OS/Linux Distributions using Apache

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You are viewing an outdated report. The latest version of this report was published on October 1st, 2024

October 1st, 2018

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: 4,913,308 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, 26,422,794 Apache servers were detected, but only 4,913,308 (18.59%) 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 September 2018
Hostname Count September 2018
% August 2018
Hostname Count August 2018
% Growth
%

CentOS 1,545,593 31.46 1,540,292 31.25 0.67

Debian 1,460,217 29.72 1,476,462 29.95 -0.78

Ubuntu 1,201,392 24.45 1,187,671 24.09 1.49

Red Hat 216,946 4.42 225,436 4.57 -3.45

Windows 179,735 3.66 190,281 3.86 -5.23

FreeBSD 148,001 3.01 145,831 2.96 1.82

Fedora 74,156 1.51 74,740 1.52 -0.46

SuSE 61,118 1.24 62,275 1.26 -1.54

Scientific Linux 8,323 0.17 8,613 0.17 -3.05

Oracle 5,494 0.11 5,103 0.10 8.01

Turbolinux 2,995 0.06 3,161 0.06 -4.94

Gentoo 2,959 0.06 3,053 0.06 -2.76

Darwin 1,348 0.03 1,390 0.03 -2.70

Mandriva 1,153 0.02 1,188 0.02 -2.63

Mac OS X 976 0.02 983 0.02 -0.39

Sun Cobalt 720 0.01 714 0.01 1.17

APMServ 588 0.01 596 0.01 -1.02

Netware 285 0.01 288 0.01 -0.72

Trustix 236 0.00 242 0.00 -2.16

IBM 197 0.00 180 0.00 9.80

Asianux 172 0.00 173 0.00 -0.25

ASPLinux 156 0.00 160 0.00 -2.18

OpenVMS 128 0.00 125 0.00 2.74

BlueQuartz 92 0.00 94 0.00 -1.81

OS/2 77 0.00 72 0.00 7.29

OpenPKG 76 0.00 76 0.00 0.33

ALT Linux 54 0.00 55 0.00 -1.50

UnitedLinux 43 0.00 43 0.00 0.33

White Box 25 0.00 29 0.00 -13.51

ClarkConnect 13 0.00 14 0.00 -6.84

rPath 10 0.00 18 0.00 -44.26

OpenNA 8 0.00 9 0.00 -10.82

Lineox 5 0.00 5 0.00 0.33

RedFlag 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.33

Tao 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.33

Haansoft 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.33

PCLinuxOS 3 0.00 3 0.00 0.33

iSeries 2 0.00 2 0.00 0.33

Cygwin 2 0.00 2 0.00 0.33

Miracle 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.33

Reporting by Installation (Sample size: 647,284 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, 2,295,493 distinct IP Addresses hosted Apache servers, but only 647,284 (28.20%) 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 September 2018
IP Address Count September 2018
% August 2018
IP Address Count August 2018
% Growth
%

