Installation Notes for Various Web Servers


Contents

Determining Your IP Address or Computer Name (Read this first!)
WebSite (O'Reilly)
FastTrack (Netscape)
Personal Web Server (Microsoft)
FrontPage (Microsoft)


Determining your IP Address or Computer Name

If you use your PC to connect to the Internet or an internal network, you already have TCP/IP support installed. If not, you can use the Control Panel to add the TCP/IP protocol (see below).

To connect to your web server, you need to know either your IP Address or your computer's name. To find these:

Under Windows 95 and NT 4.0:
Choose Start/Settings/Control Panel. Double-click on Network. Choose the Identification tab and see if your computer has a name. If not, choose the Configuration tab and find TCP/IP on the list. (If it appears multiple times for different adapters, check each entry). Click on the TCP/IP entry and click on Properties. Choose the IP Address tab and see if an IP Address has been specified.
Under NT 3.51:
Open the Control Panel and double-click on Network. The first line displays the name of your computer. If not, find TCP/IP Protocol in the list. Click on Configure and see if an IP Address has been specified.

Adding a Computer Name or Fixed IP Address

If your computer does not have a name or fixed IP Address, you can try to set one. If you are part of a network, see your network administrator before doing this.

The computer name is changed simply via the Control Panel as described above.

If you use dial-up access to the Internet via a modem, you probably have a different IP Address assigned to you each time you log in. In order to experiment with a web server, you may want a fixed IP Address. One way to get one is to add TCP/IP support (using the Control Panel as described above) for another network adapter or dial-up interface. For the IP address, specify one of the form 192.168.0.X where X is 0 to 255.

WebSite

Downloading WebSite

WebSite is available from O'Reilly and Associates at website.ora.com. You can download an evaluation version from there. It runs under Windows NT and 95.

Installing WebSite

WebSite asks for the IP Address and fully qualified domain name. Enter the your IP Address or computer name. When it asks for the administrator's email address, you can leave that blank.

Using WebLS with WebSite

WebSite supports both standard and Windows CGI. Standard CGI scripts are in the subdirectory cgi-shl. Windows CGI scripts are in the subdirectory cgi-win. So you may copy the contents of WebLS\cgi-bin to WebSite\cgi-shl, or the contents of WebLS\cgi-win to WebSite\cgi-win.

Add a link in your index.htm or index.html-ssi file in WebSite\htdocs that reads as:

<A HREF="/cgi-shl/weblscgi.exe">Run WebLS</A>
or
<A HREF="/cgi-win/weblscgi.exe">Run WebLS</A>

Note: Do not copy and paste these lines as you will not get the greater and less than signs correctly.

To access your Web Site server, enter your IP Address or computer name in the URL field of your browser, then click on the link you just added.

FastTrack

Downloading FastTrack

Netscape lets you download an evaluation version of their FastTrack server at developer.netscape.com. It runs under Windows NT and 95.

Installing FastTrack

When you install FastTrack it will ask for the fully qualified domain name. Enter the name of your computer from the Control Panel/Network settings. If you can't use the default port of 80, you can use port 81.

Using WebLS with FastTrack

FastTrack supports both standard and Windows CGI. After it is installed run the 'Administer Netscape Servers' and choose the name of the server you specified above. If you get blank frames, make sure to enable Java and JavaScript under Options/Network/Languages (in Netscape Navigator).

Choose 'Programs' from the top menu bar. Bring up File Manager to create a 'cgi-bin' and/or 'cgi-win' directory under your \Netscape\Server directory (at the same level as your docs subdirectory). Then go back to Navigator and choose 'Shell CGI Directory' and type 'cgi-bin' for the URL and 'c:\Netscape\Server\cgi-bin' for the directory name. Or choose 'Windows CGI Directory' and type 'cgi-win' for the URL and 'c:\Netscape\Server\cgi-win' for the directory name. Then click on OK, then on the next screen click on Apply and Save.

Next, copy the contents of WebLS\cgi-bin to Netscape\Server\cgi-bin or the contents of WebLS\cgi-win to Netscape\Server\cgi-win.

Then edit \Netscape\Server\docs\index.html and add a link that reads:

<A HREF="/cgi-bin/weblscgi.exe">Run WebLS</A>
or
<A HREF="/cgi-win/weblscgi.exe">Run WebLS</A>

Note: Do not copy and paste these lines as you will not get the greater and less than signs correctly.

To access your FastTrack server, enter your computer name (followed by :81 if you could not use the default port of 80) in the URL field of your browser, then click on the link you just added.

Personal Web Server

Downloading Personal Web Server

Microsoft is providing its Personal Web Server free of charge for Windows 95 from the Internet Explorer Add-Ins Download Area. It requires that you have the current version of the Internet Explorer already installed.

Installing Personal Web Server

The Personal Web Server installs automatically when you click on the distribution executable. It uses the computer name you have specified in your Settings/Network/Identification dialog as your domain name.

Using WebLS with Personal Web Server

The installation creates a top-level directory called 'Webshare'. One of the subdirectories of Webshare is 'Scripts' (which is a shared directory). You can put standard CGI programs and ISAPI DLLs in this directory. To use WebLS copy the contents of WebLS\cgi-bin to the Webshare\Scripts directory.

Then edit Webshare\Wwwroot\default.htm to include this link:

<A HREF="/Scripts/weblscgi.exe">Run WebLS</A>

Note: Do not copy and paste this line as you will not get the greater and less than signs correctly.

To access your Personal Web Server, start the Internet Explorer and type 'http://[your_computer_name]' then click on the link you just added.

FrontPage

Downloading FrontPage

Microsoft is making a version of their FrontPage software available for downloading and execution until the end of the year at www.microsoft.com/sitebuilder. A commercial version is also available.

Installing FrontPage

FrontPage installs readily. It uses the computer name you have specified in your Settings/Network/Identification dialog as your domain name.

Using WebLS with FrontPage

FrontPage supports standard CGI only. To use WebLS, copy the contents of WebLS\cgi-bin to your FrontPage Webs\Content\cgi-bin directory.

Then using the FrontPage Explorer open the on your PC. Double-click on the icon for "FrontPage Root Web". This will start the FrontPage Editor. Type the word "Go", highlight it, and select Edit/Link. Select the World Wide Web tab, and under URL type:

/cgi-bin/weblscgi.exe

Save the file. This procedure adds a link in your Webs\Content\index.htm file.

To access your FrontPage server, start the Internet Explorer and type 'http://[your_computer_name]' then click on the link you just added.

Note: If you trying running the cgi-win version of weblscgi.exe, you will get a GPF. If WebLS hangs after the first form is presented, you need to download the 1.6 or later version.

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