Genesis Web Authoring System v2.1.0.0009

Manual Install Instructions

Last modified on Sunday, January 28, 2001.

This product has been designed for fast and easy installation. Follow these simple steps to get the script up and running in just a few minutes.

  1. Download

    Download the product appropriate to your platform:

    Each archive contains the exact same code, except that the Windows version uses "\r\n" line endings, and the Unix version uses "\n" endings.

    The .tar.gz version can be decompressed with the commands:

    gzip -d genesis.2.1.0.0009.tar.gz
    tar -xf genesis.2.1.0.0009.tar

    The .zip version can be decompressed with Winzip from www.winzip.com.

    If you install a version other than 2.1.0.0009, follow the install file included with it, rather than this one.


  2. Build Directory Structure

    The script uses a specific directory structure to organize its libraries and data files. When the downloaded archives are expanded, they will automatically expand into the desired structure. You must retain that structure when transferring files between computers.

    For your reference, Appendix II contains a detailed list of all files and folders, describing what they do and where they belong.

    Note: this script uses relative paths extensively, and so its very demanding about its directory structure. It does not use absolute paths at all, however. That means you don't need to enter the absolute path into the script configuration files (if it needs to know its absolute path, it will auto-detect it). Also, you don't need to place the script into any special folder like "cgi-bin" or "cgi-local" - any folder on your website that can execute scripts will be sufficient. Finally, if you want to move the script from one folder to another, or from one site to another, you can just move it. No re-configuration is needed.


  3. Customize Script

    In this step, you customize the CGI script files. Some libraries and data files also use the ".pl" extension, but those must not be renamed or edited. The CGI script files that you should edit are:

    • genesis/index.cgi

    99.9% of this script is configured after the install is complete, using the admin control panel. Only two things need to be configured during installation:

    1. If your path to Perl is not "/usr/local/bin/perl", then edit the first line of the script to point the appropriate path. Popular locations include "/usr/bin/perl" and "/usr/bin/perl5".

    2. Some systems require a special file extension for CGI. Try both .pl and .cgi if things aren't working right.

    When you open the script file to edit the path to Perl, use the most hardcore text editor you have. Like, Notepad on Windows, Simple Text on Mac, vi on Unix. Do not use high-level editors like Microsoft Word or HTML editors like FrontPage. There is a risk that these high-level editors will damage the code.


  4. Transfer Files

    Unless you're doing all of your work on the web server itself, you must transfer the files and folders over to your web server. When transferring script files or data files in FTP, always use ASCII mode.


  5. Set Permissions

    The easiest way to set permissions is to run the "setperms" script appropriate for your platform. Run setperms.bat on Windows and setperms.sh on Unix.

    If you have only FTP access to a Unix server, then you can set the permissions with FTP while you're transferring. Use the permissions guide in Appendix II below.

    If you have a Windows web server without shell access, then typically you won't be able to run "setperms.bat" from the command line nor set permissions via FTP. In this case, the best approach is to try an install anyway (the server file system is often read/write/exec by default). If this doesn't work then contact the tech support people and ask them to run setperms.bat for you. If tech support can't help, you can use the Auto Installer process to remotely set Windows file permissions (it uses special magic to do this and it would take pages and pages to describe the process and so I won't bother to do so here).


  6. Test

    Visit the URL "genesis/index.cgi" to get started.

    Your default username and password are "webmaster" and "658uwantit". If you had previously installed this product, use your previously-configured password.


Manual Install Complete!


Appendix I: Error Handling

If you run into trouble, consider an automated install. The automatic install can self-heal from most common error conditions.

Free custom installs are available from the script author (as of Sunday, January 28, 2001). To take advantage of this service, first attempt an automatic install. If it fails, you will have the option to forward an install request. Installs are usually finished within 24 hours.

You can also visit the Discussion Forum with a description of your problem. It stays very busy and there are many helpful people there.

The Auto-Installer is here: www.xav.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/xav/install.cgi


Appendix II: Directory Structure and File Descriptions


This file manifest applies to version 2.1.0.0009. If you are installing a different version, use the install.html file included with it.

The file permissions are modeled on the default Apache or Microsoft IIS permissions system, where a user account owns the files and a separate, unprivileged account, executes the CGI scripts. This is not the most secure configuration in the world, but it is the default that has been established, and so these file permissions follow it. If you have a system where your CGI scripts are executed under your user account context (as when using CGIWrap, when using setuid Perl, using Hypermart.net or many other free web hosts, etc.) then you can and should replace all permissions with 755/rwxr-xr-x.


