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Cgi-bin
CGI stands for
"Common Gateway Interface," a fancy
name for computer programs running on a web
server that can be invoked from a www page at
the browser. The "bin" part alludes to
the binary executables that result from compiled
or assembled programs. It is a bit misleading
because cgi's can also be Unix shell scripts or
interpreted languages like Perl. CGI scripts
need to be saved in ASCII format and uploaded to
your server's cgi-bin in ASCII or text format.
This is very important.
This chapter provides you with information
needed when configuring scripts and other
information regarding your CGI-bin.
Where to put
CGI scripts
Put your cgi-bin
scripts in the www subdirectory named "cgi-bin".
Paths to Date,
Mail, Perl, etc.
Here are your
paths to the common server resources that CGI
scripts often require:
Date: /bin/date
Sendmail: /usr/sbin/sendmail
Perl5: #!/usr/bin/perl
Serverpath: /home/username/domain-www/cgi-bin
Root path: /home/username/
(puts you in your the root of
your account)
Domain directory: /home/username/domainname-www
(puts you in your www
directory)
Cgi-bin path: /home/username/domainname-www/cgi-bin/filename
(puts you in your cgi-bin)
NOTE:
Do not include domain extension anywhere you
list your domain name. For example, the
path to the domain name test.com, with a
username of joe would be:
/home/joe/test-www
How To Set
Permissions
There are two
different ways to set permissions for your files
and directories within your account. 1) File
Manager and 2) FTP
Setting
Permissions Using Your File Manager:
Log into your Control Panel and then click on
File Manager. You will now see a list of
directories within the root of your account.
Since all of your html files and subdirectories
are uploaded and created within your www
directory you need to click on the directory
labeled "www".
Once inside your www folder, you will see, as in
all directories, the first column is the
Permissions Column, click on the link pertaining
to the directory or file that you wish to set
the settings for and the permissions screen will
open as seen in the screen shots below. (Refer
to Permission Definitions further down this page
for an explanation of settings.
Setting Permissions using Fetch for MAC:
If you have Fetch for the Mac, you have an easy
way to change permissions. Go to the file you
want to change the permissions on, and highlight
it. Under the Remote menu, select Change
Permissions. A window will pop up showing the
current permissions for the file you had
highlighted, as shown in the screenshot below.
Click on the boxes to change permissions as
needed. (Refer to the Permission Definitions
further down this page for an explanation of
settings.
Setting Permissions Using WS_FTP for Windows:
WS_FTP accomplishes the same task as above. Just
highlight the file you want to check, and
right-click on it. A menu will pop up, then
select CHMOD. You will see the window as shown
below in the screenshot we've provided. Click on
the appropriate settings as needed. (Refer to
the Permission Definitions further down this
page for an explanation of settings.
Permission
Definitions
Owner = the
files users (you)
Group = the files group
Others = others
Permissions Definitions:
r = read access
x = execute access
w = write access
Numerical Definitions:
r = 4
x = 2
w = 1
You will come to recognize, if you do not
already, CHMOD as a word used for changing
Permissions from within your FTP client.
Some scripts will tell you to CHMOD 775 (for
example). When using the numeric system, the
code for permissions is as follows:
4 + 2 + 1 (rwx) = 7
The first number applies to Owner, the second
number applies to Group, and the third number
applies to Others. Therefore the first 7 of the
CHMOD 775 tells Unix to change the Owner's
permissions to rxw (because r=4 + w=2 + x=1 adds
up to 7, this giving the Owner Read, Write, and
Execute Permission. The second 7 applies to the
group, this giving the Group Read, Write, and
Execute Permission, and the last number 5,
refers to Others (4 + 1= 5), giving Others only
Read and Execute Permission. The permissions for
CHMOD 775 look like this: rwx rwx -rx.
Permissions are always broken up into three
groups of letters, however if there is a dash,
this dash simply means that Permission wasn't
given for that particular function, for example
in the CHMOD 775, Permission to Write was not
given to Others.
Remember: the first 3 letters always apply to
Owner, the second 3 apply to Group, and the
third 3 apply to Others.
Troubleshooting
CGI-bin Problems
Below are
solutions to some of the more common CGI script
problems.
When I activate my CGI program, I get back a
page that says "Internal Server Error. The
server encountered an internal error or
misconfiguration and was unable to complete your
request."
This is generally caused
by a problem within the script. Check your
script settings again to see that you have
entered the correct server information and have
set the correct permissions for the script. If
this information is correct, you'll need to
contact whoever wrote or is distributing the
script for further assistance.
I am being told "File Not Found,"
or "No Such File or Directory."
Upload your Perl or CGI
scripts in ASCII mode, not binary mode.
I am getting the message "POST not
implemented."
You are probably using the
wrong reference for cgiemail. Use the reference
/cgi-bin/cgiemail/mail.txt. Another possibility
is that you are pointing to a cgi-bin script
that you have not put in your cgi-bin directory.
In general, this message really means that the
web server is not recognizing the cgi-bin script
you are calling as a program. It thinks it is a
regular text file.
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