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Many people have trouble with installing Perl CGI scripts and more often than not they are just small errors that are easy to correct. After reading this page you should be prepared to overcome most of the obstacles encountered by the novice CGI User.
Do You Support CGI?
Do You Supply Any Perl CGI Scripts?
Where Do I Install Perl CGI Scripts?
How Do I CHMOD A Script?
What Is The Location Of Perl On The Server?
What Version Of Perl Is Installed On The Server?
What Is The Location Of Sendmail On The Server?
What Is The Server Path To My Webspace?
I Keep Getting a '500 Error' When I Try To Run A Script
Do You Support CGI?
Yes we do, we support CGI scripts written in Perl.
Do You Supply Any Perl CGI Scripts?
No we do not provide any scripts for you to use.
We recommend you look at www.cgi-resources.com, they have hundreds of ready made scripts, many are free too.
Where Do I Install CGI Scripts?
You should create a directory called 'cgi-bin' in your home directory on the server.
You should then CHMOD the directory to 755. Then place all your scripts in this directory.
How Do I CHMOD A Script?
We can only tell you how to do this when using WS_FTP (find it at www.ipswitch.com). For other software please see your help files.
Highlight the file you want to CHMOD in the right hand window and then right-click it with your mouse. You should see a menu appear, CHMOD is near the bottom, click it. You will then see a screen with 3 rows of 3 boxes. To CHMOD a file to 755 (the most common setting) you should make sure the top row is ticked, the left box on the middle row, and the bottom row. Click Ok, you should see a message in the status window of WS_FTP saying CHMOD 755 filename Successful (or something along those lines).
What Is The Location Of Perl On The Server?
Perl is located at /usr/bin/perl
Therefore the first line of your Perl CGI Scripts should read #!/usr/bin/perl
What Version Of Perl Is Installed On The Server?
Perl Version 5.6 is installed on the server.
What Is The Location Of Sendmail On The Server?
Sendmail is located at /usr/sbin/sendmail
What Is The Server Path To My Webspace?
Your space on the server is at /home/yourusername
I Keep Getting An Error When I Try To Run A Script
It is common to get error messages when first trying to run CGI scripts and there are normally several reasons for these errors:
1. Scripts MUST be uploaded in ASCII mode, many FTP programs default to BINARY mode so you will need to change this. See your program documentation for more information on how to do this.
2. Scripts MUST be CHMODed so that they are executable, see the instructions that come with your script and your FTP software.
3. Many Scripts have a configuration section or file, check that you have set all the options correctly.