Complete Contents
About This Guide
Chapter 1 Introduction to iPlanet Web Server
Chapter 2 Administrating iPlanet Web Servers
Chapter 3 Setting Administration Preferences
Chapter 4 Managing Users and Groups
Chapter 5 Working with Server Security
Chapter 6 Managing Server Clusters
Chapter 7 Configuring Server Preferences
Chapter 8 Understanding Log Files
Chapter 9 Using SNMP to Monitor Servers
Chapter 10 Configuring the Server for Performance
Chapter 11 Extending Your Server with Programs
Chapter 12 Working with Configuration Styles
Chapter 13 Managing Server Content
Chapter 14 Controlling Access to Your Server
Chapter 15 Configuring Web Publishing
Chapter 16 Using Search
Appendix A HyperText Transfer Protocol
Appendix B ACL File Syntax
Appendix C Internationalized iPlanet Web Server
Appendix D Server Extensions for Microsoft FrontPage
Appendix E iPlanet Web Server User Interface
Glossary
Index
Previous Next Contents Index Bookshelf


Appendix D Server Extensions for Microsoft FrontPage

This appendix describes using server extensions on your iPlanet Web Server that provide support for Microsoft's FrontPage. These extensions provide the internal server-side support you need if you are using FrontPage webs.

This appendix includes the following sections:


Overview
FrontPage server extensions are CGI programs that provide iPlanet Web Server support for FrontPage webs. Client-server communication takes place through standard HTTP POST requests that are forwarded to the appropriate extension's CGI program. If you use FrontPage webs, the extensions provide support for FrontPage authoring and publishing, access permission, and WebBot functions. For example:

The extensions can minimize file transfers over the Internet. For example, when a user opens a FrontPage web from an iPlanet Web Server with the extensions, web metadata, such as its map of links, is downloaded to the user's machine but the full set of web pages remain on the server. A page is downloaded only when it is opened for editing.

Once you have installed the extensions on your server, FrontPage web publishing, administering, and discussion group functionality is available from any computer that is on the Internet or a local Intranet, although you need the FrontPage client program for authoring and administrative functions.

This section includes the following topics:

Types of FrontPage Webs
There are two kinds of FrontPage webs: root webs and sub-webs. A root web is a FrontPage web that is the top-level content directory of a Web server or, in a multi-hosting environment, of a virtual Web server. There can only be one root web per Web Server or virtual Web server.

A single root web can support a number of sub-webs. A sub-web is a complete FrontPage web that is a subdirectory of the root web. Sub-webs can only exist one level below the root web. Each sub-web can have many levels of subdirectories, making up its content.

Even though sub-webs appear below the root web in the Web server's filesystem and URL space, the root web does not include the content in its sub-webs. This separation of content is done by the FrontPage Server Extensions.

The root web and all sub-webs on a server must have separate copies of the extensions installed or have stub executables of the extensions programs. Having separate copies of the extensions for each FrontPage web lets the server administrator enforce different end-user, author, and administrator permissions on each FrontPage web, since FrontPage uses the server's built-in security mechanism to control access.

Domain Names And FrontPage Webs
FrontPage webs can be implemented on an iPlanet Web Server and accessed by web browsers in the following ways:

Security Issues
FrontPage implements web security on your web server by changing the access-control lists (ACLs) for all files and directories in each FrontPage web. Installing FrontPage always modifies the ACLs of the Server Extensions stub executables contained in the /_vti_bin directory in each web. A new installation of FrontPage will additionally modify the ACLs of the web content files, but an upgrade of an existing installation of the Server Extensions will not modify the content file ACLs and consequently will leave the security settings at a less secure level than the default FrontPage settings. You can upgrade the ACLs of your web content by using the Check and Fix option of the FrontPage Server Administrator utility.

In addition to modifying the security ACLs of the web content files, FrontPage modifies the ACLs of any system DLLs that are used as a result of a FrontPage DLL call, to ensure that the system DLLs will have the correct level of permissions to run under any administrator, author, or end-user's account. For the complete set of ACLs set on FrontPage files, along with a discussion of security considerations when installing the Server Extensions and the reasons why the ACLs of the system DLLs must be modified, see the additional resources available at Ready-to-Run Software and Microsoft's web sites.


Downloading the Extensions
The first step towards installing the extensions is to download them. You can use Microsoft's FrontPage sites or, if you want to install the Unix/Linux extensions, you can use Ready-to-Run Software's site, which also provides a great deal of information and instruction.

Before you install the FrontPage Server Extensions, you need to be sure you have enough disk space available on your local machine, that you have a document root directory, that you have enabled authentication, and that you are aware of some important post-install issues such as access permissions.

This section includes the following topics:

Space Requirements
On Windows NT systems, you need to have approximately 6MB of disk space available. The downloaded file is 3MB and the installed files total 2.5MB.

