On Thu, 18 Nov 1999, David Bovill wrote:
> Thanks for the info on the web site. It was a good read and asuringly
> helpful, butt...
>
> I'm still stuck. This I think is an Apache, Linux thing as I still don't
> have any manuals save the online stuff, and wow talk about versions!
>
> I've got to the "forbidden" stage;
>
> "Forbidden
>
> You don't have permission to access /ADACplus/cgi-bin/echo.mt on this
> server."
This is kind of a strange path: usually "cgi-bin" is the root of the
path, not a subdirectory.
> Setting the permissions to execute for everyone gets me from viewing the
> script in the browser to "forbidden", but no further. The one bit in your
> article that could do with a bit more detail is to do with permissions and
> the various checkboxes/combinations that fetch and other graphical
> interfaces allow?
>
> My problem is that I have installed Linux, downloaded Metacard, and tried to
> add users, and passwords, and have probably succeeded in totally screwing
> Apache up.
This should be pretty hard to do! All recent versions of Linux come
with Apache completely configured unless you explicitly delete it from
the package list while installing. As for setting up users, this is
something none of the versions do very well, which is a shame because
no UNIX user should make the mistake of doing their day-to-day work
when logged in as root (it's too dangerous).
> I messed around with seeing if I could launch the Metacard app in the cgi
> bin (it would start up and quit), copy the home and tool stacks over (no
> need I'm sure) - all to no effect.
>
> Linux is saying: "[root@linux cgi-bin]# ./mc
> ./mc Can't load stack or script mchome
This won't work in any case unless you also have the mchome.mc and
mctools.mc stacks in that directory. The fact that it runs at all is
a good sign because at least you know there aren't any library version
compatibility problems (fairly common on Linux because it is changing
so rapidly).
Instead, run "mc echo.mt", type a few lines and then type control-D
(end-of-file on UNIX systems), and it should echo back what you typed
along with some HTTP headers.
> The thought I have at the moment is that something is going on with Apache,
> and how it's configured. The path to the cgi-bin specified in the
> scriptalias, can't even be seen by the browser "File does not exist", and I
> really don't know what Apace's "Directories" and "Locations" are about yet.
> I'm not even sure how to delete and reinstall the Apache module (as I can't
> find it), or how to look atr the contents of the CD etc...
You shouldn't need to do this, or even change the config file. My
guess is that permissions really are your problem. Recent versions of
Apache are pretty picky about this because of the many security holes
that can be opened if you do it wrong. First, if there are any files
in the cgi-bin directory already, check to make sure that they work.
If not, reinstalling Apache is probably the easiest way to fix this.
Next, make sure the owner and group of "mc" and your scripts and
stacks is the same as the other files the HTTP server is using.
Change them with the chown and chgrp commands if needed. Finally,
verify that the files have both read and execute permissions, as does
the cgi-bin directory itself.
> Maybe I'll try the Metacard server stack? But CGI's? Not too worried about
> security at this stage, and looks like it will be a good environment to
> teach about how servers and CGI's work. First I'll have to learn a bit more
> I guess -:)
Nelson's article (www.navaching.com/pagem.html) covers the basics, but
each case is a little different (e.g., his HTTP server is run by an
ISP and so is probably configured somewhat different from the way it
comes out of the box). When you get this figured out, be sure to send
him the "magic incantation" so that he can add it to the list of
things to look for.
Regards,
Scott
********************************************************
Scott Raney [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.metacard.com
MetaCard: You know, there's an easier way to do that...
