Chapter 24

Working with the FrontPage Servers

• The Personal Web Server
• Using the FrontPage Server Administrator
  • Changing the Port Number
  • Upgrading the Server Extensions
  • Checking Your Server Configuration
  • Enabling or Disabling Authoring
  • Configuring Security
• Using FrontPage with Proxy Servers and Firewalls
  • Specifying a Proxy Server for a Web
  • Server Configuration Files
• FrontPage Server Extensions: Other Platforms
  • Windows 95
  • Windows NT Workstation
  • Windows NT Server 3.5.1 (or Higher)
  • BSD/OS 2.1 (BSDi UNIX on Intel Architecture)
  • HP/UX 9.03 (Hewlett-Packard Computers)
  • IRIX 5.3 (Silicon Graphics Computers)
  • Solaris 2.4 (Sun Workstations, SPARC Architecture)
  • SunOS 4.1.3 (Sun Workstations, SPARC Architecture)
• The Server Extension Files: Where They're At, What They're For
• Workshop Wrap-Up
  • Chapter Summary
  • Next Steps
  • Q&A

The FrontPage Server Extensions are available for four different operating systems, covering a good range of commonly used server programs. When you work with FrontPage's Personal Web Server, you are using files similar to those found on servers in other platforms. For your FrontPage webs to use all the features in your web pages, the server extensions must exist on the remote server.

The Personal Web Server

Throughout this book, you have designed your pages while you were offline. You may not realize it, but by having the Personal Web Server installed on your local computer, you can actually connect to the Internet and use your local computer as a Web site while online. The best way to do this is to use a computer that you can dedicate to your Web site and also get a 24-hour connection to the Internet. You'll also need an extra phone line for that Internet connection if you want it to be a permanent connection.

The Personal Web Server is intended for light usage. It uses only one port at a time (so it doesn't support multi-homing) and allows 12 child webs to exist on the server. If you need a server that's more robust, or one that supports multi-homing, this chapter covers the servers and operating systems for which other versions of the FrontPage Server Extensions are available.

The Personal Web Server is installed on your local computer when you choose one of the following installation configurations:

• When you install FrontPage using the Typical installation procedure outlined in the "Getting Started with Microsoft FrontPage" manual or appendix A, "Installing FrontPage," of this book.
• When you install FrontPage using the Custom installation procedure and choose to install the FrontPage Server Extensions.

appendix A explains how to perform a TCP/IP test to determine the host names you can use in the Personal Web Server.

Using the FrontPage Server Administrator

When you install the Personal Web Server on your computer, you use the FrontPage Server Administrator to configure your server, install or uninstall the FrontPage Server Extensions, enable authoring for a web, or add server administrators. The steps to perform each of these functions are listed in the following sections.

Changing the Port Number

When you install the FrontPage Personal Web Server, it gets installed to one of the following two ports:

• When you complete a new installation of FrontPage, the Personal Web Server uses Port 80.
• If you install FrontPage over a previous version (Version 1.0), your existing content continues to use Port 80. The new version of the Personal Web Server uses Port 8080.

To change the port number when using the Personal Web Server, you need to shut down your server, uninstall the server extensions from the existing port, and reinstall the server extensions to the new port.

To uninstall the server extensions from a selected port:

1. Shut down the server.
2. From the Start menu, select FrontPage Server Administrator to open its dialog box, shown in Figure 24.1.
   Figure 24.1 : The FrontPage Server Administrator allows you to install, upgrade, uninstall, and configure your server extensions.
3. In the Select port number field, choose the port number from which you want to uninstall the server extensions.
4. Click Uninstall. The Server Administrator notifies you that the server extensions will be removed, but that the content files will remain. This dialog box is shown in Figure 24.2. Click OK to uninstall the server extensions from your current port.
   Figure 24.2 : The Server Administrator informs you that the extensions will be uninstalled from the port you selected.
5. Click OK to uninstall the extensions, or Cancel to return to the Server Administrator.

To install the server extensions to a new port on your server, follow these steps:

1. Change the port number for your server, following the normal procedures provided for that server.

   NOTE

   Be sure to use a port number higher than 1024. These numbers are reserved for well-known servers.

