SID-00074: configure script opens in browser window, does not run

Status:	Answered	TWiki version:	4.2.4	Perl version:	unknown
Category:	CategoryInstallation	Server OS:	Linux = ??	Last update:	12 years ago

first of all, let me say that installation of twiki is possibly the most convoluted and insanely frusterating experience I've ever had in my life. If this problem can't be simply solved, I'll have to find a piece of software that actually works, and is easier to use and install.

Secondly, finding "support" on this website is also convoluted, which leads me to believe that the design of twiki is fundamentally flawed, and so, am also considering dumping it in favor of something that actually is clear and concise.

my problem with installation is that the configure script opens in the browser window rather than running. I'm installing on a shared host, I do not have root access.

all my permissions are set correctly, and I've uploaded .htaccess files per the instructions.

I can get the script to throw a 500 internal server error as well, if I refresh the screen after the script has opened.

Help would be appreciated. Thanks much.

-- DaveSisson - 01 Feb 2009

Discussion and Answer

I am not clear what you mean by "configure script opens in browser window", but if you see the Perl source code instead of the configure screen it looks like your twiki/bin directory is not cgi enabled. Check your Apache settings. The ApacheConfigGenerator comes in handy. Please note that your ISP might disable local .htaccess files.

Thank you for your feedback. We are aware of the develper centric twiki.org website, and we are on the way to fix that. Read my last blog post BlogEntry200901x1. I invite you to participate, see WebPageAudienceSiteStructure for website redesign.

-- PeterThoeny - 01 Feb 2009

Thank you, yes, I see the perl source code in the browser window, instead of a configure screen.

But what do you mean "check your Apache settings"? Since I don't have root access, I cannot access /etc/httpd/conf.d or /etc/apache2/conf.d

or at least on my system, in /etc, I don't have anything like /apache2 or /httpd

So, I made the twiki.conf file, using your apacheconfiggenerator, and put it into /etc. and........

wait for it...

it didn't change a thing.

so, I give up. I'm sorry, I can't participate in something so convoluted, and I feel the problem is more structural than a website redesign, but my best suggestion would be to try to eliminate as much text as you can, because there's entirely too much stuff to read to get to the real answer (for example, it took me at least 10 minutes of clicking around to figure out how to ask a question, when a simple forum or button that says "ask questions here" would suffice)

or maybe the fact that I'm, right now, trying to type a message into a window that's all of 4 lines high.

-- DaveSisson - 02 Feb 2009

You'd need to ask your hosting provider for details in regards to Apache .htaccess files.

TWiki is a powerful platform, mainly used inside corporate firewalls. If you want to install TWiki on your own on a hosting provider see TWikiOnWebHostingSites. If hosted, it is easier to get started with a dedicated TWiki hosting provider, see links in TWiki.org homepage.

Thank you for the feedback on the Support forum. We have now a link in the sidebar (in addition to the support homepage), and we have a bigger comment box.

-- PeterThoeny - 02 Feb 2009

I have the same issue on my site, the confgure script does not run. http://www.pqconservatives.ca/bin/configure. It just shows the actual script in the browser. I went through the installation procedure, but cannot get it to run properly. Do you have any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

See my twki.conf file below, after I put it on the conf folder I restarted Apache

# Autogenerated httpd.conf file for TWiki.
# Generated at http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/ApacheConfigGenerator

# We set an environment variable called blockAccess.
#
# Setting a BrowserMatchNoCase to ^$ is important. It prevents TWiki from
# including its own topics as URLs and also prevents other TWikis from
# doing the same. This is important to prevent the most obvious
# Denial of Service attacks.
#
# You can expand this by adding more BrowserMatchNoCase statements to
# block evil browser agents trying the impossible task of mirroring a twiki
#
# Example:
# BrowserMatchNoCase ^SiteSucker blockAccess
# BrowserMatchNoCase ^$ blockAccess

BrowserMatchNoCase ^$ blockAccess

<IfModule mod_perl.c>
    # Mod_perl preloading
    PerlSwitches -T
</IfModule>

# The ScriptAlias defines the bin directory as a directory where CGI
# scripts are allowed.
# The first parameter will be part of the URL to your installation e.g.
# http://example.com/do/view/...
# The second parameter must point to the physical path on your disc.
ScriptAlias /do "/var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/httpdocs/bin"

# The Alias defines a url that points to the twiki pub directory, which
# is the root of file attachments.
Alias /pub "/var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/httpdocs/pub"

# This specifies the options on the TWiki scripts directory. The ExecCGI
# and SetHandler tell apache that it contains scripts. "Allow from all"
# lets any IP address access this URL.
<Directory "/var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/httpdocs/bin">
    AllowOverride None
    Order Allow,Deny
    Allow from all
    Deny from env=blockAccess

    Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks
    SetHandler cgi-script

    # Password file for TWiki users
    AuthUserFile /var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/httpdocs/data/.htpasswd
    AuthName 'Enter your WikiName: (First name and last name, no space, no dots, capitalized, e.g. JohnSmith)'
    AuthType Basic

    # File to return on access control error (e.g. wrong password)
    ErrorDocument 401 /do/view/TWiki/TWikiRegistration

</Directory>

# This sets the options on the pub directory, which contains attachments and
# other files like CSS stylesheets and icons. AllowOverride None stops a
# user installing a .htaccess file that overrides these options.
# Note that files in pub are *not* protected by TWiki Access Controls,
# so if you want to control access to files attached to topics you need to
# block access to the specific directories same way as the ApacheConfigGenerator
# blocks access to the pub directory of the Trash web
<Directory "/var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/httpdocs/pub">
    Options None
    AllowOverride None
    Order Allow,Deny
    Allow from all
    Deny from env=blockAccess

    # Disable execusion of PHP scripts
    php_admin_flag engine off

    # This line will redefine the mime type for the most common types of scripts
    AddType text/plain .shtml .php .php3 .phtml .phtm .pl .py .cgi

#add an Expires header that is sufficiently in the future that the browser does not even ask if its uptodate
# reducing the load on the server significantly
#IF you can, you should enable this - it _will_ improve your twiki experience, even if you set it to under one day.
# you may need to enable expires_module in your main apache config
#LoadModule expires_module libexec/httpd/mod_expires.so
#AddModule mod_expires.c
#<ifmodule mod_expires.c>
#  <filesmatch "\.(jpg|gif|png|css|js)$">
#       ExpiresActive on
#       ExpiresDefault "access plus 11 days"
#   </filesmatch>
#</ifmodule>

</Directory>

-- Gordon McKinlay - 2013-05-27

Just some other info, I am on a godaddy VPS. The twiki install is in /var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/httpdocs. The conf file is in /var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/conf

Thanks!

-- Gordon McKinlay - 2013-05-27

Don't install TWiki in a httpdocs enabled directory, you would expose TWiki internal data, e.g. it is a security issue. Install it under a directory in your VPS, such as /var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/twiki. Then, configure apache to recognize /var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/twiki/bin as a script directory, and /var/www/vhosts/pqconservatives.ca/twiki/pub as a httpdocs directory. Use the ApacheConfigGenerator to get the proper configuration.

-- Peter Thoeny - 2013-05-31

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