Support - Frequently asked questions
What are all
the files and directories in my home directory?
www................This
is your web directory. Place all your web files in there.
infobots..........This is where you will need to
put all your infobot text files. More Info
anonftp...........This is your anonymous ftp
directory. More Info
.redirect..........This is the configuration
file for mail aliases. More
Info
How
do I run my own CGI programs?
Just put your CGI programs in the cgi-bin
directory.
How do I
use cgiemail,
Formmail and the graphical counters?
CGIemail:This
is a program that will email you the forms filled out from the
web.
Here's an example -
Create a text file called "example" in the main web
directory.
This is the content of the file:
To: joe@blue.com Subject: example This is a test message. This is a test message. name: [name] phone: [phone]
That is the file that will be sent to joe@blue.com.
Now, cgiemail will automatically replace [name],
[phone], anything
in the brackets with the corresponding user supplied info from
the web
form. Also, you MUST have the To: and the Subject: line followed
by
the blank line. Those three lines MUST be on the FIRST THREE
lines. You
cannot change the From: address.
Here is a part of the web form page called
"example.html"
<form method="post"
action="/cgi-yourdomain/cgiemail/example">
<input type=text name="name">Your name?
<input type=text name="phone">your number?
etc...
If you want to have your own customized "success" page,
place the following
line in your form page:
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="success"
VALUE="http://yourdomain/somepage.html">
It will then redirect to somepage.html.
Formmail is a very easy to use form
processor, simply place the following on any page after entering
your domain.
Be sure to replace yourdomain, with your real domain name
Full Formmail instructions click here
Page Counter: A graphical counter that
you can use by placing the following line in your page:
<IMG SRC="/cgi-yourdomain/nph-count?width=5&link=http://yourdomain/yourpage">
This is what the counter looks like :
How do I use
the anonymous ftp site?
Your anonymous ftp site is
completely different from your web site.
When people ftp to your domain anonymously, they will see the
following
directories:
bin/ dev/ etc/ incoming/ lib/ pub/
"pub" is where you should put all your anonymously
accessible files.
"incoming" is for the anonymous users to upload files.
incoming directory
is disabled by default. Please ask us to enable it. You are
responsible
for any "pirated" software uploaded by the anonymous
users. The anonymous
ftp sites will be periodically monitored for any abuses.
You may ignore the other directories.
How do I create
email aliases, and how do I redirect them?
Assume your domain is
"example.com".
You need to edit the .redirect file in your home directory.
Here is a sample .redirect file for example.com:
default example@example.com webmaster example@example.com sales joe@aol.com,mike@whatever.com info robert@example.com
That will automatically redirect all webmaster@example.com emails
to
example@example.com, sales@example.com to joe@aol.com AND
mike@whatever.com, and
info@example.com to robert@example.com. All others will go to
example@example.com. Note that webmaster line isn't necessary,
but
it's better to specifically redirect it to example@example.com.
It's important to note that the second column must be REAL
accounts. You cannot redirect emails to an alias.
Please note that it takes a few minutes for the .redirect file to
go into
effect after you've updated it.
Ask us to create additional real email(POP) accounts.
How do I use
the infobots?
Very simple. Just create a
text file and put it in the infobots directory.
Let's say that the name of the text file is "info".
Now, when you send
mail to info@example.com, you will get the text file mailed back
to you.
That's it. Try it out. There is no limit to the number of these
infobots. Note that the name of the file is simply
"info", and not
"info.txt".
How do I see
who is using my infobots?
Assume your infobot address
is info@example.com.
Just put the following line in your .redirect file.
Its important that you have the infobot installed
before entering the address line in the .redirect
info example@example.com
The original email message will be sent to example@example.com,
and the
original sender will get the infobot text.
How do I create
a majordomo mailing list?
Ask us. Tell us the name of
the mailing list and the password for it.
You will then get a detailed instructions on how to use it.
There may be extra charges if your mailing list is very
large(>1000 subscribers).
How do I use
Real Audio?
Real Audio is available for
a small extra charge (email sales for more info)
RealAudio is a real time audio transmission/player system. A digital audio stream is transmitted from the server over the internet to the destination and played immediately, rather than being stored to disk first and then played.