   • If you are using FrontPage's Personal Web Server, the configuration file you want to use is in the \FrontPage Webs\Server\conf directory and is named httpd.cnf. The lines you want to edit will look similar to this:
     # Port: The port the standalone listens to. 80 is the network standard.
     #
     Port 80
   • For the WebSite Server, use the Server Admin program furnished with WebSite to change the port number.
2. From the Start menu, select FrontPage Server Administrator to open its dialog box. Your server can't be running while you install the server extensions.
3. In the Select Port Number field, choose the port number to which you want to install the server extensions.
4. Click Install. The Configure Server Type dialog box shown in Figure 24.3 appears.
   Figure 24.3 : Choose the server type you want to install to the selected port.
5. Choose your server type. The server type must be installed on your system, and its configuration file must exist in a directory on your hard drive. Choose one of the following server types:
   FrontPage Personal Web Server (for Windows 95 or Windows NT)
   Netscape Commerce Server (for Windows NT)
   Netscape Communication Server (for Windows NT)
   WebSite (for Windows 95 or Windows NT)
6. Click OK. The Server Configuration dialog box shown in Figure 24.4 appears. Enter the path and name of your server configuration file in the Server Config field, or use the Browse button to locate your server configuration file, as shown in Figure 24.5. Select the same file you edited in step 1.
   Figure 24.4 : Specify your server configuration file in the Server Configuration dialog box.
   Figure 24.5: You use the Server Config dialog box to locate the server configuration file on your computer.
7. Click OK to install the server extensions. The Confirmation Dialog shown in Figure 24.6 appears. It lists the Server Type, Server Configuration File, Port, and Document Root for your server.
   Figure 24.6 : The Server Administrator confirms your selections before the extensions are installed.
8. Click OK to install the extensions and return to the FrontPage Server Administrator. Click Cancel to cancel the installation.

Upgrading the Server Extensions

If you're upgrading FrontPage from a previous release, you need to update the server extensions in your existing webs. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Shut down the server.
2. From the Start menu, select FrontPage Server Administrator.
3. Choose Upgrade. The Server Administrator dialog box shown in Figure 24.7 appears and informs you that FrontPage will upgrade the extensions on the server. Click OK to upgrade the server extensions.
   Figure 24.7 : FrontPage notifies you that the extensions will be upgraded.
4. Click OK to upgrade the extensions, or Cancel to return to the FrontPage Server Administrator. If you click OK, the new versions of the server extensions are copied to your server and you are informed that the upgrade was completed successfully.
5. Click OK to return to the FrontPage Server Administrator.

Checking Your Server Configuration

If you're having problems with your server configuration, you can check the installation from the FrontPage Administrator. This application checks to see whether all the required DLLs and configuration files exist on your computer. To check your installation, follow these steps:

1. Shut down the server.
2. From the Start menu, select FrontPage Server Administrator.
3. Choose Check. If the check is successful, all the required files exist on your system. However, if the check isn't successful, you might need to reinstall the FrontPage Server Extensions from the installation disks.

Enabling or Disabling Authoring

To enable or disable authoring on your server, use the Authoring button in the FrontPage Administrator. The steps are as follows:

1. From the Start menu, select FrontPage Server Administrator.
2. Choose Authoring. FrontPage informs you whether authoring is enabled or disabled for the server.
3. Choose OK to change authoring status.

Configuring Security

You can add an administrator's password and restrict his or her IP address by using the Security button in the FrontPage Server Administrator. To configure security, follow these steps:

1. From the Start menu, select FrontPage Server Administrator.
2. Choose Security. The Administrator name and password dialog box shown in Figure 24.8 appears.
   Figure 24.8 : Enter the administrator's name and password in the Administrator name and password dialog box.
3. Enter the name of the Web site you want to add the administrator to in the Web name field. By default, the root Web appears in this field. To add an administrator to the child Web, enter the Web name preceded by a forward slash, for example, /MyChildWeb.
4. Enter the administrator's name in the Name field. The name cannot contain any spaces or punctuation marks.
5. Enter the administrator's password in the Password field, and confirm it in the Confirm password field.
6. Click the Advanced button to restrict Web operations to only the administrator's IP address (optional). The Internet address restriction dialog box, shown in Figure 24.9, appears.
   Figure 24.9 : Enter the administrator's IP address (optional) in the Internet address restriction dialog box.
7. Enter the IP address you want to restrict and click OK, or click Cancel to return to the Administrator name and password dialog box.
8. Click OK to add the administrator to the Web site. The Server Administrator confirms that the administrator has been added to the Web site you selected.

Using FrontPage with Proxy Servers and Firewalls

If your Web server uses firewalls and proxy servers, you can configure FrontPage to use the same configuration. Proxies are used any time the FrontPage Explorer or FrontPage Editor is used to access any Web pages outside your server, for example:

• When the FrontPage Explorer opens a link external to your web.
• When you use the Follow Link command in the FrontPage Editor to follow a link to a page outside your firewall.
• When you use the Open Location command in the FrontPage Editor to open a page outside your firewall.

Specifying a Proxy Server for a Web

To use a proxy server with FrontPage, choose the Tools | Proxies command to assign the server.

To specify a proxy server, follow these steps:

1. In the FrontPage Explorer, choose Tools | Proxies. The Proxies dialog box, shown in Figure 24.10, appears.
   Figure 24.10: Enter your proxy server and the list of servers within your firewall in the Proxies dialog box.
2. In the HTTP Proxy field, enter the name of the proxy server and its port.
3. In the List of Hosts without Proxy field, enter the names of the servers you want to use inside the firewall. The port number is optional. Separate the entries in the list with commas.

Server Configuration Files

There are three server configuration files installed in your server directory when you install the FrontPage Server Extensions. These files are located in the \FrontPage Webs\server\conf directory on your computer, and you can open them with a text editor such as Notepad or WordPad. The settings in each file are described in the following sections. It's best not to edit them unless you understand what the settings are there for.

AccESS.CNF Configuration File

The access configuration file contains global access configurations. You assign access permissions to the directories in your webs in this file.

HTTPD.CNF Configuration File

The main server configuration file for the Personal Web Server has commands similar to those found in ncSA Server Version 1.3R. The configuration file contains a URL you can use when changing the settings in this file. In this file, you assign the following for your server:

Server root directory
The port the server uses
Timeout values
E-mail address of the server administrator
The location of the server's error log file
The location of the transfer log file
A host name sent back to clients if it's different from what the program would get (for example, using "www.myserver.com" instead of the value returned in the TCP/IP check)
The command-line template for CGI WinExec
The default image map configuration file

SRM.CNF Configuration File

The server resource configuration file settings control document layout and the files you want to make visible to users. Path defaults listed in this file are those related to the server's installation directory and should be given in UNIX format, using a forward slash instead of a backslash.

The following configurations are specified in this file:

Document (content) root directory
The default name of your index page
The default name of the access file permissions file
Aliasing and redirection names
MIME types
Automatic directory indexing
Files that the directory index should ignore

FrontPage Server Extensions: Other Platforms

If you're looking for a service provider that has the FrontPage Server Extensions installed, Microsoft keeps a list of them at the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/ispinfo/isplist.htm

If your service provider doesn't have the server extensions installed, good news is in store. The FrontPage Server Extensions are also available for other platforms and operating systems. These server extensions are primarily intended for use by Internet service providers or those who are using FrontPage on corporate intranets. The server extensions are available for UNIX, BSDI, and Windows NT platforms.

General information on the server extensions and Web hosting can be found at the following URLs on Microsoft's Web site:

Microsoft FrontPage Internet Service Provider Information:

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/ispinfo/

Web Hosting Primer:

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/ispinfo/primer/default.htm

Web Hosting FAQ:

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/ispinfo/hosting_faq.htm

FrontPage Server Extensions:

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/fs_fp_extensions.htm

At press time, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following operating systems and Web servers:

Windows 95

Windows NT Workstation

Windows NT Server 3.5.1 (or Higher)

BSD/OS 2.1 (BSDi UNIX on Intel Architecture)

HP/UX 9.03 (Hewlett-Packard Computers)

IRIX 5.3 (Silicon Graphics Computers)

Solaris 2.4 (Sun Workstations, SPARC Architecture)

SunOS 4.1.3 (Sun Workstations, SPARC Architecture)

Windows 95

For Windows 95 users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers. Both are included in FrontPage:

• Microsoft FrontPage Personal Web Server (furnished with FrontPage)
• O'Reilly and Associates WebSite

Windows NT Workstation

For Windows NT users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers. All are included with FrontPage:

• Microsoft FrontPage Personal Web Server (furnished with FrontPage)
• Netscape Commerce Server. Does not support SSL.
• Netscape Communications Server
• O'Reilly and Associates WebSite

Windows NT Server 3.5.1 (or Higher)

For Windows NT Server users (version 3.5.1 or higher), the Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the Microsoft Internet Information Server. You can download the Internet Information Server from the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/infoserv/

FrontPage Server Extensions are available from Microsoft's Web site. To download the server extensions, follow these steps:

1. Complete the user agreement form at the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/agreement.htm
   

2. Download the IISReadMe.txt file, which contains general information about installing the FrontPage Server Extensions:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/IISReadMe.txt
   

3. Download the server extensions from the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/Fpiisb2.exe
   

4. Install and configure the FrontPage server extensions as outlined in the readme files that come with the server extensions.

