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1. What does chmod xxx mean? What is chmod?
2. What platforms do your scripts run on?
3. Is there a charge for your scripts?
4. What does Server Error 403 "File Not Found" mean?
5. What does Server Error 500 "Malformed Header From Script" mean?
6. What does Server Error 501 "Cannot POST to non-script area..." mean?
7. What is "Internal Error: execve() failed" mean?
8. What is Unix? And what is A Unix/System Prompt?
9. What is a cgi-bin?
10. Do I need a cgi-bin to run these scripts?
11. What is #!/usr/bin/perl and do I need to modify it? |
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Short Answer:
Chmod is a Unix command which changes the security settings for particular files, giving users and groups permission to read, write, and/or execute certain files.
Long Answer:
For many of my scripts, the uid (User ID) that the web server is running under must either execute (in the case of the perl scripts) or write or read certain files. There are several different cases in which different chmod commands will be used. For example, any of the perl scripts that must be placed into the cgi bin, must also be executable by the web server. This means you must use:
chmod 755 filename.pl
This allows anyone to read and execute your file and it allows you the permission to write to it. Any of the files that are automatically updated by perl scripts, must be writable and readable by all, including the web server uid. Unless you have super user access, this means setting your files to:
chmod 777 filename.[html|txt]
This will allow everyone to write to your files. If you are still confused on this matter, you must know that to use chmod you must: 1) Have a unix account, 2) Be able to telnet to that unix account or dial up into the account, and 3) be able to use the shell. If you do not have either of these, you will need to ask your system administrator how you can get around using chmod or what you need to do in order to get it to work.
For More Information: If you have a Unix account you can type:
man chmod
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Short Answer:
They were created for Unix Systems that have Perl installed on them.
Long Answer:
These scripts can be used on any platform. They were specifically created for a unix machine that has Perl installed and compiled on it. These programs should work on Perl 4 and higher. Many users have told me that they were able to port these scripts to Windows and Mac, using the Windows and Mac ports of Perl. A minimum amount of hacking was required and it was mainly a fact of changing around the date and doing small touch ups to the scripts. If you have ported a scripts to either Windows or Mac, please let me know and send the source. I will gladly post it into the Extras section of my scripts archive so it will be available to everyone!
However, certain scripts, specifically the HTTP Cookie Library, TextClock, TextCounter, and some others should work without any porting required because they lack any Unix specific features. |
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Short Answer:
No.
Long Answer:
There is no charge for my scripts, however it is expected and required that all copyrights and headers remain in tact. If you are setting up this script for others, you should not charge them for the code, however you are allowed to charge for your installation, configuration and modification time. |
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Short Answer:
The URL in one of your scripts that pointed to a file was wrong. The file was not found.
Long Answer:
Make sure that all of the URLS are correct in the scripts and make sure that when the necessary portions of certain URLS are combined they form complete URLS. This isn't one of the most common errors received when setting up my scripts, but many do enter the URLS wrong or do not change them from the standard distribution. |
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Short Answer:
Something Went Wrong. Sorry, that's about as specific I can be with a '500' Error. It could be ALMOST ANYTHING.
Long Answer:
Error 500 could be ANYTHING! (almost). Below is a mist of some of the most common problems and how you can go about fixing them.
- Check to make sure that the ACTION="" of your script is pointing to the correct CGI program. If it is, make sure that this file is also chmoded 755 so that everyone, including the Web Server User ID has permission to execute it.
- Check your server's error_log (On NCSA servers, this will most likely be located in /usr/local/etc/httpd/logs/error_log). Check them right after you receive this error. They will often give you insight as to why you received this error. If there are problems with the scripts, correct any that the error_log may mention.
- Run the script from the shell and make sure that you don't get any errors.
- Make sure all files that supposed to be opened during execution by the script are chmoded so that the web server can read them.
- Check all paths to certain commands and make sure they are correct. An incorrect path in your script will cause execution of your script to halt.
- Check your #!/usr/bin/perl line and make sure that it points to the proper location of the perl binary on your system.
These are just a few of the MANY possibilities. If you have solved this problem in another way, let me know so I can add it to this list. If you have done all of this including reading the README file and doing what it says to each script, feel free to email me with your problem.
