Groupee’s Ubb.classic™ software
New Trial or Licensed Installation – UNIX Server
ă Groupee, Inc.
2401 Fourth Ave, Ste 500 • Seattle WA 98121
Phone 206.283.5999 • Fax 206.283.6616
Table of Contents
New Trial or Licensed Installation – UNIX Server
Advanced Users Click Here for Quickie Instructions
3. Set Permission on the cgi Directory
7. Upload Variables Folder Contents
10. Open Your UBB.classic Control Panel
13. Configure Primary Settings
q A copy of the UBB.classic™ software zip file downloaded from the Member Area at www.groupee.com.
q Unzipping software such as WinZip®.
q An FTP client such as WS_FTP®, LeapFTP, or CuteFTP®. (Macromedia Dreamweaver®, Microsoft FrontPage®, or Adobe GoLive® SHOULD NOT be used for this purpose).
q A web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer® 5.5+, Netscape® 6.2+, Internet Explorer for Macintosh® 5.2+, Safari® 1.0+ or Opera® 7+.
q From your web host:
o A CGI FAQ (please read it before starting the installation). Read it to find out whether you can have writeable files in your cgi-bin (some hosts do not allow this).
o Your URL. Your URL might look something like http://www.webhost.com/~yourname or http://www.yourname.webhost.com .
o The location of your cgi directory. (It could be called cgi-bin, cgi-local, cgibin, ubbcgi, or something else.) In this document, we’ll always refer to it as “your cgi directory”.
o The path to Perl for the server on which you will install the UBB.classic™ software. For most servers, the path to Perl looks like “/usr/bin/perl” or “/usr/local/bin/perl.” For experts with shell access - type this at the command prompt to find your Perl location: whereis perl
Unzip the UBB.classic™ .zip file and extract the contents into an accessible location on your computer. You will be using the instructions below to move specific directories and files from your PC to your web server---some in ASCII mode and some in binary---it is extremely important to follow the instructions step by step and in order.
Look in the cgi-bin directory of your unzipped UBB.classic™ software files. Locate these files: ultimatebb.cgi, cp.cgi, and ubb_upgrade.cgi. Open each one (use Notepad or some other reader) and make sure that the top line matches the path to Perl on your web server. Do the same for hello.cgi, which is located in the help directory of the zip. If the path doesn’t match, edit the line to match it exactly. None of the other cgi files requires a Perl path. NOTE: If you’re installing the Trial version, you will not have the “ubb_upgrade.cgi” file.
Open your FTP client, connect to your web server, and set it to upload files in ASCII mode. All files will be uploaded in ASCII mode (text mode for Mac users) except for files that end in .jpg or .gif (these are located in the non-cgi directory only). These instructions will note when you need to switch to binary mode. Do not use “auto” mode for this installation.
What is an FTP program?
FTP stands for “File Transfer Protocol.” Some examples of FTP software include: LeapFTP®, CuteFTP, and WS_FTP®. Using these programs, you can securely send files to a location on a remote server. If you’re unfamiliar with FTP, you may wish to ask a webmaster for assistance; he/she probably uses FTP to make changes to your website.
Find your server’s cgi directory (it might be called “cgi-bin”). If you do not see a cgi directory (or your web host has not already set one up for you), create a directory called “cgi-bin” or “ubbcgi” and set its permission to 755. For a pre-existing cgi-bin, do not alter the permission.
If you do not know how to set permissions, refer to the “Additional Installation Tips” documents. If you can’t find an appendix for your particular FTP client, try looking in the help index of the FTP client itself, under “permissions.”
What do “777” and “755” permissions mean?
The 777 setting means that the Owner, Group, and Others have read, write, and execute permission for that particular file. 755 means that the Owner has read, write, and execute permission, but Group and Others only have read and execute access. Setting these permissions correctly is important, because the UBB.classic™ software requires certain access rights on the server before it can function properly.
Upload the hello.cgi file (found in the help folder of the zip) to your cgi directory. (It might be called “cgi-bin” or “ubbcgi”.) Set permission on hello.cgi to 755.
Open hello.cgi
using your browser (type http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/hello.cgi
in the browser address bar). Note that your server may have additional
directories above your cgi directory; you generally do not need to include
those in the path above.
If Perl is properly installed and mapped, the script will display a message
indicating the test was successful. If the script is unsuccessful, upload and
open hello.pl instead. If hello.pl works, but hello.cgi does not, you will
need to ask your host to fix the mapping of Perl on your server. If neither
hello file works, ask your host where CGI scripts can be executed.
Upload all files (including the Modules subfolder) in the cgi-bin folder of the zip file into your cgi directory. Permissions for all of these files and your cgi directory must be set to 755. You do not need to set permissions on the Modules subfolder or its contents.
Upload the Members directory and the files associated with this directory. The Members directory can be placed within your cgi directory. Set permissions for this directory and the file named members_test.cgi to 777. If you can place the Members directory above the web root, please do so. For more information on the web root, see the “Additional Installation Tips” section of the Installation documentation page. Your Members directory does not need to be named Members. You may name it something else as an additional security measure. We recommend calling it Members to assist in troubleshooting, however.
Upload only the contents of the variables folder (not the folder itself) from your zip file into your cgi directory. Set permissions for all of these files to 777.
