CHAPTER TWO - COMMON PROBLEMS

2.1) SOLUTIONS TO COMMON PROBLEMS

• 2.1.1) Access Logs
• 2.1.2) Error Logs
• 2.1.3) Cgi-bin Scripts
• 2.1.4) Perl Scripts
• 2.1.5) Image Maps
• 2.1.6) Anonymous FTP
• 2.1.7) Setting Permissions
• 2.1.8) Post Not Implemented
• 2.1.9) Don't Have Permission to access /
• 2.1.10) Frontpage Publish Errors
• 2.1.11) Email is Disappearing
• 2.1.12) Cannot Log into Email Account
• 2.1.13) My Domain Name Does Not Work

2.1) SOLUTIONS TO COMMON PROBLEMS

2.1.1) Access logs

 They are located at /etc/httpd/domlogs/yourdomain.com. So, the access log for snoopy.com is in /etc/httpd/domlogs/snoopy.com. You can link that file to a file in your directory structure, so that you may view it thru your browser. This log file is severely analyzed through all the control panel statistics programs, so hard viewing of the file is not really needed.

2.1.2) Error logs

 Use the built in Error Log Report in the Analog statistics program in your browser control panel.

2.1.3) Cgi-bin scripts

 Put them in the subdirectory cgi-bin which should be under your public_html directory. You may then call them thru a browser as http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/your.cgi

 "I don't have a cgi-bin directory!"

 Make it by typing mkdir cgi-bin while in your public_html directory.

 "How do I access cgi-bin scripts in the cgi-bin directory?"

 If your domain name is bart.com, and the script itself is called your.cgi, access them as http://www.bart.com/cgi-bin/your.cgi.

 "Hey! /cgi-bin/ doesn't work for me!"

 Ask us to activate your cgi-bin directory.

2.1.4) Perl scripts

"I am being told No such file or directory"

Upload your Perl script in ascii mode, not binary mode.

Use rz -a for telnet users, or the ascii mode for ftp users.

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. Use rz -a for telnet users, or the ascii mode for ftp users. 

"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.

Alternatively you could change the first line in your Perl program from #! /usr/bin/perl to #! /usr/bin/perl4. The correct path to perl is /usr/local bin/perl OR /usr/bin/perl. Both usually lead to access to Perl, however, try changing it if your script is not working.

2.1.5) Image Maps

 This is a proper imagemap reference:
    <a href="djonly.map"><img src="djonly.gif" ISMAP> </A>

Possible mistakes:

• You didn't use NCSA format.
• Instead of saying djonly.map, you included your domain name or other information in your reference. (Sometimes causes problems.)
• You forgot to use the extension .map.
• You forgot the word ISMAP.
• You forgot to include the default line as the first line in your image map.
• When specifying rectangles, you didn't include the small numbers first, as in 0,0 100,100.

2.1.6) Anonymous FTP

 Put files in the directory named public_ftp in your root directory. This will allow a file to be accessed by a customer with ftp://yourdomain.com/yourfile.

2.1.7) Setting permissions

 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

2.1.8) Post not implemented

 You probably are using the wrong reference for cgiemail. Use the reference "/cgi-sys/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.

2.1.9) Don't have permission to access /

Note that files that start with a "." are hidden files. To see them, type ls -al.

2.1.10) MS Frontpage Publish Errors

 Email support@hostforweb.com and ask them to reinstall the Frontpage extensions and the FP Email extensions..

2.1.11) Email is Disappearing

2.1.12) Cannot Log into Email POP3 Account

Email support@hostforweb.com and ask them to run fixpop and ln -s /usr/local/etc/cpanel/bin/popsh /bin/pinesh. Send them email address, username, and password to all pop accounts you need corrected.

2.1.13) My Domain Name Does Not Work

Check "http://www.tracert.com/cgi-bin/ping.pl with your domain name, and see if it is accessible for the servers included there. If it is being found by the large majority of servers there, than there is something wrong with your ISP's DNS, or someone on the backbone between HostForWeb and your ISP. We can do nothing in this situation, and you must wait for the error to correct itself. If the domain name is not being found, please check the InterNIC Registry to see if your domain name registration/transfer has been completed. If it has NS.HOSTFORWEB.NET & NS2.HOSTFORWEB.NET on the bottom of the registration, then the transfer is completed. If it has different name-servers mentioned there, or no registration appears at all, the domain name is not transferred/registered yet, and you must wait for such. Transfers/Registration take normally 24-72 hours. If your registration says "On Hold", then you have not paid your InteNIC domain registration fees, and they have shut down access to your domain.