More Information:
The CGI Resource Index: Documentation: Debugging and Troubleshooting |
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Short Answer:
You probably are not using a valid cgi-bin or have not correctly renamed .pl files to .cgi as is required on your system.
Long Answer:
There are two different ways that CGI scripts are most commonly configured to run on most systems. The first requires that scripts must be placed in a valid cgi-bin for them to work. Error 501 usually says that the server does not support the method POST to a non script area at this time. This means that since you do not have your files in a server defined cgi-bin, the server will not allow the POST method to these files, and will not execute these scripts.
Another solution is that your web provider has turned on ExecCGI, allowing any file in your directory with a .cgi extension to be executed. Try renaming your .pl files to .cgi.
More Information:
If all else fails and you are still getting this error, write your system administrator and ask if you can place these scripts in a cgi-bin directory or if you can have permission to execute CGI scripts. |
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Most likely the path to your Perl interpreter is incorrect. This means that the line:
#!/usr/bin/perl
located at the top of your perl file, needs to be changed to the correct path. This is often:
#!/usr/local/bin/perl
or
#!/usr/local/bin/perl5
If you absolutely can't find it, try using the following command or mailing your system administrator.
which perl
This will give you the location of the perl program if it is in your path. |
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Short Answer:
Unix is an operating system that is one of the most popular platforms for internet users and web servers. As more and more people are getting into the net more Macintosh and Windows/DOS Environments will begin to enter as well. Unix comes in many flavors, including: HP-UX, SunOS, OSF/1, Linux, BSD, and many more.
Long Answer:
All of these scripts were written and tested on machines running BSDi. They have been successfully installed by me on all of those platforms with both the Apache and NCSA servers. When I refer to Unix I am talking about an operating system, just like DOS, Macintosh (and arguably Windows). When I refer to a system or unix prompt, I am talking about your Korn Shell or C Shell, or the many other shells out there. From there you can execute such commands as chmod, mv, cp, vi, and many other useful programs. These scripts have also been set up on other Platforms and Operating Systems.
More Information:
- Unix Usenet FAQ
- Everything you ever wanted to know about Unix and More!
These are the frequently asked questions on the Unix Usenet Newsgroups.
- The Unix Reference Desk
- FAQs, Applications, Programming, Humor and more.
This site has lots of information about Unix.
- Unix Resources
- This site also houses a lot of information about Unix,
including tutorials, reference and more!
- Yahoo: Unix
- Over 600 Links and Resources to Unix Information! If you're still
looking for more information, check out this site.
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Short Answer:
A cgi-bin is a special directory designated in the config files of a web server to allow execution of CGI scripts in specified directories. Many new servers have done away with this and allow users execute any scripts ending in .cgi.
Long Answer:
The cgi-bin is used to help keep systems secure. Keeping CGI scripts limited to trusted users is necessary since CGI opens up a lot of security risks. Therefore, most web platforms allow only files inside of a cgi-bin to be executed. This can be changed and on many machines a .cgi extension has been implemented to let anyone use CGI scripts in their directory simply by changing the filenames to have .cgi extension. If this has not been enabled on your system and you don't have a cgi-bin already, ask your system administer if you can have access to execute CGI scripts on your server. |
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Short Answer:
Yes.
Long Answer:
Yes and No. A cgi-bin is needed to run these scripts unless your system administrator has turned on ExecCGI, which enables .cgi extensions to be used in any directory. To find out if you can use CGI scripts, your best bet is to ask your system administrator if you can. He/She may opt to give you a cgi-bin in your directory, turn on ExecCGI or check your script and then place it in the server cgi-bin. Either of these options is ok for my scripts purposes. Just make sure you set all variables to reflect any changes you have to make to the location of files and scripts. |
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Short Answer:
This line must be the first line in your perl program source. It tells the shell that is executing this script where the perl binary is to use to run this program.
Long Answer:
This line must be in your perl script as the first line to get it to run right. This often causes a 500 Server Error if this is not set as your first line or if it is set in the wrong place. To find out the location of your perl binary, type the following at your unix prompt:
which perl
and copy the info it returns as the first line of you program, with #! in front of the location of perl. If this command fails, ask your system administrator if you have perl installed on the system and where you should point this line to. |
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