Icons
folder
script file
data file
optional file
Required
Required file or folder
Optional file or folder
Permissions
755 / rwx r-x r-x read and execute
766 / rwx rw- rw- read and write
777 / rwx rwx rwx read, write, and execute


Is Required Object

Permissions File / Folder Description
755 / r-x setperms.bat Windows batch file for setting all NTFS permissions
755 / r-x setperms.sh Unix shell script for setting all file permissions
755 / r-x genesis main product folder
755 / r-x     index.cgi Main CGI script file
755 / r-x     install.html Manual install instructions
755 / r-x     license.html License agreement
777 / rwx genesis/script_data hold system settings, account settings, templates
755 / r-x        .htaccess prevents web access to data folder
755 / r-x        default.htm prevents web access to data folder
755 / r-x        index.html prevents web access to data folder
766 / rw-        security.txt stores system settings
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/accounts holds user account preferences and passwords
766 / rw-           webmaster.txt default account
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/sample_sites stores Genesis Templates
755 / r-x           Basic_Home_Page.template Basic Home Page template
755 / r-x           Fairy_Home_Page.template Fairy Home Page template
755 / r-x           Stylesheet.template Stylesheet template
755 / r-x           default_html_page.txt the document text appearing in the "Edit File" window when creating a new text file
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/sample_sites/images stores binary files referenced by Templates
755 / r-x              fairy_bg.jpg misc image for Fairy Home Page template
755 / r-x              fd_blank.gif misc image for Corporate Site template
755 / r-x              luna.gif misc image for Fairy Home Page template
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/sample_sites/start_site holds the default HTML that is installed with each new user site
755 / r-x              .Stylesheet.template Template editor data file for style sheet
755 / r-x              index.html default website
755 / r-x              style.css style sheet for default website
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/temp temp folder used during file upload
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/templates templates for creating Admin User Interface
755 / r-x           javascript.txt all Javascript code for admin UI. Not currently used
755 / r-x           stylesheet.txt all styles for admin UI.
777 / rwx genesis/script_data/templates/english language-specific files for User Interface
755 / r-x              strings.txt extracted language-specific strings
755 / r-x              template.html standard template for all HTML in UI
755 / r-x              tips.txt a few tips to start you out
755 / r-x              welcome_email.txt template welcome message emailed to new accounts
777 / rwx genesis/web_pages default folder for user web pages
755 / r-x        .htaccess Apache access control file - prevents CGI access from working by default
777 / rwx genesis/web_pages/images includes all images used by User Interface
766 / rw-           .is_user_dir protects the image file from being deleted
766 / rw-           bar_black.gif used to generate disk usage graph
766 / rw-           bar_red.gif used to generate disk usage graph
766 / rw-           done.wav "File Done" clip used at end of upload
766 / rw-           icon_dir.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_dir_secure.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_generic.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_hqx.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_html.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_image.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_music.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_pdf.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_pl.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_sound.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_tar.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_text.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           icon_zip.gif file type icon
766 / rw-           user_admin.gif user account icon - webmaster/_default
766 / rw-           user_normal.gif user account icon for other normal accounts

Permissions File / Folder Description
Is Required Object



Appendix III: Upgrade

To upgrade over a previous installation, without losing data, replace only these files:

setperms.bat Windows batch file for setting all NTFS permissions
setperms.sh Unix shell script for setting all file permissions
genesis main product folder
genesis/index.cgi Main CGI script file
genesis/install.html Manual install instructions
genesis/license.html License agreement
genesis/script_data hold system settings, account settings, templates
genesis/script_data/.htaccess prevents web access to data folder
genesis/script_data/default.htm prevents web access to data folder
genesis/script_data/index.html prevents web access to data folder
genesis/script_data/accounts holds user account preferences and passwords
genesis/script_data/sample_sites stores Genesis Templates
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/Basic_Home_Page.template Basic Home Page template
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/Fairy_Home_Page.template Fairy Home Page template
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/Stylesheet.template Stylesheet template
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/default_html_page.txt the document text appearing in the "Edit File" window when creating a new text file
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/images stores binary files referenced by Templates
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/images/fairy_bg.jpg misc image for Fairy Home Page template
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/images/fd_blank.gif misc image for Corporate Site template
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/images/luna.gif misc image for Fairy Home Page template
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/start_site holds the default HTML that is installed with each new user site
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/start_site/.Stylesheet.template Template editor data file for style sheet
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/start_site/index.html default website
genesis/script_data/sample_sites/start_site/style.css style sheet for default website
genesis/script_data/temp temp folder used during file upload
genesis/script_data/templates templates for creating Admin User Interface
genesis/script_data/templates/javascript.txt all Javascript code for admin UI. Not currently used
genesis/script_data/templates/stylesheet.txt all styles for admin UI.
genesis/script_data/templates/english language-specific files for User Interface
genesis/script_data/templates/english/strings.txt extracted language-specific strings
genesis/script_data/templates/english/template.html standard template for all HTML in UI
genesis/script_data/templates/english/tips.txt a few tips to start you out
genesis/script_data/templates/english/welcome_email.txt template welcome message emailed to new accounts
genesis/web_pages default folder for user web pages
genesis/web_pages/.htaccess Apache access control file - prevents CGI access from working by default
genesis/web_pages/images includes all images used by User Interface


Appendix IV: Uninstall

To remove the product, simply delete the folder that contains all the scripts and data files. The script does not effect anything outside of its folder.


Appendix V: Additional Resources



© 1997-2001 by Zoltan Milosevic