These days I read some messages about modharbour.exe CGI. I found some on how to use it (from year 2022):

https://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?t=42430&hilit=Great+news+regarding+mod_harbour+CGI

I have installed Apache, put required files in cgi-bin folder. and required httpd.conf and .htaccess files in its folders as instructions directed.

I work with Windows 11 64 bit computer.

After I in Chrome enter http://localhost/cgi-bin/modharbour.exe?test.prg I get error message that modharbour.exe is "Unsupported 16-bit Application".

If someone can help me on next questions:

-Can I somewhere find 32 bit modharbour.exe ?

-Where to go ? To use modharbour.exe CGI or to use HIX 2.2 ? In this AI era things changes fast. Is modharbour.exe CGI outdated ?

Thank you in advance,
Dako.

Dear Dako,

Thank you for the details. I checked the official mod_harbour repository: the cgi/windows folder does contain modharbour.exe, but that executable is 64-bit, not 32-bit. You can see the folder and its accompanying x64 DLLs here: https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/tree/master/cgi/windows . The direct download for that executable is https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/master/cgi/windows/modharbour.exe . Please do not use it as a 32-bit CGI binary.

The Windows message “Unsupported 16-bit Application” does not prove that modharbour is a 16-bit program. To find out what is failing on your machine, could you send us the exact link from which you downloaded your modharbour.exe, its file size, and the full Windows error message? Also tell us whether your Apache installation is 32- or 64-bit. The repository has an older Win32 package under its 2.0 releases, but I cannot confirm that it contains the CGI executable, so I would not recommend it for this setup yet.

CGI and HIX are different approaches. CGI runs under Apache; HIX is a separate Harbour web server. If your aim is to get a local Harbour project running on Windows without configuring Apache, HIX 2.2 is another option to evaluate: https://github.com/carles9000/hix/releases/tag/v2.2 . If you want to stay with Apache/CGI, send the details above and we can narrow down the executable problem first. I would not call CGI obsolete just because HIX exists.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

Dear Dako,

One more point after checking the build files. The repository has a cgi/windows/modharbour.hbp project and a 64-bit build script, but no ready-made 32-bit CGI build script or verified 32-bit CGI download. A 32-bit build appears possible in principle with Harbour for MSVC x86, the x86 Visual Studio toolchain, and matching 32-bit dependencies. This is a route suggested by the project files, not a build we have tested. The windows/go32.bat script in the repository builds the Apache module, not this CGI executable, so please do not run it as a CGI build.

For a new Harbour web project on Windows, we recommend HIX 2.2 instead: https://github.com/carles9000/hix/releases/tag/v2.2 . It is an active project, maintained by its author Carlos Aubia (Charly), whom you can approach for support. mod_harbour remains available, but its community and development have been quiet lately. HIX also avoids the Apache/CGI setup you are troubleshooting.

If you specifically need Apache/CGI, tell us which 32-bit Harbour/MSVC toolchain and libraries you have, and we can help you work through the first build error without claiming a ready-made x86 binary.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

#This is the link where I found modharbour.exe
https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/tree/master/cgi/windows
Size is 202 KB

#Next are links for .htaccess and httpd.conf :
Copy .hcaccess to apache/htdocs:
https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/blob/master/cgi/windows/.htaccess

And use this Apache configuration file:
https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/blob/master/cgi/windows/httpd.conf

#Full error mesage is:
Unsupported 16-bit Application
The program or feature "c:\Apache24\cgi-bin\modharbour.exe" cannot start or run due to incompatibility with 64-bit version od Windows. Please contact the software vendor to ask if a 64-bit Windows compatible version is available.

#Apache installation is 64 bit, downloaded from https://www.apachelounge.com/download/
File is httpd-2.4.68-260920-Win64-VS18.zip

Regards,
Dako.

Dear Dako,

Thank you for checking and sending the full error. The important clue is the file size: your local modharbour.exe is 202 KB, while the cgi/windows/modharbour.exe in the official repository is 6,042,112 bytes (about 5.76 MB). They are not the same file. This could happen if a web page or an incomplete download was saved under the .exe name; the size difference alone does not tell us exactly which happened.

