Server extensions for Microsoft FrontPage

This appendix describes using server extensions on your Netscape Enterprise Server that provide support for Microsoft's FrontPage. If you are using FrontPage webs, these extensions provide the internal server-side support you need for your webs. The topics discussed in this document are:

Overview

FrontPage server extensions are CGI programs that provide Netscape Enterprise 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 Enterprise 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.
 

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 multihosting 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 file system 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 a Enterprise 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 extensions, you can use Ready-to-Run Software's site, which also provides a great deal of information and instruction.

Getting ready for installation

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.

Space Requirements

Preliminary tasks

Some Additional Considerations

Installing Front Page Server Extensions

You can install the FrontPage 97 or the FrontPage 98 extensions on Windows NT or Unix platforms. This document provides instructions for the following platforms:

Installing FrontPage Server Extensions on Windows NT Systems

The installation process for the FrontPage97 and FrontPage98 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, there some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

Installation steps

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.

  1. To start installing the FrontPage Server Extensions, run the server extensions setup program for your language and processor type. For example, for English FrontPage98 extensions, it is the fp98ext_x86_enu.exe file.
  2. The server extensions are copied to the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage\Version 2.0 or \Version 3.0. During this process, your web server is stopped to make sure that files are not locked by the running web server. As soon as the copy is complete, the web server is started and remains running for the remainder of the installation process. The stub server extensions are installed on each root web and sub-web. On a single-hosted server the FrontPage Server Extensions are automatically installed on the single content root of the server.
     

  3. On a multi-hosted machine, the Multi-hosted Server dialog box is displayed. Select the virtual servers on which the FrontPage Server Extensions should be installed and click OK.

  4.  
  5. You are prompted for the name of a new FrontPage administrator account and a password, and the account is created.

  6.  
  7. You can add other administrator accounts after installing the server extensions using the Permissions command in the FrontPage Explorer.

What installation does

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: The installation also: For FrontPage97 extensions, these components are installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage directory, where C is your default hard drive: 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: Installation also modifies or adds the following files and directories:

After installation

Once have completed the installation process, there are some additional administrative tasks:

Installing FrontPage97 Server Extensions on Unix Systems

The installation process on a Unix 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, there some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

Installation steps

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 web site.

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, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to your Enterprise Server user account so you can install the FrontPage Server Extensions from the tar file.
    1. cd /usr/local
  2. Untar the downloaded file. This creates a  /usr/local/FrontPage/version2.0 directory and installs several other new directories under the document root directory.  For example, for the FrontPage 97 extensions on a Solaris platform, you untar the vt20.solaris.tar.z  file.

  3.  
      tar xvf /usr/tmp/vt20.solaris.tar
  4. Change directories to /usr/local/frontpage/version2.0.
    1. cd frontpage/version2.0
  5. Create a directory named /extensions and move the _vti_bin directory into it.
    1. mv _vti_bin extensions
  6. Install the WPP kit to /usr/local/frontpage/version2.0. For Solaris, use this code:
    1. tar xvf /usr/tmp/wpp.solaris.tar
  7. Rename the directory /executables (/usr/local/frontpage/version2.0/executables) to /_vti_bin:
    1. mv executables _vti_bin
  8. Move the file fpsrvadm.suid.exe to the /bin directory:
    1. mv fpsrvadm.suid.exe bin
  9. Make sure your Enterprise Server's configuration file (magnus.conf) location matches that of the FrontPage server extensions install script:
    1. /usr/ns-home/https-443/config
  10. Run the fp_install.sh shell program and follow the on-screen instructions, which ask for the information described in the following table. When you are prompted for the name of the server configuration file, enter the pathname of your server's magnus.conf file.
  Table C-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 VirtualHost 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 no IP address mask is specified, the FrontPage Administrator will have access from all IP addresses. 
 

What installation does

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

After installation

Once have completed the installation process, there are some additional administrative tasks:
  1. The administrator can 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 ’98 program installed, (Macintosh or Windows only).  Once the FrontPage program is started, the user is prompted for the name of a server to edit or open.
  3. If the user wants to edit a web on a different machine, click on “More Webs”, 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 Systems

The installation process for the FrontPage98 extensions on a Unix system requires you to download a single file, instead of the two downloads required for FrontPage97. After installation, there some additional administrative tasks for setting permissions and accessing specific webs.

Installation steps

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 web site.

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, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to your Enterprise Server user account so you can install the FrontPage Server Extensions from the tar file.
    1. cd /usr/local
  2. Untar the downloaded file. This creates a  /usr/local/FrontPage/version3.0 directory and installs several other new directories under the document root directory.  For example, for the FrontPage98 extensions on a Solaris platform, you untar the fp30.solaris.tar.z  file.
    1. tar xvf /usr/tmp/fp30.solaris.tar
  3. Change directories to /usr/local/frontpage/version3.0:
    1. cd frontpage/version3.0
  4. Run the fp_install.sh shell program and follow the on-screen instructions, which ask for parameter information. When you are prompted for the name of the server configuration file, enter the pathname of your server's magnus.conf file. 

What installation does

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

Further information

Additional detailed information can be obtained from Microsoft's FrontPage web site and, for Unix only,  from Ready-to-Run Software.

Useful FrontPage 97 information:

Useful FrontPage 98 information: