT Linux	68	0.01	70	0.01	-2.06
OpenPKG	64	0.01	71	0.01	-9.12
OS/2	37	0.00	39	0.00	-4.35
ClarkConnect	32	0.00	34	0.00	-5.11
PCLinuxOS	20	0.00	24	0.00	-15.98
OpenNA	18	0.00	17	0.00	6.75
Miracle	18	0.00	18	0.00	0.82
iSeries	10	0.00	27	0.00	-62.66
Yellow Dog	7	0.00	7	0.00	0.82
Solaris	7	0.00	8	0.00	-11.78
Momonga	6	0.00	7	0.00	-13.58
Lineox	6	0.00	6	0.00	0.82
Haansoft	5	0.00	5	0.00	0.82
Aurox	5	0.00	7	0.00	-27.99
Novell	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.82
Rogue Penguin	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.82
Tao	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.82
OpenBSD	2	0.00	2	0.00	0.82
Cygwin	2	0.00	2	0.00	0.82
RedFlag	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.82
Slackware	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.82