Account Basics - ProSeries


Logging On Via FTP - Transferring Files
It is important to note the difference between BINARY and ASCII transfers. A file sent using the wrong transfer protocol will be unusable on the receiving end. As a general rule of thumb, files that are readable in a normal text editor are usually sent as ascii. On the other hand files that look scrambled when you look at them in a text editor (like images, etc) should be sent through binary.
binary
This indicates that the files being transferred are binary. This must be used to transfer image files such as GIFs and JPEGs. It should not be used for regular HTML files, however.
ascii
This indicates that the files being transferred are text. This should be used to transfer regular HTML files and other files that are readable as normal text. The reason for the text-vs-binary distinction is that text files are stored in a slightly different format on many systems, including PCs, Macs, and Unix. When the ascii mode is enabled, the files will be translated as needed during the transfer.
delete filename
This is used to delete a file.
How do I connect with Telnet?
Access through Telnet, included with all but the STARTER Account, is very useful for handling e-mail, developing CGI programs, and better file control for functions such as moving, renaming, archiving, and more. Built into all the TELNET accounts are C compilers, mail readers and text editors (not to mention hundreds of UNIX commands and utilities).  Note: if TELNET access is switched off for some reason at account setup time and you want it activated, simply contact us.

FTP is still the best method for transferring any files that you have already developed, however - Telnet does not perform any file transfers itself.

To connect through Telnet, you need a Telnet program.  Due to security you should only use a SECURE TELNET program (see the section below) with Pro accounts.  We recommend the program Secure Telnet PUTTY which you can download free from http://www.webcs.com/cust_service.html.

Most operating system platforms will have at least a rudimentary Telnet program included with their SLIP/PPP software. The host information is the same for Telnet and FTP (see above). If you need a TELNET or FTP program please feel free to visit our SOFTWARE SUPPORT section. Note to America Online Users: goto keyword TELNET for special support and info about using telnet.  Telnet programs and your website account will work with any dialup provider you may have.

To connect via TELNET you should connect to your domain name minus the front extension. For example if your domain is www.ralph.com you should connect to ralph.com to access your telnet session. Your may also use your temporary IP numbered extension, for example 243.456.43.21. If you do not have a domain of your own use the server domain which we assign you.

You will be prompted for your account password and username. Enter them exactly as they appear on your startup sheet.

Access through SSH (Secure Telnet):

SSH is like Telnet, however, it established an encrypted, secure connection to keep safe any info that may pass between you and our servers, such as passwords or other sensitive data.  To acquire software for SSH, we recommend PUTTY which you can download from our website.

Other SSH programs include: SecureCRT from Van Dyke Technologies for American and Canadian citizens, and F-Secure SSH from Data Fellows for users from most other countries.  For the Macintosh, we recommend F-Secure SSH.  Still other sources for SSH software are available here.  The program WU-FTP is not recommended at this time because it prevents secure tunneling on our servers.

To connect via SSH you follow the basic steps required above for Telnet logons and use the default settings that PUTTY, SecureCRT or F-Secure provides.

Please note that we do not provide any additional technical support for SSH software installation or connection.  It is a complex package which uses encryption and public keys, so it should only be tackled by experienced net users.  More documentation on SSH and its use can be found here.

How can I serve files to people through Anonymous FTP?
REAL domain account users can allow anonymous FTP access to visitors wishing to download or upload files to your web site as if you were running your own FTP server.

Anonymous FTP - You can provide anonymous FTP access for your users. The directory you would use for this would be related to your IP number. For example, if your IP number is 208.14.1.1, then your anonymous FTP directory would be
/var/spool/ftp/208.14.1.1

You should then place your files in the /pub directory there. (Yes, that directory structure is necessary.) You can also customize the welcome.msg. If you don't know your IP number, then you can use the command nslookup yourdomainname.com to find it out.

Administration of your ANONftp account:

Logon through TELNET or FTP as normal, using your normal username and password.
change directories to system directory /var/spool/ftp/yourIP#
where yourIP# equals your IP number as shown above.
(note: through telnet you would just type
cd /var/spool/ftp/yourIP#)
there you may manipulate your ANONftp files. Files should normally be placed in the pub directory.

How do users logon to my ANONftp site?

Users should logon using FTP.
Have them logon to yourdomain as normal (example: mysite.com)
They should always use
username: anonymous
password: guest
then proceed to the pub directory

An example of how this looks using WS_FTP:

Why can't I get rid of those extra directories under Virtual FTP?