On Unix/Linux systems, you should have at least 32MB available on your server. The Unix/Linux FrontPage extensions need 9MB of disk space in the /usr/local/frontpage directory. If you install the extensions onto your web content, you need an extra 5MB per virtual host unless your web content is in the same disk partition as /usr/local/frontpage.

Preliminary Tasks
You need to have a document root directory for your iPlanet Web Server, which is created when you start up your server for the first time. This means you must start up your server at least once before installing the extensions.

Some Additional Considerations

Installing FrontPage Server Extensions
You can install the FrontPage 97, the FrontPage 98, or FrontPage 2000 extensions on Windows NT or Unix/Linux platforms. This document provides instructions for the following platforms:

To install FrontPage extensions to a Netscape Enterprise Server version 3.x or iPlanet Web Server version 4.x, you need to do a custom installation, because we have changed our registry keys.

Installing FrontPage Server Extensions on Windows NT Systems
The installation process for the FrontPage97, FrontPage98, and FrontPage 2000 extensions on a Windows NT system is relatively straightforward. You download and run an executable file, which installs several files and folders on your system. The extensions require a specific directory structure, which is discussed later in this section. After installation, you must perform some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

These installation instructions are for the standalone FrontPage Server Extensions that are in a self-extracting executable that is downloadable from the Microsoft FrontPage web site.

Note
You must log into your NT system as Administrator or have administrator permission to install the FrontPage Server Extensions.

To install FrontPage Server Extensions on Windows NT, perform the following steps:

  1. Run the server extensions setup program for your language and processor type.
  2. After installing FrontPage 2000 with the Server Extensions Resource Kit, launch the Server Extensions Administrator under Start | Programs | Administrative Tools , right-click on your machine's host name under Console Root | FrontPage Server Extensions, and select New Web. Follow the steps in the wizard to select your server instance and configure it for FrontPage Server Extensions.
  3. Select the virtual servers on which the FrontPage Server Extensions should be installed and click OK.
  4. Enter the name of a new FrontPage administrator account and a password.
  5. You can add other administrator accounts after installing the server extensions using the Permissions command in the FrontPage Explorer.
Installing the server extensions on each FrontPage web may take several minutes and may increase the CPU load on your computer. If this is a new installation of the FrontPage Server Extensions, each page's contents are parsed to expand FrontPage components (such as Include components and Substitution components), create a hyperlink map of the FrontPage web, and extract page titles and base URLs.

The installation also updates the text indices and recalculates the links in the Web, adds a FrontPage administration account, password, and IP address restriction, and reminds the web administrator to restart the server if new ObjectType directives were added to the obj.conf file.

For FrontPage97 extensions, these components are installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage directory, where C is your default hard drive. The components are as follows:

For FrontPage98 extensions, these components are installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage\version 3.0 directory, where C is your default hard drive:

For FrontPage2000 extensions, these components are installed in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\40 directory, where C is your default hard drive:

Installation also modifies or adds the following files and directories:

Once you have completed the installation process, you must also perform the following administrative tasks:

Installing FrontPage97 Server Extensions on Unix/Linux Systems
The installation process on a Unix/Linux system requires you to have the appropriate file permissions and directories set up beforehand. The extensions require a specific directory structure, which is discussed later in this section. After installation, you must perform some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

These installation instructions are for the standalone FrontPage Server Extensions that are in a tarred file that is downloadable from the Microsoft FrontPage web site or the Ready-To-Run Software website.

Important
You need to be logged in as the root user to perform the install. The root user must have write permission for the /usr/local directory even if this is not the directory where you want to install the extensions. This is because if you choose not to install the extensions in the /usr/local directory, a soft link is added automatically between /usr/local and the directory you wish to use.

To install the extensions, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in as the root user so you can install the FrontPage Server Extensions from the tar file:
  2. Untar the downloaded file.
  3. Change directories to /usr/local/frontpage/version2.0.
  4. Create a directory named /extensions and move the _vti_bin directory into it.
  5. Install the WPP kit to /usr/local/frontpage/version2.0.
  6. Rename the directory /executables (/usr/local/frontpage/version2.0/executables) to /_vti_bin:
  7. Move the file fpsrvadm.suid.exe to the /bin directory:
  8. Run the fp_install.sh shell program and follow the on-screen instructions, which ask for the information described in the following table.
Table D.1 Installation parameter information
-fpdir <dir>
default
FrontPage Directory

-httpdconfdir <dir>
default
Directory where server's configuration file is located

-web <webname>
required
Web where the Server Extensions are being installed (/ for root web)

-user <webowner>
required
User ID of the web owner

-group <webgroup>
optional
GroupID of the web owner

-host <host>

Name of virtual host where the Server Extensions are being installed. The host specified should be the same as that specified by the Virtual Host directive in the server's httpd.conf file.

