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You are viewing an outdated report.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

March 1st, 2020

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: 4,295,205 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, 25,386,372 Apache servers were detected, but only 4,295,205 (16.92%) 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 February 2020
Hostname Count February 2020
% January 2020
Hostname Count January 2020
% Growth
%

Debian 1,333,780 31.05 1,364,121 31.34 -0.91

CentOS 1,311,810 30.54 1,319,143 30.31 0.78

Ubuntu 1,194,043 27.80 1,155,054 26.54 4.76

Windows 140,295 3.27 186,370 4.28 -23.71

FreeBSD 107,678 2.51 109,855 2.52 -0.67

Red Hat 93,079 2.17 101,770 2.34 -7.31

Fedora 53,944 1.26 54,677 1.26 -0.02

SuSE 41,026 0.96 42,122 0.97 -1.29

Scientific Linux 6,711 0.16 6,919 0.16 -1.70

Oracle 3,774 0.09 3,933 0.09 -2.75

Turbolinux 2,277 0.05 2,368 0.05 -2.55

Gentoo 2,027 0.05 2,132 0.05 -3.65

Mac OS X 991 0.02 986 0.02 1.86

Darwin 848 0.02 867 0.02 -0.88

Mandriva 611 0.01 652 0.01 -5.03

Sun Cobalt 556 0.01 541 0.01 4.15

APMServ 549 0.01 120 0.00 363.64

Netware 270 0.01 278 0.01 -1.57

Trustix 228 0.01 226 0.01 2.24

ASPLinux 140 0.00 139 0.00 2.07

OpenVMS 117 0.00 115 0.00 3.10

OS/2 99 0.00 78 0.00 28.63

OpenPKG 79 0.00 80 0.00 0.08

BlueQuartz 71 0.00 70 0.00 2.79

IBM 52 0.00 57 0.00 -7.55

ALT Linux 51 0.00 51 0.00 1.34

Asianux 26 0.00 33 0.00 -20.15

UnitedLinux 19 0.00 33 0.00 -41.65

White Box 18 0.00 20 0.00 -8.79

ClarkConnect 9 0.00 10 0.00 -8.79

OpenNA 6 0.00 6 0.00 1.34

rPath 6 0.00 5 0.00 21.61

Tao 3 0.00 3 0.00 1.34

Haansoft 3 0.00 3 0.00 1.34

Lineox 3 0.00 3 0.00 1.34

iSeries 2 0.00 4 0.00 -49.33

Cygwin 2 0.00 2 0.00 1.34

Miracle 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.34

PCLinuxOS 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.34

Reporting by Installation (Sample size: 585,792 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, 2,188,476 distinct IP Addresses hosted Apache servers, but only 585,792 (26.77%) 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 February 2020
IP Address Count February 2020
% January 2020
IP Address Count January 2020
% Growth
%