NOTE for users who cannot have writeable files in their cgi-bin: if your web host will not allow you to have writeable files in your cgi-bin, that means you cannot put the variable files (the files that start with “vars_”) in your cgi-bin as directed above. You will need to create a directory to hold these files outside the cgi-bin, preferably above the web root. You will also need to open the files cp.cgi and ultimatebb.cgi and look for the “note to users who are running UBB.classic in the non-writeable cgi-bin situation”. Edit the appropriate line as directed to match your particular variables path. For example, your new line may look like:
require “/home/rosemary/ubbvars/vars_config.cgi”
Create a directory named ubb for your UBB.classic™ non-CGI files. This directory needs to be outside of your cgi directory; for example, where you keep your HTML files. Set permissions on this directory to 777. Switch your FTP client to binary mode. Upload from the zip’s noncgi directory all directories and subdirectories (except the Templates subdirectory) and their contents into this new directory on your server. Do upload the Avatar subdirectory and its contents as well, preserving the directory structure.
Extra avatars: if you are installing the extra avatar set contained in the avatars.zip file (in the Member Area), unzip it now and upload the contents (still in binary mode) into the avatar subdirectory on your server. You do not need to set permissions on these files.
Switch your FTP client back to ASCII mode and upload the Templates subdirectory and its contents into the ubb directory. Special permissions are not needed. Make sure that you maintain the directory structure when you upload the Templates subdirectory.
Open your browser and type http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/cp.cgi. (Note that if your cgi directory is called something other than “cgi-bin,” you can simply replace that in the URL above.) Bookmark this page….you will be needing this to administer your UBB.classic™ community.
Once you open your control panel URL, you will enter a series of screens that help you set up your paths and URLs. The UBB.classic™ software may have your paths and URLs already filled in. Please check them to ensure they are correct. If you are confused about paths vs URLs, see the “Additional Installation Tips” on the Installation Documentation page.
NOTE for users who cannot have writeable files in their cgi-bin: Edit the basic configuration paths to match your particular variables path (the same information you placed in the edited line in the cp.cgi and ultimatebb.cgi files).
After you have correctly submitted the basic configuration properly, you will be greeted with a confirmation screen. Click the link that says “click here to register your administrator username.”
Fill in all of the data fields and click the submit button. Review your profile and make any changes needed. Once you have finished setting up this profile, close that browser window to return to the control panel. Click the “continue” link. Then click the "login" link.
Enter the username and password for the administrator you just created and click the "Verify Identity" button. Welcome to your new control panel.
Click the “continue installation” button. A script will run automatically. Wait until the script stops and tells you look at the instructions for further steps. Click the “Control Panel Home” link.
You must now review and configure all of the Primary Settings. Click the Primary Settings link. Read, review, and set all of the Primary Settings carefully and in order, top to bottom, on all tabs. On the main tab, we recommend that you click the Accelerator test link and determine whether you can run this efficiency-enhancing tool with your board. If you pass the test, go ahead and check the checkbox to enable the Accelerator. Finally, be sure you click the Email tab and double-check your board email addresses; the software will have “guessed” at an email for you, but you’ll need to tailor it to your specific needs.
Your board is now set up and functional. You can continue to navigate around the control panel, make forum settings changes, customize your Wordlet™ lists, and review the rest of the UBB.classic™ features, or you can visit your board by clicking the link in the upper left corner (your board’s name).
The URL for your new UBB.classic™ community is:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi.
Once you have the UBB.classic™ software installed on your web server, open your browser and type in your .com address (or equivalent—we’re using “example.com” below, just to show you how it would look). At the end of the address, you’ll need to type in cp.cgi. It will look like one of the following (depending on how your directories are set up):
http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/forum/cp.cgi
OR
http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/ubb/cp.cgi
The control panel will appear just like a web page, but with loads of pop-up/dropdown menus you can use to set up your community!
If you are having problems, or receiving any error messages at this point:
Upload ubbclassic_test.cgi (located in the help directory of your zip file), in ASCII mode, to your cgi directory. Set permission on the file to 755. Open ubbclassic_test.cgi in your browser and run all of the tests. If you have questions about this test script, there is more documentation located in the help directory readme file. There are some portions of the tests that can fail without consequences to your installation; if you receive failures and have still have problems with your board, you may wish to get help in our online forums or open a support ticket.
Once you have finished with the ubbclassic_test.cgi file, delete it; leaving it on the server poses a security risk.
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Appendix A |
Quickie Instructions for Advanced Users
1. Check Paths to Perl – make sure the top line matches your server configuration.
2. Upload in ASCII and run hello.cgi (permission 755).
4. Upload in ASCII all cgi-bin files (permission 755) - No permissions needed on the Modules subfolder or its contents.
5. Upload in ASCII Members Directory (permission 777 for directory and members_test.cgi). You can place the Members directory above the web root for extra security.
6. Upload in ASCII Variables Folder Contents (permission 777).
7. Upload in binary non-cgi files (permission 777 for the non-cgi directory) except the Templates subdirectory. (Upload ubbaccel_test.php and ultimatebb.php in ASCII.)
8. Upload in ASCII Templates subdirectory and contents. Set avatars directory permission to 777 (once install is done, you can change it to 755 if you wish).
9. Go to your UBB.classic control panel (http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/cp.cgi) and run through the path and settings screens. You will get a confirmation screen. Click on the link that says “click here….”
10. Set up Admin Profile and return to the control panel. Enter the username and password for the administrator you just created and click the "Verify Identity" button.
11. Configure Primary Settings. Read, review, and set all of the Primary Settings tabs.
Congratulations! Your board is now set up and functional. You can continue to navigate around the control panel, make forum settings changes, customize your Wordlet™ lists, and review the rest of the UBB.classic™ features, or you can visit your board by clicking the link in the upper left corner (your board’s name).
The URL for your new UBB.classic™ community is:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi.