CGI-Scripts & Programming Languages FAQ

1. Which Perl Modules are supported?
2. How do I execute PHP3 scripts?
3. What is the current version of PHP offered to clients?
4. Can I run scripts outside of my cgi-bin?
5. How should I set my file permissions on cgi-scripts?
6. Why does my script produce an ISE (Internal Server Error)?
7. What is the absolute path to Perl?
8. Do you upgrade Perl when new releases are available?
9. What userid does my PHP scripts run under?
10. What is PHP?
11. How do I install PHP on my domain?
12. Which version of perl is installed?
13. Can I compile programs written in C and C++?

NOTE: More information on cgi-scripts is available in our Online Support Manual: Part 5 - CGI Scripts.

IMPORTANT: Use FTP to upload your scripts, and select ASCII as the format. Do not use the Web Control Panel as it will interpret the files as being in binary format.

Which Perl Modules are supported?
All that are included with the normal Perl5 distribution, plus the following:

mySQLPerl Module
DBI 1.06
LWP 5.36
HTML-parser 2.20
CGI.pm 2.49
URI 1.04
MIME-Base64 2.06
MD5 1.7
Libnet 1.0605
DBD 2.0091 (includes DBD::mysql and DBD::mSQL)
GD.pm 1.18
MailTools-1.12
IO-stringy-1.203
DateManip 5.33 (by request)
Mod_perl (by request)

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How do I execute PHP3 scripts?
To be parsed correctly, any web page you create that uses PHP should be saved with a .php3 extension.

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What is the current version of PHP offered to clients?
Currently, 4.3.4 is being distributed.

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Can I run scripts outside of my cgi-bin?
Yes, any script you setup outside your cgi-bin must have a .cgi extension rather than .pl. If your file has an extension other than .cgi and you would like to run it outside your cgi-bin, you can rename the file so it will execute properly.

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How should I set my file permissions on cgi-scripts?
If the file is to be executed via the web by anyone: chmod 755
If the file is to be executed by only yourself throught the command line: chmod 700

We run suEXEC seemlessly through the apache webserver.

This effects how file permissions are set. If file permissions are set to rwxrwxrwx, an error will result. Perl scripts will never work if the permissions on the file are 777.

Files that would otherwise require world write access (guestbook pages) do not have to have this permission. Since the Perl script which will open and write to the file is executed under the owner's userid, and the file is also owned by the same user, then the file only needs to be writable by the owner, not the world.

There exists some freeware and commercial Perl scripts which may require you to set a directory to rwxrwxrwx (chmod 777). This is NOT necessary. Setting the directory permissions to 755 should always be sufficient. If you do set any directories to rwxrwxrwx, then any Perl scripts located inside of this directory will not execute!

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Why does my script produce an ISE (Internal Server Error)?
This can have many causes, ranging from incorrect permissions to syntax errors within the script. Check that the script actually runs by running it via a telnet (SSH) prompt. Then check permissions and ownership: is the script owned by the main user of the domain? Does the script and its parent directory both have 755 permissions? Was the script uploaded in ascii mode, not binary? The script should be uploaded in ASCII format.

IMPORTANT: Use FTP to upload your scripts, and select ASCII as the format. Do not use the Web Control Panel as it will interpret the files as being in binary format.

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What is the absolute path to Perl?
/usr/bin/perl

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Do you upgrade Perl when new releases are available?
Yes. Once a new build of Perl has been deemed "stable" versus "experimental," we will upgrade across the network based on how it may effect existing scripts already in operation.

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What userid does my PHP scripts run under?
Your php will run under your userid and group.

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What is PHP?
PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language. It has a syntax similar to both Perl and C. PHP-enabled web pages are treated just like regular HTML pages and you can create and edit them the same way you normally create regular HTML pages.

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How do I install PHP on my domain?
PHP is activated by default on all accounts.

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Which version of perl is installed?
Currently, 5.00404.

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Can I compile programs written in C and C++?
Yes, we offer the gcc compiler.

The C and C++ compilers are integrated. Both process input files through one or more of four stages: preprocessing, compilation, assembly, and linking. Source filename suffixes identify the source language. But the name you use for the compiler governs default assumptions.

You can get further docs on the compiler when logged into the shell by typing: man gcc (hit enter). This will provide full syntax and options.

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