Each audio clip requires two files: a metafile with extension .ram, and the digital audio clip itself, with extension .ra. The .ram file holds one or more lines of ASCII text, each of which references the .ra file to be played when the .ram file is accessed by the browser.
Entries in .ram files have the form:
pnm://your-domain.com/realaudio/your-domain/name-of-clip.ra
Place your .ram and .ra files in the realaudio subdirectory under your web directory.
.ram files must be uploaded in ASCII mode while .ra files must be uploaded in BINARY mode.
You may then access these files at realaudio/file.ram under
your www directory.
How do I
change my login password?
Telnet to your domain.
After you've logged on, type "passwd" to change
your password. You can exit the telnet session by typing
"exit".
How do I check
the web usage stats for my domain?
Stats are updated once a
week. You may check your stats by
going to http://yourdomain/wusage with your favorite browser.
I need to
configure my mail reading program so I can access my emails. What
are the proper settings?
Assume your domain is
fred.com
Smtp = fred.com
pop = fred@fred.com
from = anyname@fred.com
passwd = the same used for FTP
What is the
correct path to perl(and other programs)?
perl: /usr/bin/perl
sendmail: /usr/sbin/sendmail
date: /bin/date
What are the basic
Frontpage settings?
assume your domain is fred.com
location to publish to: fred.com (note if the domain is not
active use the ip# we assigned)
FTP server name: fred.com
Directory path: /www/fred
Username: fred
Passwd: As-sent-to-you
What are the basic Msql2
settings?
Msql2 is a database engine, docs may be found at Hughes SQL
We dont provide technical support on this because of its
complexity, the basic access path is below
To use this you must submit your domain name and a database
name to us, so we can set it up for you
for oceanus you put your system name. This is the name that
the prompt says when you log into the shell
/usr/local/Hughes/bin/msql -h oceanus database-name
How do I create my own
"404 Not found" error page?
Simply create/modify the
missing.html file in your main web directory.
How do I use the maillists
directory?
Email the following autoresponders for help
SOLUTIONS TO COMMON
PROBLEMS
"I can't find my access log!"
They are in your home directory, this is the directory you are
in when you first logon.
"I can't find my error log?"
We don't keep error logs for performance reasons.
"Where do I put my cgi-bin scripts?"
Put them in the subdirectory cgi-bin which should be under your www directory.
"I am being told file not found"
"I am being told No such file or directory"
Upload your Perl script in ascii mode, not binary mode.
Sometimes it seems like this is asked about once a day, so we're going to repeat it, loudly.
Upload your Perl script in ascii mode, not binary mode.
"I get errors such as
Literal @sdfsdf now requires backslash at ./test.rob line 2, within string Execution of ./test.rob aborted due to compilation errors."
Place a "\" before such offending @ characters. This is an incompatibility between Perl 5 and Perl 4.
"Where should I store files for anonymous ftp access?"
Put files in the directory named anonftp/pub. This will allow a file to be accessed by a customer with ftp://yourdomain.com/pub/your-file-name.
"Hey, how do I stop people who are not in my group from reading a directory?"
Type chmod o-r directory while you are in the directory above it.
"I don't care if people in my group can read my directory, but I don't want them to write in it!"
Type chmod g-w directory while you are in the directory above it.
"Who is in my group?"
In general, each domain has its own group. If you find you are in the group users, let us know if you wish for your domain to have its own group.
"Tell me more about permissions, they sound neat!"
To list the access permissions of a file or directory, type ls -ls *. r=read access, x=execute access, w=write access. The first three letters apply to you, the second three letters apply to your group, the last three letters apply to everyone else. Execute access enables you to run programs or enter directories.
Examples of using chmod:
PEOPLE PERMISSIONS
u = the file's user (or owner) r = read access
g = the file's group x = execute access
o = others w = write access
a = the user, the group, and others.
chmod a+w = let everyone write to the file
chmod go-r = don't let people in the file's group or others to read
the file
chmod g+x = let people in the file's group execute the file
This error message means that you are missing your index.html file.
Note that files that start with a "." are hidden files. To see them, type ls -al at shell prompt.
If you wish to ftp this file in, go to the /home/fred directory assuming your userid is fred.