Panix, New York's first Internet Service Provider


Panix Web FAQ: 1.2. Corporate Web Pages
How do I set up a Corporate Website?
Please consult our Corporate Web Services page for a list of services and prices, and submit the order form linked at the top.

If you have additional questions, please send mail to corp-web@panix.com or call us at 212-741-4400 Monday-Friday between 10 and 6 Eastern Time.

How do I upload my files?
Use an FTP client like Fetch for MacOS or SmartFTP for Windows. Open a connection to shell.panix.com, and authenticate with your your Panix username and password. You will be shown a list of the directories in your account. One of these directories will be called 'corp-web,' and within that directory is a subdirectory with the name of your domain. Double click on that directory to make it the target directory for uploading files. Upload your files using the 'put file' command. It will differ slightly depending upon which FTP client you are using. It will prompt you will a dialog box to show it which file(s) you wish to upload.

Remember that the default main page of your website, and of any subdirectories, should be "index.html" or "index.htm".

Can I use Frontpage?
Please note that currently Front Page is only available to Corporate Web Customers on Panix. See question #4 below for more detail about this.

The version available on Panix is Front Page 2000.

  1. How does it work?
  2. How do I install it?
  3. How does the installation work?
  4. Can I use it for my personal pages?
  5. Using includes
  6. Some troubleshooting tips

  1. How does it work?

    The Frontpage server extensions are really just CGI scripts. The Frontpage client simply uses the HTTP/1.0 POST command to send the proper data to the server (the same way the web server processes FORM data).

    The data the client sends the server contains instructions that the server uses to create web pages and modify permissions on them.. It can block or allow clients to modify web pages through the use of .htaccess files which the web server understands and uses to block access to some content.

    When you attempt to post to a Frontpage script, the script will run several checks to find configuration files it needs to find where to store content.. It first looks for the /usr/local/frontpage/<hostname>:<port>.cnf file, which contains directives specifying the type of server (Apache) and the location of the per-server configuration. The per-server configuration contains directives specifying the document root for the server, and other miscellaneous directives that Frontpage doesn't care too much about.

    Only at this point will it read its input and create the directories or modify the permissions it has to for your web content.

  2. How do I install it?

    Run the command:
    /usr/local/bin/instfp <hostname>
    This will guide you through the really straightforward process of installing the Frontpage server extensions for your host. For example, if you wish to install the Frontpage extensions for the host www.foo.com, run /usr/local/bin/instfp www.foo.com .

  3. How does the installation work?

    The installation first tries to locate the directory that the files for <hostname> are located in. It will then copy a bunch of files from a skeleton directory (/usr/local/lib/frontpage) to your host. It then calls a setuid 'msfp' program to create a configuration file pointing to some pseudo config files for your host. This program reads the "/usr/local/etc/fpmkconf.conf" file to find the proper host to install Frontpage onto and, after doing some permission checks, creates the proper file in the /usr/local/frontpage directory.

    The Frontpage extensions want write access to the server configuration files, so you will find some unused Apache-like configuration files in the directory "fpconf" off of your hostname.

    In the _vti_bin directory live the server extensions for Frontpage. By default, Frontpage expects you to have applied a patch to the web server to allow Frontpage to execute scripts in any directory beginning with the prefix "_vti". We did originally attempt to apply the patches, but they didn't do what they were supposed to, and were a possible security hole. And the patch proved to be unnecessary. It was possible to post to the .exe files by using some mechanisms in the .htaccess files for the _vti_bin directory.

    Unfortunately, when Frontpage creates a subweb, it tries to block off all access to the CGI scripts again (assuming that you have applied the patch to your web server). This is why the Frontpage extensions have been replaced by a shell script which cleans up after the default scripts.

  4. Can I use it in my personal directory?
    The one word answer is: no.

    We have thought about this, however problems with Apache and with Frontpage complicate things such that a solution is not currently under consideration.

  5. What should I know about using includes on the confirmation page?
    If you are using includes, of the type
    <!-- #include file="filename" -->
    on the confirmation page for a form, make sure that you have given the complete path to the file, or you will get a Frontpage error when you submit the form.

  6. Some troubleshooting tips
    When making changes to existing files, be sure you are connected to your web. If you edit the files locally on your machine and then publish them - many things can go awry. Please connect directly to the server to make your changes.

    Make sure you've actually installed the Frontpage server extentions for your host. Consult: How do I install it?

    If you are unable to create a subweb or change your Frontpage password, try reinstalling the Frontpage extensions.

    If you decide you need more help and send mail or post to panix.user.html, please include any error messages you get, the version of Frontpage you are using and the fact that you followed the directions here.

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Last Modified Friday, 26-Jan-2007 11:12:15 EST