Ubuntu 209,106 32.31 208,089 32.02 0.88

CentOS 171,131 26.44 172,146 26.49 -0.20

Debian 162,270 25.07 163,700 25.19 -0.49

Windows 42,363 6.54 42,268 6.50 0.62

Red Hat 22,029 3.40 22,651 3.49 -2.37

FreeBSD 16,983 2.62 17,225 2.65 -1.02

Fedora 9,812 1.52 9,933 1.53 -0.83

SuSE 8,535 1.32 8,678 1.34 -1.26

Scientific Linux 1,831 0.28 1,853 0.29 -0.80

Oracle 1,016 0.16 1,019 0.16 0.09

Turbolinux 502 0.08 511 0.08 -1.38

Darwin 384 0.06 393 0.06 -1.91

Mandriva 308 0.05 313 0.05 -1.21

Netware 204 0.03 205 0.03 -0.10

Sun Cobalt 190 0.03 195 0.03 -2.18

Gentoo 158 0.02 159 0.02 -0.24

APMServ 93 0.01 89 0.01 4.90

OpenVMS 71 0.01 69 0.01 3.30

Mac OS X 53 0.01 55 0.01 -3.26

IBM 46 0.01 43 0.01 7.39

ASPLinux 28 0.00 30 0.00 -6.30

Asianux 26 0.00 29 0.00 -10.00

Trustix 25 0.00 27 0.00 -7.05

OpenPKG 21 0.00 21 0.00 0.39

BlueQuartz 19 0.00 20 0.00 -4.63

OS/2 16 0.00 15 0.00 7.08

White Box 14 0.00 15 0.00 -6.30

ALT Linux 13 0.00 14 0.00 -6.78

UnitedLinux 10 0.00 10 0.00 0.39

rPath 7 0.00 8 0.00 -12.16

ClarkConnect 6 0.00 7 0.00 -13.95

OpenNA 5 0.00 5 0.00 0.39

Lineox 2 0.00 3 0.00 -33.07

RedFlag 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

PCLinuxOS 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

Haansoft 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

iSeries 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

Tao 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

Miracle 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

Cygwin 1 0.00 1 0.00 0.39

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	September 2018 Hostname Count	September 2018 %	August 2018 Hostname Count	August 2018 %	Growth %
CentOS	1,545,593	31.46	1,540,292	31.25	0.67
Debian	1,460,217	29.72	1,476,462	29.95	-0.78
Ubuntu	1,201,392	24.45	1,187,671	24.09	1.49
Red Hat	216,946	4.42	225,436	4.57	-3.45
Windows	179,735	3.66	190,281	3.86	-5.23
FreeBSD	148,001	3.01	145,831	2.96	1.82
Fedora	74,156	1.51	74,740	1.52	-0.46
SuSE	61,118	1.24	62,275	1.26	-1.54
Scientific Linux	8,323	0.17	8,613	0.17	-3.05
Oracle	5,494	0.11	5,103	0.10	8.01
Turbolinux	2,995	0.06	3,161	0.06	-4.94
Gentoo	2,959	0.06	3,053	0.06	-2.76
Darwin	1,348	0.03	1,390	0.03	-2.70
Mandriva	1,153	0.02	1,188	0.02	-2.63
Mac OS X	976	0.02	983	0.02	-0.39
Sun Cobalt	720	0.01	714	0.01	1.17
APMServ	588	0.01	596	0.01	-1.02
Netware	285	0.01	288	0.01	-0.72
Trustix	236	0.00	242	0.00	-2.16
IBM	197	0.00	180	0.00	9.80
Asianux	172	0.00	173	0.00	-0.25
ASPLinux	156	0.00	160	0.00	-2.18
OpenVMS	128	0.00	125	0.00	2.74
BlueQuartz	92	0.00	94	0.00	-1.81
OS/2	77	0.00	72	0.00	7.29
OpenPKG	76	0.00	76	0.00	0.33
ALT Linux	54	0.00	55	0.00	-1.50
UnitedLinux	43	0.00	43	0.00	0.33
White Box	25	0.00	29	0.00	-13.51
ClarkConnect	13	0.00	14	0.00	-6.84
rPath	10	0.00	18	0.00	-44.26
OpenNA	8	0.00	9	0.00	-10.82
Lineox	5	0.00	5	0.00	0.33
RedFlag	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.33
Tao	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.33
Haansoft	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.33
PCLinuxOS	3	0.00	3	0.00	0.33
iSeries	2	0.00	2	0.00	0.33
Cygwin	2	0.00	2	0.00	0.33
Miracle	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.33

OS/Distribution	September 2018 IP Address Count	September 2018 %	August 2018 IP Address Count	August 2018 %	Growth %
Ubuntu	209,106	32.31	208,089	32.02	0.88
CentOS	171,131	26.44	172,146	26.49	-0.20
Debian	162,270	25.07	163,700	25.19	-0.49
Windows	42,363	6.54	42,268	6.50	0.62
Red Hat	22,029	3.40	22,651	3.49	-2.37
FreeBSD	16,983	2.62	17,225	2.65	-1.02
Fedora	9,812	1.52	9,933	1.53	-0.83
SuSE	8,535	1.32	8,678	1.34	-1.26
Scientific Linux	1,831	0.28	1,853	0.29	-0.80
Oracle	1,016	0.16	1,019	0.16	0.09
Turbolinux	502	0.08	511	0.08	-1.38
Darwin	384	0.06	393	0.06	-1.91
Mandriva	308	0.05	313	0.05	-1.21
Netware	204	0.03	205	0.03	-0.10
Sun Cobalt	190	0.03	195	0.03	-2.18
Gentoo	158	0.02	159	0.02	-0.24
APMServ	93	0.01	89	0.01	4.90
OpenVMS	71	0.01	69	0.01	3.30
Mac OS X	53	0.01	55	0.01	-3.26
IBM	46	0.01	43	0.01	7.39
ASPLinux	28	0.00	30	0.00	-6.30
Asianux	26	0.00	29	0.00	-10.00
Trustix	25	0.00	27	0.00	-7.05
OpenPKG	21	0.00	21	0.00	0.39
BlueQuartz	19	0.00	20	0.00	-4.63
OS/2	16	0.00	15	0.00	7.08
White Box	14	0.00	15	0.00	-6.30
ALT Linux	13	0.00	14	0.00	-6.78
UnitedLinux	10	0.00	10	0.00	0.39
rPath	7	0.00	8	0.00	-12.16
ClarkConnect	6	0.00	7	0.00	-13.95
OpenNA	5	0.00	5	0.00	0.39
Lineox	2	0.00	3	0.00	-33.07
RedFlag	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39
PCLinuxOS	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39
Haansoft	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39
iSeries	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39
Tao	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39
Miracle	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39
Cygwin	1	0.00	1	0.00	0.39