Please download the executable using the repository's Raw download, not “Save page as” on its GitHub preview:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/master/cgi/windows/modharbour.exe

1. Save it as modharbour.exe and check that its size is 6,042,112 bytes.
2. Replace the 202 KB file in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin\ with that downloaded file. Keep a copy of the old file outside cgi-bin while testing.
3. Try your http://localhost/cgi-bin/modharbour.exe?test.prg URL again. If there is another error, please send the exact message and confirm the new file size.

This repository executable is 64-bit, so it is the right architecture to test on 64-bit Windows. The Apache configuration and its own architecture do not, by themselves, explain why a separate CGI executable on disk is only 202 KB.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

With new modharbour.exe described error gone.

#Can you give me a link to download DLL files required to bi in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin folder along with new modharbour.exe file. These DLL files are:
libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll
libcurl-x64.dll
libssl-1_1-x64.dll

#The old ones that I have downloaded from https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/tree/master/cgi/windows do not work with new modharbour.exe with size about 5.76 MB. With them I have error like this:

modharbour.exe – Bad image
C:\Apache24\cgi-bin\libssl-1_1-x64.dll is either not designed to run on Windows ot it contains an error. Try installing the program again using installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendie for support. Error status 0xc000012f.

#Same error is for all DLL files I have.

Thank you.
Regards,
Dako.

Dear Dako,

The official mod_harbour instructions list these DLLs in the repository folder windows/win64/required: libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll, libcurl-x64.dll and libssl-1_1-x64.dll. Please download them from that folder and copy them to C:\Apache24\bin (the Apache bin directory), not cgi-bin. The project README specifies Apache24\bin for these DLLs.

If Windows still reports “Bad image”, please check that each file downloaded completely and came from that x64 folder. That message can also result from an architecture mismatch or a damaged DLL; please tell us the architecture of the Apache installation and share the exact error again if it persists.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

#I have downloaded DLLs from windows/win64/required . I can notice that these DLLs are the same ones I had before , but in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin folder.

#Then I copied new DLLs in C:\Apache24\bin folder.

#For now in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin folder I have only modharbour.exe and test.prg, while in C:\Apache24\bin folder I have new DDLs along with other many files in that folder.

#After I write http://localhost/cgi-bin/modharbour.exe?test.prg I get next two errors:

modharbour.exe – System error
The code execution cannot proceed libssl-1_1-x64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

modharbour.exe – System error
The code execution cannot proceed libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Thank you.
Regards,
Dako.

Dear Dako,

Thanks for testing. The repository README only confirms that these DLLs belong in C:\Apache24\bin; your new message says Windows still cannot find two of them when Apache starts the CGI. I don’t want to guess at a change to your Apache setup. Could you share the complete current error text for each DLL, confirm the exact paths and filenames in C:\Apache24\bin, and tell us whether you start Apache as a Windows service or from a console? If possible, please also check whether libcurl-x64.dll is present there. With that, we can narrow down why the CGI process cannot load them.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

Here are list of files in folders c:\Apache\bin and c:\Apache\cgi-bin.

"C:\Apache24\bin\apr_ldap-1.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\brotli.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\brotlicommon.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\brotlidec.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\brotlienc.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\c_rehash.pl" "C:\Apache24\bin\curl.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\curl-config" "C:\Apache24\bin\dbmmanage.pl" "C:\Apache24\bin\htcacheclean.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\htdbm.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\htdigest.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\htpasswd.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\httxt2dbm.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\jansson.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libapr-1.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libapriconv-1.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libaprutil-1.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libcrypto-3-x64.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libcurl.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libcurl-x64.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libexpat.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libhttpd.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libssl-1_1-x64.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libssl-3-x64.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\libxml2.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\logresolve.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\lua.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\lua54.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\lua55.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\luac.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\nghttp2.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\nghttp3.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\ngtcp2.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\ngtcp2_crypto_ossl.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\openssl.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\pcre.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\pcre2-8.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\pcre2-config" "C:\Apache24\bin\pcre2-posix.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\rotatelogs.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\wcurl" "C:\Apache24\bin\WinTTY.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\xml2-config" "C:\Apache24\bin\xmlcatalog.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\xmllint.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\xmlwf.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\z.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\zstd.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\zstd.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\ab.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\abs.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\ApacheMonitor.exe" "C:\Apache24\bin\apr_crypto_openssl-1.dll" "C:\Apache24\bin\apr_dbd_odbc-1.dll"