Virtual FTP is essentially like anonymous FTP, in that the FTP daemon locks itself out of accessing anything outside the FTP directory tree. This means that essential programs and devices must be present under that tree. In the case of Virtual FTP, these essentials are in the bin and etc subdirectories, owned by root with highly restrictive permissions. You cannot remove these files; if you tamper with them in any way, your Virtual FTP will probably cease to operate properly.

The Shell

If you have a Shell (Telnet) account, you have access to hundreds of built in UNIX commands and utilities. Some are very easy to learn and some require definite UNIX training. If your really interested in using UNIX, we suggest visiting your local library or bookstore. However, for everyday mail and WEB editing, no extensive knowledge is required.

We now introduce you to a few of the most used commands in relation to WEB design and Mail Checking.

SSH Shell Command Introduction

PINE
this is our PRO-SERIES menu driven mail viewer. Its highly interactive and user friendly. Make sure you have a vt100 or vt102 compatible SSH TELNET program.
CC
this is a Unix native C/C++ compiler.
VI
Unix's native text editor...vi is notorious for being complex.
PICO
A external text editor. It is very easy to learn and acts very much like a standard word processor. We suggest using this if you choose to edit online
WHO
Shows who is online on your present server.
How do I change my password?
You can change your password via your account control panel.  Passwords must be at least ten digits long and contain numbers and number and lower case letters for security reasons.
How Do I Password Protect Parts of My Web Pages:
Allow certain Users into Certain Sections
You have the option of protecting selected web pages from viewing or transmission to certain users. With the Password Protect option only users with the correct access password (which you provide) will have access to select areas of your web pages or selected directories. All other users have access to your normal pages but can't see your protected pages. To set this option up contact us. This option is currently free of charge!

Once set up you can password protect any directory using a text file called ".htaccess" Simple place your .htaccess file in any directory you wish to protect. Type the command pwd to find the directory's full name. Use this full name in place of the word DIRECTORY below. For example the first line below will read something like AuthUserFile /mnt/web/guide/your_domain/some_directorory/HTPASS (where HTPASS is your password file).

Creating your .htaccess file:

Use a simple text editor to create this file. It should look like the following:

AuthUserFile /DIRECTORY/HTPASS
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName ByPassword
AuthType Basic

<Limit GET>
require user pumpkin
</Limit>

The word pumpkin is the user name you wish to ask for when accessing this page, and of course you can alter this any way you see fit.

Creating the password:
Use the following command to create your password from your TELNET logon:
htpasswd -c /DIRECTORY/HTPASS pumpkin
The server will then ask you for the password for user pumpkin twice.

You should be ready to go now...test the system on your browser.

Creating multiple usernames and password in the same directory:
This is more difficult and requires the creation of a group password file. If your interested in doing this complete docs on how to implement it are available HERE.
WEB FILES, Where to Put and What to Name:
Your Web-visible files are stored in a separate directory tree from your home directory, called www or in some cases wwwfp. Just click on or goto www or wwwfp when you logon to your account.  This is where your website files need to go.

If you want to create subdirectories in your site, this is where they should be created.

What to name your files:

Your lead file should always be called index.html when possible.  If you don't have a lead file you won't get a web page when you acess your domain name on the web.  All other html text files should ideally end in .html.

Common mistakes:

By far the most common programming mistakes are placing files in the wrong directory or misnaming files.  Unix is filename case sensitive so make sure your filenames match up exactly to their references in your code.  Also, make sure that links and images point to the right directory.  For instance, if you have uploaded your site and images to the public_html directory and notice your images are not working is it likely because they are referenced to another directory in your code.  For instance, myimages/image.gif will point to the public_html/myimages directory NOT to public_html.  To fix this, create a myimages directory off of public_html and place your images there or recode your files not to reference this directory at all.

How do I change my personal information? MIME Types (Adding New Ones) Wireless Markup Language (WML)
Some cell phones and pagers now have the ability to read website documents on them.  This technology is widely becoming a recognized standard as many web sites create special content for such devices.  To that end, WEBster Computing Services fully supports use of the Wireless Markup Language (WML) for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

The WAP gateway retrieves WML pages from a web server via normal HTTP.  The only difference is, you have to configure your web servers to map the following extensions to the appropriate mime types as follows:

# MIME Types for WAP
AddType text/vnd.wap.wml .wml
AddType image/vnd.wap.wbmp .wbmp
AddType application/vnd.wap.wmlc .wmlc
AddType text/vnd.wap.wmlscript .wmls
AddType application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc .wmlsc

You should naturally also name your WML web files with these extensions to make this work.  These mime types are currently scheduled for installation on our servers.  If they are not already present on your server refer directly above to the MIME ADDITION section.  Mime types such as these can be added at any time into your account by you.

For more information on WML and WAP please visit TheWirelessFaq