CGI Scripts

Accounts with CGI Space

Certain accounts at Avvanta include the ability to run Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts. These accounts include the the WebSmart series of accounts (with the exception of the WebSmart Basic), and personal home pages access as http://home.avvanta.com/~username.

For security reasons, the Avvanta web servers have very specific requirements for CGI scripts. The following information should be referenced when creating or uploading your CGI scripts and programs.

CGI Checklist

For the server to recognize your script as a valid CGI script, it must have a .cgi extension. Files with a .pl extension will not work.
The correct path to perl is /usr/bin/perl.
Do not name your directory cgi-bin.
The file has to be executable.
The directory that the CGI is in, and all of the directories leading up to the script, and the CGI itself cannot be world or group writable or the server will not run it (chmod 755 scriptname.cgi).

Contacting Support About Your CGI

In General When contacting support for assistance with a CGI setup problem please do so via email to Avvanta Support. In your email include the following information:

Your username
If you have a domain name on our system and what that domain name is
The name and location of the CGI
The name and location of the file that calls the CGI
What the CGI is supposed to do
The exact error message
The URL to the documentation or the complete documentation

All of the above must be included in the initial email. Exclusion of any of the above, especially #7, will prohibit us from acting upon your request.

Domain Hosted Accounts

If you have a domain name your CGI setup may be slightly different than what the documentation calls for. Please follow the scripts documentation exactly. After following the documentation if your script does not work please contact Avvanta Support. When contacting support be sure to tell the representative what type of domain hosted account you have.

BCC Media Students

Some of the media classes require you to learn how to configure certain CGI's. If you need technical support for your CGI's please be sure you have followed exactly the documentation for the script that the instructor and/or the author of the script has provided to you. The only instance where you will need to deviate from those instructions is if you have a domain name, otherwise the instructions will work on our system.

If you need someone to expound upon a specific area or section of the directions provided to you please email the complete setup directions and notate which area we can detail for you.

CGI System Information

A partial listing of CGI specific configuration and support information is provided below to assist you with determining if your CGI will work on a Avvanta web server. Not all information is included below. Many times the easiest way to determine if your CGI will work is to install it.

Perl Specific Information

Current version of perl: v5.6.1
Perl Location: /usr/bin/perl
Current version of CGI.pm: 2.752
Current version of DB_File.pm: 1.75
Perl MySQL support is not available.

PHP Specific Information

Current version of PHP: 4.1.2
PHP MySQL Support is available: 4.1.12-standard
PHP Safe Mode is on.
Supported extensions: php,phtml,php3
Maximum http-uploaded file size: 2Mb
XML Support via Expat enabled: 1.95.1
DOM/XML Support enabled: libxml 2.4.10
Regex Library: system
PCRE Support enabled: 3.4
Session support enabled.
POSIX Version: 1.33.2.1

Generic CGI Information

Sendmail location: /usr/sbin/sendmail
Perl CGIs must be named with the .cgi extension. The .pl extension will not work.
Your CGIs can work from any directory with one exception. Do not create or attempt to use a cgi-bin directory. This name is reserved for system-wide CGIs and the server will ignore yours if you attempt to create one.

Security Considerations

No directory in the path to a perl CGI can be world or group writable. For example, if the path to your example CGI is $HOME/web_docs/mycgis/example.cgi, then the mycgis directory cannot be world or group writable, the web_docs directory cannot be group or world writable, and your $HOME directory cannot be group or world writable. If in doubt, chmod 755 the directories leading up to your CGI. The chmod command can be issued with most FTP clients.
Perl CGIs on our system do not run with generic privileges. Perl CGIs run with permissions identical to the "owner" of the CGI file—"you" in most cases. This means your files and directories do not need to be world writable to allow your CGI to create or modify those files or folders. If your CGI documentation recommends a directory or file be world writable you do not need to do this and as noted above it may prevent your CGI from working in the first place.