"C:\Apache24\cgi-bin\printenv.pl" "C:\Apache24\cgi-bin\test.prg" "C:\Apache24\cgi-bin\modharbour.exe"

I think problem is in modharbour.exe. This situation cannot solve AI agent, only creator of nodharbour,exe.

Thank you. Regards, Dako.

Dear Dako,

Thank you for the full list of both folders. It is useful: it shows that libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll, libssl-1_1-x64.dll and libcurl-x64.dll are now in C:\Apache24\bin, and that cgi-bin only contains modharbour.exe, test.prg and printenv.pl.

I understand your conclusion, but this list alone does not show yet that modharbour.exe is the faulty part. It is possible that it is, and I cannot rule it out. What the list does not tell us is whether those three DLLs are complete x64 files and why Windows still says it cannot find them. Your earlier "Bad image" error (0xc000012f) on these same DLLs points to a damaged or wrong-architecture file, not necessarily to the executable.

To give the author something concrete, could you check these items?

1. The size in bytes (right click > Properties) of each file. The official values in the repository are:

   Code: Select all Collapse

   modharbour.exe          6042112
   libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll   3404288
   libssl-1_1-x64.dll       682496
   libcurl-x64.dll         1102968

   If any of them differs, that file was not downloaded correctly (for example it is an HTML page or an incomplete file). Please use the Raw download link, not "Save page as" from the GitHub page.

2. The exact current error text, one message per DLL, copied word for word, and whether you start Apache as a Windows service or from a console.

3. The Apache architecture (httpd.exe -V shows it). I also see libcrypto-3-x64.dll and libssl-3-x64.dll in the same bin folder; those are OpenSSL 3, while modharbour.exe asks for the 1_1 versions, so both sets must be intact.

If your goal is to build a new web application in Harbour rather than to run existing mod_harbour scripts, HIX 2.2 remains an alternative that does not use CGI. I am not saying it solves this particular case; it is only an option for the project.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

Here are answers:

1.Size of files
modharbour.exe 6042112 bytes
libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll 225.592 bytes
libssl-1_1-x64.dll 225.326 bytes
libcurl-x64.dll 225.263 bytes

DLL files I have dowloaded from https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/tree/master/windows/win64/required as you suggested in you message from Wed Sep 30, 2026 9:05 am.

2.Error text, one message per DLL, copied word for word
Error messages, word by word:

modharbour.exe – System error
The code execution cannot proceed libssl-1_1-x64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

modharbour.exe – System error
The code execution cannot proceed libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

modharbour.exe – System error
The code execution cannot proceed libcurl-x64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator at admin@example.com to inform them of the time this error occurred, and the actions you performed just before this error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

I start Apache from console, it is easier for me while testing modharbour CGI.

1. Apache architecture
   C:\Apache24\bin>httpd.exe -V
   Server version: Apache/2.4.68 (Win64)
   Apache Lounge VS18 Server built: Sep 20 2026 10:53:03
   Server's Module Magic Number: 20120211:142
   Server loaded: APR 1.7.6, APR-UTIL 1.6.5, PCRE 10.48 2026-08-31
   Compiled using: APR 1.7.6, APR-UTIL 1.6.5, PCRE 10.48 2026-08-31
   Architecture: 64-bit
   Server MPM: WinNT
   threaded: yes (fixed thread count)
   forked: no
   Server compiled with....
   -D APR_HAS_SENDFILE
   -D APR_HAS_MMAP
   -D APR_HAVE_IPV6 (IPv4-mapped addresses disabled)
   -D APR_HAS_OTHER_CHILD
   -D AP_HAVE_RELIABLE_PIPED_LOGS
   -D DYNAMIC_MODULE_LIMIT=256
   -D HTTPD_ROOT="/apache"
   -D SUEXEC_BIN="/apache/bin/suexec"
   -D DEFAULT_PIDLOG="logs/httpd.pid"
   -D DEFAULT_SCOREBOARD="logs/apache_runtime_status"
   -D DEFAULT_ERRORLOG="logs/error.log"
   -D AP_TYPES_CONFIG_FILE="conf/mime.types"
   -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf"

Regards,
Dako.

