Lost in PERL ville

[Darrin Chandler]

On Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 03:00:51PM -0800, keith smith wrote:
> I'm trying to figure out if PERL is running on a new Dedicated server.  I'm in over my head.....
> 
> Copied the following code from http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/howto/cgi.html:
> 
>          #!/usr/bin/perl
>          print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
>          print "Hello, World.";
> 
> Naming it test.pl and dropped it into the root directory.
> When I run it I get the code back in my browser.
> 
> There is not CGI bin either.
> 
> I got here by reading the install docs for MovableType which says I need to be able to run cgi.
> 
> Any direction is much appreciated.

Really, it depends completely on the setup they have for you.

If it's dedicated, they may have left you with a minimal setup with
things turned off by default (to minimize the security risks).

My understanding of "dedicated" means you have the machine, or at least
a virtual machine, so you should be able to play with the configs to
turn things on.

Apart from learning what you can and can't do from scratch, you can try:

 * name it test.cgi instead of test.pl. The "#!" line already specifies
   Perl.

 * don't put it in the root, put it in the cgi-bin directory (creating
   it if need be)

 * try using .htaccess in the directory of your choice with Option
   ExecCGI to enable executing CGI

 * make sure the permissions on your CGI specify the execute bit

Hopefully, your provider also has a FAQ or some docs somewhere.

-- 
Darrin Chandler            |  Phoenix BSD User Group  |  MetaBUG
dwchandler at stilyagin.com   |  http://phxbug.org/      |  http://metabug.org/
http://www.stilyagin.com/  |  Daemons in the Desert   |  Global BUG Federation