Friendly Network Support: cgi-bin access

Internet Support >> Business Web Hosting >> cgi-bin access information

It is important that you upload the correct files into the correct folders; otherwise your web site will not function proplerly. Just remember the following:

All HTML and IMAGE files should be inside of the HTTPDOCS directory: this means that any files ending in .HTML, .HTM, .JPG, .JPEG, .GIF should be inside of the httpdocs folder to be viewable by your customers
All executable files should be inside of the CGI-BIN directory: this means that any files ending in .cgi, .pl and so on should be inside the cgi-bin folder.
To call your cgi script, the HTML path should be:
- http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/scriptname.cgi

Some common errors when running a script are:

"Server Error 500"	Something is really wrong with the installation of the script. Please check your script file for correct configuration settings.
"Bad Referrer"	The script is refuses to run because the referring web page is not listed in it's configuration file. This means that you must check your script in the cgi-bin for the @Referrars array and add your domain name to the list.
"File not found" or "File Access Error"	A file that the script requires, or the script itself, is missing or the permissions are improperly set such that the script cannot access the file(s). Verify that the script itself is executable and that all other necessary files can be read and written (if necessary).

If you have followed the instructions for the scirpt and have consulted with the scirpt writer, please contact us.

When you access your account via FTP, you will notice that there are a number of folders or directories that have been created for you. Two directories what you will need to access are: HTTPDOCS and your CGI-BIN directory. The cgi-bin is the directory in which all your executable or script files reside. It is found on the same level as the httpdocs directory (the folder that holds are your HTML and graphic files). Here is a 'snapshot' of what you would see soemthing like what you see on the left.

Friendly Computer Systems, Inc. & Friendly Network
1383 Main Street, Suite 201
Stevensville, MD 21666
(410) 643.4606 • (410) 639.7799 • fax: (410) 643.4216