SSL SPACE


All accounts come with secure server access so that you can transmit sensitive information over the web knowing that it cannot be read by anyone else. Our secure server uses 128-bit encryption and is certified by COMODO.
To use your secure space, just log into the control panel, go to 'account details' and click on 'secure server'. This will tell you how to access the secure link to your web-space.

 

FRONTPAGE EXTENSIONS:


All accounts come with the option of adding Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 to any of your domain names. To do this log into your control panel and go to account details where you will find a FrontPage activation section. Then all you have to do is select the domain you want to add the extensions to and then the user name password and then click the activation button.
Publishing Your Web:
To publish your web site follow the instructions below:
1. Get an open connection to the Internet via your ISP.
2. Open FrontPage from your Start menu.
3. Open you FrontPage web.
4. Click the FILE menu button, and choose 'Publish FrontPage Web'.
5. Enter your web address as http://yourname.com (no www.) and click OK
6. FrontPage will now contact the server.
7. Enter your username and Password
8. FrontPage will now publish your site to the web.
Please note you must not activate FrontPage extentions in a parent directory of a directory which already has FrontPage installed!


PHP4


PHP Version 4.0 is an HTML-embedded scripting language. It is like C, Java and Perl borrowing some of its syntaxes, with a couple of unique PHP-specific features thrown in. It is a very useful tool and enables you to create dynamically generated pages quickly and easily.
All of our accounts come with php4 as standard, to use it just name your PHP files with one of these ending .php3, .php, .php4 or .phtml
A technical reference regarding PHP4 is available at www.php.net

PHP Scripts

go to http://php.resourceindex.com/ for the latest PHP scripts


FILE UPLOADS AND PERMISSIONS


If you have made a script or use one that uploads a file, you will need to change the file permissions of the directory on your account that the files will upload to. If you don't do this, you will see 'Permission Denied' error messages.
File permissions can be changed in your FTP client by clicking on the remote directory and selecting File Permissions or File Attributes (depending on your FTP client). They can also be changed in Telnet by using the chmod command.
The directory needs to be changed so it is group readable, writable and executable (775). In Telnet, you would type: chmod 775 dirname.
 

PHP EXEC FUNCTION WORK-AROUND


As a security measure, our servers have the PHP exec functions such as exec() and system() disabled. If you need to execute a system command from PHP, we have created a work-around that comprises of:
• A PHP function called new_exec() that replaces exec()
• A CGI script that runs the system command and sends the output back to the PHP function.
Follow the steps below to set the files up:
1. Configure the CGI script by adding the commands you will use to the $cnf_prog[] array. There are examples in the CGI script to help you do this.
2. Upload the CGI script in ASCII mode in your FTP client. Make sure it is in your CGI-BIN directory and is executable (chmod 755 or world executable).
3. Copy the new_exec() PHP function into your script and replace the exec() commands with new_exec().
4. Configure the new_exec() function to point towards the CGI script you uploaded above.
Included in the download below is a readme file that shows how to replace other exec functions such as system() or shell_exec().
 

CLICK HERE to download the files (in ZIP format).

 

MYSQL


All accounts come with a MySQL database, when you are ready to use it, you need to login to the control panel and go to account details where you can activate it.
You can connect to MYSQL using a web-based interface on the control panel.
CONNECT TO MYSQL USING SSH:
Type the following in SSH:
mysql -h username.dns-systems.net -u database_name -p
When you have connected, to use your database, type:
use database_name
*Replace 'database_name' with the database name, and 'username' with the account's username*

PHP/MySQL Tutorial

see http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/programming/php/tutorials/tutorial4.html for more information
 

CGI & PERL


CGI (common gateway interface) is a useful tool that allows you to create some really useful scripts to help make you web site more interactive.
Every hosting account we do comes with a cgi-bin where you can put any scripts that you want to use on your web site. You can up-load them using any FTP program, for example Cute FTP, but make sure you set it to transfer them in ASCII mode and not binary or they won't work!
Remember to make all of your CGI scripts executable. This can be done in an FTP program, or by typing: chmod 755 myscript.cgi in the relevent directory in telnet.
Every domain you add to you account comes with a link to your cgi-bin, for example:
http://www.anydomain.com/cgi-bin/
This links to your cgi-bin so that you can run scripts from any of your domains on your account.
Below are some useful details that you may need to know about when using CGI or Perl:
Perl - /usr/bin/perl
Sendmail - /usr/sbin/sendmail
CGI-BIN - /home/username/dirid/cgi-bin/
To find your true location of your home directory login to your control panel and go to account details and then to account details where it is shown at the top of the page.
If you would like more information on where you can get script and how to create them take a look at www.cgi-resources.com. Where you will find a whole wealth of information that may be of help.

 

FILE UPLOADS AND PERMISSIONS


If you have made a script or use one that uploads a file, you will need to change the file permissions of the directory on your account that the files will upload to. If you don't do this, you will see 'Permission Denied' error messages.
File permissions can be changed in your FTP client by clicking on the remote directory and selecting File Permissions or File Attributes (depending on your FTP client). They can also be changed in Telnet by using the chmod command.
The directory needs to be changed so it is group readable, writable and executable (775). In Telnet, you would type: chmod 775 dirname.

 

CGI Scripts

see http://cgi.resourceindex.com/ for more information