BSD/OS 2.1 (BSDi UNIX on Intel Architecture)

For BSD/OS 2.1 users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers:

Apache

CERN

ncSA

Netscape Communications Server

Open Market Web Server

To download and install the FrontPage Server Extensions for BSD/OS 2.1, follow these steps:

1. Complete the user agreement form at the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/agreement.htm
   

2. Download the server extensions from the following URLs. The vt11.bsdi.tar file is 6MB, and the vt11.bsdi.tar.Z file is 3.8MB:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.bsdi.tar
   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.bsdi.tar.Z
   

3. Install and configure the FrontPage Server Extensions as outlined in the readme files provided with the server extensions.

HP/UX 9.03 (Hewlett-Packard Computers)

For HP/UX 9.03 users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers:

Apache

CERN

ncSA

Netscape Communications Server

Open Market Web Server

To download and install the FrontPage Server Extensions for HP/UX 9.03, follow these steps:

1. Complete the user agreement form at the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/agreement.htm
   

2. Download the UNIXReadMe.txt file that has general information about installing the FrontPage server extensions:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/unixreadme.txt
   

3. Download the Server Extensions from the following URLs. The vt11.hp700.tar file is 10.1MB, and the vt11.hp700.tar.Z file is 5.1MB:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.hp700.tar
   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.hp700.tar.Z
   

4. Install and configure the FrontPage Server Extensions as outlined in the readme files that come with the server extensions.

IRIX 5.3 (Silicon Graphics Computers)

For IRIX 5.3 users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers:

Apache

CERN

ncSA

Netscape Communications Server

Open Market Web Server

To download and install the FrontPage Server Extensions for IRIX 5.3, follow these steps:

1. Complete the user agreement form at the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/agreement.htm
   

2. Download the UNIXReadMe.txt file, which contains general information about installing the FrontPage Server Extensions:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/unixreadme.txt
   

3. Download the server extensions from the following URLs. The vt11.sgi.tar file is 13.8MB, and the vt11.sgi.tar.Z file is 5MB:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.sgi.tar
   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.sgi.tar.Z
   

4. Install and configure the FrontPage Server Extensions as outlined in the readme files provided with the server extensions.

Solaris 2.4 (Sun Workstations, SPARC Architecture)

For Solaris 2.4 users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers:

Apache

CERN

ncSA

Netscape Communications Server

Open Market Web Server

To download and install the FrontPage Server Extensions for Solaris 2.4, follow these steps:

1. Complete the user agreement form at the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/agreement.htm
   

2. Download the UNIXReadMe.txt file containing general information about installing the FrontPage Server Extensions:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/unixreadme.txt
   

3. Download the server extensions from the following URLs. The vt11.solaris.tar file is 8.2MB, and the vt11.solaris.tar.Z file is 4MB:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.solaris.tar
   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.solaris.tar.Z
   

4. Install and configure the FrontPage Server Extensions as outlined in the readme files that come with the server extensions.

SunOS 4.1.3 (Sun Workstations, SPARC Architecture)

For SunOS 4.1.3 users, the FrontPage Server Extensions are available for the following servers:

Apache

CERN

ncSA

Netscape Communications Server

Open Market Web Server

To download and install the FrontPage Server Extensions for SunOS 4.1.3, follow these steps:

1. Complete the user agreement form at the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/freestuff/agreement.htm
   

2. Download the UNIXReadMe.txt file that has general information about installing the FrontPage Server Extensions:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/unixreadme.txt
   

3. Download the server extensions from the following URLs. The vt11.sunos.tar file is 8.3MB, and the vt11.sunos.tar.Z file is 4.3MB:

   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.sunos.tar
   http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/free/vt11/vt11.sunos.tar.Z
   

4. Install and configure the FrontPage Server Extensions as outlined in the readme files provided with the server extensions.

The Server Extension Files: Where They're At, What They're For

The FrontPage Server Extensions consist of three executable CGI files. When you install FrontPage on your server, the files and directories listed below are installed. For the Personal Web Server, these files are in the \FrontPage Webs\Server subdirectories. For UNIX systems, the files are installed in the /usr/local/frontpage directory.

The content directories (located in \FrontPage Webs\Content for Windows users) contain the following files and directories:

Each content directory containing pages also has the following subdirectories:

Workshop Wrap-Up

You now know some of the basics about the FrontPage Server Extensions. For additional information, visit Microsoft's site, where the most recent information about the server extensions are kept.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, you have learned how to configure the FrontPage Personal Web Server, how to enable and disable authoring, how to assign server administrators, and how to add proxy servers. You have also learned about the other platforms and servers for which the FrontPage Server Extensions are available.

Next Steps

You can find the most recent information by following links to the MSOffice or FrontPage sections of the Web. appendix C, "Directory of Resources," lists where you can find these directories, as well as other places you can go for help.

Q&A