Ubuntu 206,343 35.22 204,844 34.42 2.32

CentOS 152,915 26.10 154,923 26.04 0.26

Debian 143,445 24.49 146,685 24.65 -0.66

Windows 36,188 6.18 39,489 6.64 -6.91

Red Hat 15,313 2.61 16,310 2.74 -4.63

FreeBSD 14,115 2.41 14,466 2.43 -0.88

Fedora 7,339 1.25 7,488 1.26 -0.44

SuSE 6,181 1.06 6,752 1.13 -7.01

Scientific Linux 1,525 0.26 1,579 0.27 -1.89

Oracle 825 0.14 844 0.14 -0.71

Turbolinux 414 0.07 431 0.07 -2.43

Darwin 252 0.04 258 0.04 -0.78

Mandriva 209 0.04 229 0.04 -7.29

Sun Cobalt 145 0.02 135 0.02 9.10

Netware 138 0.02 140 0.02 0.13

Gentoo 106 0.02 119 0.02 -9.52

OpenVMS 63 0.01 62 0.01 3.22

Mac OS X 48 0.01 49 0.01 -0.49

APMServ 44 0.01 54 0.01 -17.23

ASPLinux 26 0.00 24 0.00 10.05

OpenPKG 24 0.00 25 0.00 -2.48

IBM 24 0.00 28 0.00 -12.93

Trustix 20 0.00 20 0.00 1.58

OS/2 17 0.00 17 0.00 1.58

BlueQuartz 14 0.00 14 0.00 1.58

Asianux 14 0.00 15 0.00 -5.19

ALT Linux 11 0.00 11 0.00 1.58

White Box 11 0.00 12 0.00 -6.88

ClarkConnect 5 0.00 6 0.00 -15.35

UnitedLinux 4 0.00 5 0.00 -18.74

rPath 3 0.00 2 0.00 52.37

OpenNA 3 0.00 3 0.00 1.58

Lineox 2 0.00 2 0.00 1.58

iSeries 1 0.00 2 0.00 -49.21

Tao 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.58

PCLinuxOS 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.58

Cygwin 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.58

Haansoft 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.58

Miracle 1 0.00 1 0.00 1.58

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	February 2020 Hostname Count	February 2020 %	January 2020 Hostname Count	January 2020 %	Growth %
Debian	1,333,780	31.05	1,364,121	31.34	-0.91
CentOS	1,311,810	30.54	1,319,143	30.31	0.78
Ubuntu	1,194,043	27.80	1,155,054	26.54	4.76
Windows	140,295	3.27	186,370	4.28	-23.71
FreeBSD	107,678	2.51	109,855	2.52	-0.67
Red Hat	93,079	2.17	101,770	2.34	-7.31
Fedora	53,944	1.26	54,677	1.26	-0.02
SuSE	41,026	0.96	42,122	0.97	-1.29
Scientific Linux	6,711	0.16	6,919	0.16	-1.70
Oracle	3,774	0.09	3,933	0.09	-2.75
Turbolinux	2,277	0.05	2,368	0.05	-2.55
Gentoo	2,027	0.05	2,132	0.05	-3.65
Mac OS X	991	0.02	986	0.02	1.86
Darwin	848	0.02	867	0.02	-0.88
Mandriva	611	0.01	652	0.01	-5.03
Sun Cobalt	556	0.01	541	0.01	4.15
APMServ	549	0.01	120	0.00	363.64
Netware	270	0.01	278	0.01	-1.57
Trustix	228	0.01	226	0.01	2.24
ASPLinux	140	0.00	139	0.00	2.07
OpenVMS	117	0.00	115	0.00	3.10
OS/2	99	0.00	78	0.00	28.63
OpenPKG	79	0.00	80	0.00	0.08
BlueQuartz	71	0.00	70	0.00	2.79
IBM	52	0.00	57	0.00	-7.55
ALT Linux	51	0.00	51	0.00	1.34
Asianux	26	0.00	33	0.00	-20.15
UnitedLinux	19	0.00	33	0.00	-41.65
White Box	18	0.00	20	0.00	-8.79
ClarkConnect	9	0.00	10	0.00	-8.79
OpenNA	6	0.00	6	0.00	1.34
rPath	6	0.00	5	0.00	21.61
Tao	3	0.00	3	0.00	1.34
Haansoft	3	0.00	3	0.00	1.34
Lineox	3	0.00	3	0.00	1.34
iSeries	2	0.00	4	0.00	-49.33
Cygwin	2	0.00	2	0.00	1.34
Miracle	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.34
PCLinuxOS	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.34

OS/Distribution	February 2020 IP Address Count	February 2020 %	January 2020 IP Address Count	January 2020 %	Growth %
Ubuntu	206,343	35.22	204,844	34.42	2.32
CentOS	152,915	26.10	154,923	26.04	0.26
Debian	143,445	24.49	146,685	24.65	-0.66
Windows	36,188	6.18	39,489	6.64	-6.91
Red Hat	15,313	2.61	16,310	2.74	-4.63
FreeBSD	14,115	2.41	14,466	2.43	-0.88
Fedora	7,339	1.25	7,488	1.26	-0.44
SuSE	6,181	1.06	6,752	1.13	-7.01
Scientific Linux	1,525	0.26	1,579	0.27	-1.89
Oracle	825	0.14	844	0.14	-0.71
Turbolinux	414	0.07	431	0.07	-2.43
Darwin	252	0.04	258	0.04	-0.78
Mandriva	209	0.04	229	0.04	-7.29
Sun Cobalt	145	0.02	135	0.02	9.10
Netware	138	0.02	140	0.02	0.13
Gentoo	106	0.02	119	0.02	-9.52
OpenVMS	63	0.01	62	0.01	3.22
Mac OS X	48	0.01	49	0.01	-0.49
APMServ	44	0.01	54	0.01	-17.23
ASPLinux	26	0.00	24	0.00	10.05
OpenPKG	24	0.00	25	0.00	-2.48
IBM	24	0.00	28	0.00	-12.93
Trustix	20	0.00	20	0.00	1.58
OS/2	17	0.00	17	0.00	1.58
BlueQuartz	14	0.00	14	0.00	1.58
Asianux	14	0.00	15	0.00	-5.19
ALT Linux	11	0.00	11	0.00	1.58
White Box	11	0.00	12	0.00	-6.88
ClarkConnect	5	0.00	6	0.00	-15.35
UnitedLinux	4	0.00	5	0.00	-18.74
rPath	3	0.00	2	0.00	52.37
OpenNA	3	0.00	3	0.00	1.58
Lineox	2	0.00	2	0.00	1.58
iSeries	1	0.00	2	0.00	-49.21
Tao	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.58
PCLinuxOS	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.58
Cygwin	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.58
Haansoft	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.58
Miracle	1	0.00	1	0.00	1.58