Publishing a Website on the UH Web Server That Nam Tran Ton Last updated: 05/2008
Overview These instructions are structured as follows: 1. Overview 2. Requirements before publishing a website 3. Directions to publish a website on the UH web server As a University of Hawai`i student, you have the privilege to publish a personal website under your UH username. Your website can serve for various academic or career purposes, such as an online E portfolio to showcase your projects. Each website has a URL (http://www2.hawaii.edu/ ~UHusername) and twenty megabytes of space. Publishing a personal website on the UH web server is free and easily done. Glossary of terms: Hypertext markup language (HTML) standard viewable internet file with the extension.html, e.g. file.html Uniform resource locator (URL) global address to documents and files over the internet Web server computer designated to deliver file(s) when specified by the URL Secure shell (SSH) program for secured access and commands to remote computers, e.g. web server File transfer protocol (FTP) method to exchange files over the internet Policies: Please review the policies on personal homepages before publishing your website on the UH web server. http://www.hawaii.edu/askus/723 Requirements Before you can publish your website, make sure you have the following requirements: UH username and UH password If you don t have a UH Username, establish a UH Username through the following link: https://sunsys.its.hawaii.edu/acctmgmt/ If you forgot your UH password, learn how to activate a new password through the following link: http://www.hawaii.edu/askus/572#109 Latest SSH program (Secure Shell Program supported by UH ITS) You can only use a UH ITS program that corresponds to your computer platform. You can download and install the program for free through the following link: ftp://ftp.hawaii.edu/pub/dss/ibmpc/ssh329.exe Note: Download and installation may require up to 12 megabytes of disk space Internet connection PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 2/10
Directions The set of directions is structured as follows: 1. Accessing your website s files on the UH web server 2. Adding, updating, and deleting your files for your website 3. Activating your website for public viewing 1. Accessing your website s files on the UH web server In this step, you will be connecting to the UH web server. Upon accessing the web server to create or modify your website, you will be prompted to sign into your account with your UH username and password. A. Secure Shell Application Program: Open the program titled SSH Secure File Transfer Client, and a window split into three frames with a tool bar on the top will appear (Figure 1). The left frame is the Local frame, which displays your computer files. The right frame is the Remote frame, which displays the web server s files under your UH username account. Figure 1 Default program window of the SSH program PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 3/10
Accessing your website s files in the UH web server (cont.) B. Quick Connect Window: In the top toolbar, click on File and click on Quick Connect to open a new window titled Connect to Remote Host (Figure 2). You can also press the keyboard s Enter or Space keys to open the same window. Figure 2 Prompted Connect to Remote Host window C. UH Account Information: The new window titled Connect to Remote Host will have three blank text fields and one drop down box (Figure 2). Input the following information according to the category of each blank text field: Host Name: uhunix.its.hawaii.edu User Name: (Your UH username) Port Number: 2222 Authentication Method: Select Password Figure 3 Example of information inputted into the text fields * *Don t have a UH username? Go to the following link for information on activating a UH username..http://www.hawaii.edu/askus/572#109 PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 4/10
Accessing your website s files in the UH web server (cont.) D. Password Window: Click on Connect after inputting all required information. The program will prompt a new window titled Enter Password (Figure 4). Input your UH password into the space (Figure 5). When entering the password, it will appear as asterisks (***) for confidentiality. Figure 4 Prompted Enter Password window Forgot your UH password? Go to the following link for information to activate a new password. http://www.hawaii.edu/askus/572#109 E. Webserver Files Window: You will be prompted back to the program s original window. You are now connected and have access to the files on the web server, which are displayed in the right frame (Figure 6). If this is your first time publishing a website on the UH web server, the only file in the remote frame is a folder titled public_html. Figure 6 Program window that displays remote access to files on the UH web server PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 5/10
2. Adding, updating, and deleting your files for your website In this step, you will be adding, updating, or deleting files for your website. Files that are within the Public_html folder in remote (right frame) are viewable for the public. Refer below to Figure 7 to see an example of files that were copied from the local (your computer) to the remote (web server) frames. You will notice that in the bottom frame, it displays the history of files transferred between the local and remote locations. A. Viewing Files: In the left frame Local, open up the folder containing the files you want to have on the server. In the right frame Remote, double click on the Public_html folder to open the folder. B. Adding or Updating Files: In the left frame, select and drag the file(s) from the left frame to the right frame. This action copies the files from your computer to the webserver. You can also select the file(s) in the left frame and click on Add in the toolbar above. File exchange between the computer (Local) and the webserver (Remote) is two way; therefore, you can also upload and download files from the webserver (Remote) and vice versa. C. Deleting Files: In the right frame, select the file(s) and press on the Delete key. Figure 7 Example of files that were added to the web server the remote location The index.htm is the first page (homepage) the website will load. Ensure that the organization of your files in the Remote is the same as those in the Local, because your links between your webpages may be disrupted if the files of these webpages are out of place. PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 6/10
Adding, updating, and deleting your files for your website (cont.) Most websites (html. files) are based on HTML codes. Designing a website using only HTML codes can be difficult; however, HTML editor programs can translate your website design into functional websites without your knowing about HTML codes. Below is a list of free or purchasable HTML editors available: Link to free HTML editors http://www.buildwebsite4u.com/resources/htmleditors.shtml http://nvudev.com/index.php Purchasable HTML editors Microsoft Frontpage Macromedia Dreamweaver 3. Activating your website for public viewing In this step, you will be activating your newly created website for public viewing. Once you activate the website, you no longer need to activate it unless you manually deactivated the website. A. UH Account Login: Go to this website https://sunsys.its.hawaii.edu/acctmgmt/. Login with your UH username and password Figure 8 Login screen (https://sunsys.its.hawaii.edu/acctmgmt/) PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 7/10
Activating your website for public viewing (cont.) B. UH Account Settings: This page allows UH username holders to change mail and personal home page settings. Look for the table titled Personal Home Page Options and click on the link titled Enable Access to Existing Home Page Files (Figure 9). You also have the option to disable public access to your website. Figure 9 UH username management utility PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 8/10
Activating your website for public viewing (cont.) C. Website Access Congifuration: Select one of the two options that determine the level of public access to your website s files (Figure 10). Click on Enable Web Access in the bottom of the screen after your selection. Figure 10 Selection of public accessibility to the website s files D. Confirmation Window: You have successfully uploaded your website to the UH web server. Figure 11 Message of a successful website set up Test your website! http://www2.hawaii.edu/~uhusername PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 9/10
Activating your website for public viewing (cont.) TROUBLESHOOTING Q: While navigating my website, I noticed that I wasn t able to access certain pages? When I would enter these pages, the following error message would appear: Forbidden. You don t have permission to access /~username/file.html on this server. How do I fix this problem? A: You will need to change the permission settings of that particular file. Follow the following steps to correct the problem. 1. Open the SSH application and access your website s files. Figure 11 File properties window 2. Select the file(s) that you were unable to access on the internet. (If you want to make sure that all your files are accessible, select all of your website s files) 3. Right click on the selection and a small menu will prompt. Click on the Properties option. 4. Input the number 755 in the Permission mode box. Click OK after you typed the number in. 5. Test your website! 6. If you still encounter the same problem, contact UH Mānoa s ITS department. PUBLISHING A WEBSITE ON THE UH WEB SERVER 10/10