Dear Dako,

Thank you for the exact sizes. They show the likely cause: the three DLLs you have are about 225 KB each, while the real files in the repository are:

libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll   3,404,288 bytes
libssl-1_1-x64.dll        682,496 bytes
libcurl-x64.dll         1,102,968 bytes

Files of that size are not DLLs. They are most likely the GitHub web page saved with a .dll name (the same thing that happened before with modharbour.exe). Windows then reports them as "not found" or "bad image".

Please download each DLL again with the Raw/Download button, not "Save page as", from:
https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/tree/master/windows/win64/required
Open each file in that folder, press "Download raw file", and check the size in bytes before copying them to C:\Apache24\bin. Restart Apache from the console after copying.

If it still fails, send us the three sizes again and the exact error text.

Regards,
FiveTech AI

Finally, progress !

Yes, that was my mistake. I used "Save page as". After I downloaded it by your instructions, I get proper files.

Size of files now are:
modharbour.exe 6.042.112 bytes
libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll 3.404.288 bytes
libssl-1_1-x64.dll 682.496 bytes
libcurl-x64.dll 1.102.968 bytes

#That DLLs I copied in C:\Apache24\bin folder, as instructed on download page.
But after starting Apache and typed http://localhost/cgi-bin/modharbour.exe?test.prg in address line, I got this error:

modharbour.exe – System error
The code execution cannot proceed because libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.

Same error is repeated for libssl-1_1-x64.dll and libcurl-x64.dll files.

Also on browser page I see this message:

Gateway Timeout
The gateway did not receive a timely response from the upstream server or application.

#This is important: Then I did next:
I copied same DLLs in folder C:\Apache24\cgi-bin folder. In old messages from year 2022 instructions say that DLLs must be in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin folder.

Then I again typed http://localhost/cgi-bin/modharbour.exe?test.prg in address line.
This time it works !

#No errors on DLLs. Now I have error in test.prg:
Error: Syntax error "syntax error at '<'"
operation: line:7
called from: HB_COMPILEFROMBUF, line: 0
called from: ..\..\source\exec.prg, EXECUTE, line: 68

Source:
0066: <link crossorigin="anonymous" media="all" rel="stylesheet" href="https://github.githubassets.com/assets/repository-11ee8a031c040c1a.css" / >
0067: <link crossorigin="anonymous" media="all" rel="stylesheet" href="https://github.githubassets.com/assets/code-2d56bdb0166c0238.css" / >
0068 =>
0069:
0070:

Obviously I have some old not good test.prg.
Can I download some good test.prg ?

#At this moment same DLLs I have in two folder, in C:\Apache24\bin folder and in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin folder. Can I delete DLLs from C:\Apache24\bin folder, or DDLS must be in both folders ?

Dear Dako,

Good progress! Your latest error is from test.prg: the lines beginning with <link ... github.githubassets.com ...> are GitHub page HTML, not Harbour source. The repository includes a working Windows CGI test file here: https://github.com/FiveTechSoft/mod_harbour/blob/master/cgi/windows/test.prg

It contains:

function Main()

   ? "Hello world"

return nil

Replace your current C:\Apache24\cgi-bin\test.prg with that plain-text file, then try http://localhost/cgi-bin/modharbour.exe?test.prg again. The Windows CGI README also lists http://localhost/test.prg and http://localhost/test as supported forms.

The current Windows README says to put the three DLLs in C:\Apache24\bin. Since your CGI now starts with copies in C:\Apache24\cgi-bin, keep both sets for now; I would not delete either set until the test works and the DLL-loading behavior is understood.

Regards,
FiveTech AI