how to configure apache2 with fastcgi support for php5

I am using Ubuntu 8.10. I'm have setup php5 under lighttpd. But I'm not very familiar with apache.
I want to use fastcgi with my virtual hosts.

With lighttpd, you enable the fastcgi module
# lighty-enable-mod fastcgi
And then you configure /etc/lighttpd/conf-available/10-fastcgi.conf.
# cat /etc/lighttpd/conf-available/10-fastcgi.conf

server.modules   += ( "mod_fastcgi" )
## Start an FastCGI server for php (needs the php5-cgi package)
fastcgi.server    = ( ".php" =>
      ((
            "bin-path" => "/usr/bin/php-cgi -c /etc/php5/cgi/php.ini",
            "socket" => "/tmp/php.socket",
            "max-procs" => 1,
            "idle-timeout" => 20,
            "bin-environment" => (
                  "PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN" => "4",
                  "PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS" => "10000"
            ),
            "bin-copy-environment" => (
                  "PATH", "SHELL", "USER"
            ),
            "broken-scriptfilename" => "enable"
      ))
)


 I did find two articles that look helpful for configuring apache2-mpm-worker+fastcgi+php5:

1.) Apache2/workerMPM/FastCGI/PHP5
http://www.digitalnerds.net/featured/apache2-worker-mpm-with-fastcgi-php5/

2.) Installing Apache2 and PHP5 using mod_fcgid
http://ivan.gudangbaca.com/installing_apache2_and_php5_using_mod_fcgid

Question: On Apache2, using the instructions in http://www.digitalnerds.net/featured/apache2-worker-mpm-with-fastcgi-php5/,
do I still need to create a script of some sort and set PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN and PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS ?

In ubuntu 8.10 you should directly use the apt-get application to enable fastcgi and mpm:

sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-fastcgi
sudo apt-get install apache2-mpm-worker

Yes, I know how to install packages. It is the configuration settings for apache. I assume that I put these same settings
<VirtualHost www.domain.com:80>
ServerName www.domain.com
ServerAlias domain.net
ServerAdmin adm...@domain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/dn

<Directory /var/www/domain>
AddHandler fcgid-script .php
FCGIWrapper /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php5 .php
Options ExecCGI Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
<Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
AllowOverride None
Options ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/domain-error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/domain-access.log combined
LogLevel warn
ServerSignature On
</VirtualHost>

with in each <VirtualHost></VirtualHost> block?

Common configurations can be left in the default server settings and in apache2.conf. You can put in each virtual server only what is changing (ie: DocumentRoot,ServerName,  ServerAlias  <Directory > etc)

Thanks for your replies.
I followed the steps in http://ivan.gudangbaca.com/installing_apache2_and_php5_using_mod_fcgid. First I added these lines
<Directory /var/www>
AddHandler fcgid-script .php
FCGIWrapper /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php5 .php
</Directory>
to the top of /etc/apache2/sites-available/default. So /etc/apache2/sites-available/default looks like
<Directory /var/www>
AddHandler fcgid-script .php
FCGIWrapper /usr/lib/cgi-bin/php5 .php
</Directory>
<VirtualHost *:80>
      ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
      
      DocumentRoot /var/www/
      <Directory />
            Options FollowSymLinks
            AllowOverride None
      </Directory>
      <Directory /var/www/>
            Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
            AllowOverride None
            Order allow,deny
            allow from all
      </Directory>

      ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
      <Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
            AllowOverride None
            Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
            Order allow,deny
            Allow from all
      </Directory>

      ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log

      # Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
      # alert, emerg.
      LogLevel warn

      CustomLog /var/log/apache2/access.log combined

    Alias /doc/ "/usr/share/doc/"
    <Directory "/usr/share/doc/">
        Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride None
        Order deny,allow
        Deny from all
        Allow from 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ::1/128
    </Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Then I created this configuration file /etc/apache2/site-available/krueckeberg.org for a virtual host:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName krueckeberg.org
ServerAlias  www.krueckeberg.org
ServerAdmin kurtk@pobox.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/krueckeberg.org

<Directory /var/www/domain>
Options ExecCGI Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
allow from all
</Directory>
LogLevel warn
ServerSignature On
</VirtualHost>
Then I did enabled it and re-loaded apache2
#sudo a2ensite krueckeberg.org
#sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

I can now successfully go to www.krueckeberg.org/index.php.

I have a queston, though. Can I move the lines I added to the top of  /etc/apache2/sites-available/default to  /etc/apache2/conf.d/myconf.conf.
I ask this question because this aritlce http://www.control-escape.com/web/configuring-apache2-debian.html says that "The best place to put your own custom configurations is in the conf.d directory. Files in this directory are included as part of the "global" server configuration and will apply to all virtual hosts".

I would add those lines at the end of /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

As you are running ubuntu 8.10, I would also suggest you to read this helpful guide:

https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/serverguide/C/httpd.html

Thanks for the link. I will check into it.