Starting to Use Your Server

Starting the Internet Connection Server

If you did not choose to start your server after completing installation, you can start it now by entering the following command at an OS/2 prompt:

    HTTPD

For details on various options you can specify on the HTTPD command, see Command Reference.

Using the Internet Connection Server Front Page

The Internet Connection Server Front Page gives you access to an assortment of tools and information you will find quite valuable as you use the Internet Connection Server.

The Front Page is a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document. It is stored in a file named frntpage.html on your HTML documents directory. To use the Front Page, open the Frntpage.html file from IBM WebExplorer or any other Web browser on the server machine. The Front Page is also the default welcome page that is returned to browser clients coming into your server.

From the Front Page you can link to:

• Configuration and administration forms - a set of forms that you can use to easily configure your Internet Connection Server to meet your particular needs. For more information on using these forms, see Configuring Your Server.
• Sample HTML files - a set of samples that show some of the ways you can use HTML to create your own documents.
• Documentation - an HTML version of this book.
• Resource list - a HTML document containing links to many World Wide Web sites you might find interesting and useful as you work with the Internet Connection Server.

Creating Your Own Welcome Page

Once your server is up and running, it can accept requests for files. By default, your server will respond to client requests by returning the Front Page document (Frntpage.html from your HTML documents directory) as your welcome page.

One of the first things you will probably want to do is create your own welcome page (also known as a home page). After creating you own welcome page, store it in your HTML documents directory. You will then need to change your server's configuration so that it returns your page instead of the Front Page.

The easiest way to tell your server to return your new welcome page is to use the Configuration and Administration forms. Go to the "Initial Page" form and make your new welcome page the first file name in the list of welcome pages. After you restart your server, it will begin using your new welcome page.

Need some help with HTML?

• Learn by example. Look at the Internet Connection Server sample HTML documents by linking to them from the Front Page.
• Go on a World Wide Web educational safari. Begin your journey from the Front Page resource list. From there you can link to several sites that provide tutorial, reference, and style information about HTML.

You can write your HTML documents using any editor capable of producing flat ASCII text files. However, if you use a plain text editor you will have to key in each of the HTML tags. There are several editors and related tools designed specifically to help users create HTML documents without having to key in all the surrounding tags. Some of them are even free! For example, you can go to the following URL and get a free copy of an editor called HoTMetaL Free from SoftQuad:

http://www.sq.com/products/hotmetal/hm-ftp.htm

When you have documents ready that you want to show the world, access the following URL to announce your server:

http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/WWW/Geographical_
generation/new-servers.html