-admuser <fpadmin>
required
FrontPage Administrator user name

-admpass <fppass>
required
FrontPage Administrator password

-admaddr <ipaddr>
optional
IP address restriction of FrontPage Administrator. If not IP address mask is specified, the FrontPage Administrator will have access from all IP addresses.

Installing the Server Extensions on each FrontPage web may take several minutes and may increase the CPU load on your computer. If this is a new installation of the FrontPage Server Extensions, each page's contents are parsed to expand FrontPage components, such as Include components and Substitution components, create a hyperlink map of the FrontPage web, and extract page titles and base URLs.

The installation process also updates the text indices and recalculates the links in the Web, adds a FrontPage administration account, password, and IP address restriction, and reminds the web administrator to restart the server if new ObjectType directives were added to the obj.conf file.

During installation, the install shell modifies or adds the following files and directories:

Once you have completed the installation process, you must perform the following administrative tasks:

  1. Execute the fpsrvwin.exe file to set the server port, test the extensions, install the extensions to other virtual servers, and update extensions.
  2. A remote machine must have the FrontPage 97, 98, or 2000 program installed (Macintosh or Windows only).
  3. If the user wants to edit a web on a different machine, click on "MoreWebs" on the line to select a web server or disk location type in the servername:portnumber of the web to edit. Choose OK.
  4. Select the proper web from the list of webs on the host machine to edit.
Installing FrontPage98 Server Extensions on Unix/Linux Systems
These installation instructions are for the stand-alone FrontPage Server Extensions that are in a tarred file that is downloadable from the Microsoft FrontPage web site or the Ready-To-Run Software website.

After installation, you must perform some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

Important
You need to be logged in as the root user to perform the install. The root user must have write permission for the /usr/local directory even if this is not the directory where you want to install the extensions. This is because if you choose not to install the extensions in the /usr/local directory, a soft link is added automatically between /usr/local and the directory you wish to use.

To install the extensions, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in as the root user so you can install the FrontPage Server Extensions from the tar file.
  2. Type cd /usr/local, or cd to the directory where the two downloaded files (fp30.solaris.tar.Z and fp_install.sh) are located.
  3. Run the fp_install.sh shell program and follow the on-screen instructions, which ask for parameter information.
Installing the Server Extensions on each FrontPage web may take several minutes and may increase the CPU load on your computer. If this is a new installation of the FrontPage Server Extensions, each page's contents are parsed to expand FrontPage components, such as Include components and Substitution components, create a hyperlink map of the FrontPage web, and extract page titles and base URLs.

The installation process also updates the text indices and recalculate the links in the Web, adds a FrontPage administration account, password, and IP address restriction, and reminds the web administrator to restart the server if new ObjectType directives were added to the obj.conf file.

During installation, the install shell modifies or adds the following files and directories:

Creates .nsconfig files in the /_vti_bin, /_vti_adm, /_vti_aut and the document root directories.

Installing FrontPage2000 Server Extensions on Unix/Linux Systems
These installation instructions are for the stand-alone FrontPage Server Extensions that are in a tarred file that is downloadable from the Microsoft FrontPage web site or the Ready-To-Run Software website.

After installation, you must perform some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

Important
You need to be logged in as the root user to perform the install. The root user must have write permission for the /usr/local directory even if this is not the directory where you want to install the extensions. This is because if you choose not to install the extensions in the /usr/local directory, a soft link is added automatically between /usr/local and the directory you wish to use.

To install the extensions, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in as the root user so you can install the FrontPage Server Extensions from the tar file.
  2. Type cd /usr/local, or cd to the directory where the two downloaded files (fp40.solaris.tar.Z and fp_install.sh) are located.
  3. Run the fp_install.sh shell program and follow the on-screen instructions, which ask for parameter information.
Installing the Server Extensions on each FrontPage web may take several minutes and may increase the CPU load on your computer. If this is a new installation of the FrontPage Server Extensions, each page's contents are parsed to expand FrontPage components, such as Include components and Substitution components, create a hyperlink map of the FrontPage web, and extract page titles and base URLs.

The installation process also updates the text indices and recalculate the links in the Web, adds a FrontPage administration account, password, and IP address restriction, and reminds the web administrator to restart the server if new ObjectType directives were added to the obj.conf file.

During installation, the install shell modifies or adds the following files and directories:

Creates .nsconfig files in the /_vti_bin, /_vti_adm, /_vti_aut and the document root directories.


Further Information
Additional detailed information can be obtained from Microsoft's FrontPage web site:

For Unix/Linux only, information can also be obtained from the Ready-to-Run Software web site:

 

© Copyright © 2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Some preexisting portions Copyright © 2000 Netscape Communications Corp. All rights reserved.