UNIX CGI FAQ

• Where should I place cgi scripts?
• What kind of scripts may I use?
• When uploading my scripts via FTP, what mode should I use?
• What should my first line read?
• What extension should I use?
• If a script needs to call another script without a URL, how do I do this?
• What scripts are available with my UNIX account?
• What should I do is I want to customize these scripts?
• Can I use server side includes?

Where should I place cgi scripts?

If you have a custom CGI script that you need to use, simply upload it to your personal cgibin. You can utilize any directory except "cgi-bin" for your own scripts.

What kind of scripts may I use?

Our servers have the capability to run CGI scripts based on Perl, Unix SH, BASH, KSH, CSH, and C/C++ languages. Perl is a our language of choice for most applications as it is a world standard and is well suited to CGI. In addition, Perl code does not require manual compilations whereas C/C++ code must be compiled on our web servers prior to use.

When uploading my scripts via FTP, what mode should I use?

Upload in ASCII transfer mode (and NOT BINARY mode)
Those using Fetch should use Text mode (not Raw Data)

What should my first line read?

The first line of each script should read: #! /usr/local/bin/perl

What extension should I use?

Use .cgi extensions for all scripts

If a script needs to call another script without a URL, how do I do this?

If a script calls another file within your account, but the script does NOT require a URL, you need to use the system path.

If the file needs to be placed in your root directory according to the scripts instructions:
/web/guide/yourdomainnameprefix/

If the file needs to be placed in your cgibin directory according to the scripts instructions:
/web/guide/yourdomainnameprefix/cgibin

What scripts are available with my UNIX account?

There are three scripts available, cgiemail, formmail.cgi, and webform.cgi. If you wish to configure a URL in your html code to use one of these scripts instead of a script in your own cgibin the URL will look like http://YOURDOMAIN.com/cgi-bin/yourchoice.cgi. A ScriptAlias in your servers configuration file will notice the hyphen in the name of the cgibin and reference the servers cgi-bin for you.

What should I do if I want to customize these scripts?

You can access the servers cgi-bin if telnet access is enabled for your site or use an ftp application to access the directory path /mnt/web/cgi-bin on your server to make copies for transfer to your local cgibin. You may have to check and make sure permissions are set properly after the copy.

Can I use server side includes?

Server Side Includes only works in files with the .shtml extension. The cgi file must have its execute and read public bits on to be run from a browser. The file that contains the include only needs to be readable. Try these commands in a telnet session to change permissions on those files if needed.

chmod 755 yourfilename.cgi
chmod 644 yourfilename.shtml