Disclaimer: This is my summary of the Site and User help files. Use it at your peril.
If you don't know what Webppliance 3.1 Linux is, then this guide is probably not for you. And if you don't know what it is after spending 10 seconds on Google, then the worldwide web is probably not for you either. Try taking up quilting.
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Did you know that you can download the help files in zipped format from the Ensim web site? All you need to know is the URL (which is very hard to find from the Ensim home page). Here it is: http://www.ensim.com/support/maindocumentation.html. The files you need are lwp31_userhelp.zip and lwp31_sitehelp.zip. Download the file downloadhelp..txt as well.
Did you know that the help files use weird nonstandard user interface convensions? You probably did, which is why I'll explain some of the Ensim webmaster's eccentricities. Please don't ask me to explain why the webmaster chose to use an overkill amount of images - perhaps the Ensim webmaster assumes that users (you) will always be sitting right next to the server and never access the Webppliance remotely.
Basically if you log in as the Site Admin, you control the domain and the web site. If you log in as a User Admin, you control a specific user's e-mail account settings. The Site Admin must create user accounts. The User Admin then configures things like aliases and mail forwarding.
For most of the advanced features such as MySQL, setting up password protected directories, setting up SSL, etc you'll need to log in as the Site Admin.
Different usernames are used for different areas of the Admin panel. You will find a list in the help files, but I think it's best that you write them down somewhere. When logging in as the User Admin, you may sometimes only need to use your username (and not your full e-mail address) as the login name. The minimum length of a password is 1 character, by the way.
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Click User (left), then click User Information (right). The Disk Quota tells how much space is allocated to your account, and not how much space you have left. If you want to change any details (usually only your name and password can be changed), click Edit and perform the changes.
Remember to click Save to save your settings. If you don't click Save, your changed settings will not be saved. Yes, I know this is obvious to anyone who understands to inner workings of HTTP1x, so let's reflect for a moment or two on those poor souls who might not have known this.
Aliases are e-mail names whose mail is automatically forwarded to a certain mailbox. Click E-mail (left), then click Aliases (right). To add an alias, click Add an Alias. To remove an alias, click on the recycle bin icon next to it (in the Actions column).
During message forwarding a message which arrives at a certain mailbox is automatically forwarded to another mailbox. The difference between aliases and message forwarding is that the forwarding address can be outside the current domain. Forwarding forwards all messages arriving at a certain mailbox (not all messages coming in from a certain alias). Hence if a mailbox has several aliases, all mail sent to all those aliases will be forwarded.
Click E-mail (left), then click Forward (right). Click Edit. To enable forwarding, type a forwarding e-mail address in the Forward To field. To disable forwarding, simply delete whatever is in the Forward To field and leave it blank.
Autoresponders are e-mail reply messages automatically sent to any incoming mail. Before setting up an autoresponder, first set up an alias to be used with the autoresponder (see previous pericope).
Click E-mail (left), then click Responders (right). To add an autoresponder, click Add a Responder. To edit the details of an autoresponder, click the pencil icon next to it (in the Actions column). To remove an autoresponder, click on the recycle bin icon next to it (in the Actions column).
These are also called out-of-office messages. The difference between a vacation message and an autoresponder is that the former cannot be deleted (but it can be turned on or off), whereas the latter does not have the on-off feature (but you can create a multitude of them). Those are the only real differences. Vacation is the American word for holidays.
Click E-mail (left), then click Vacation Message (right). Click Edit. To switch the feature one, tick Enable Vacation Message. To switch it off, untick it.
You can read your mail online using SquirrelMail, which is a pre-installed webbased IMAP mail client and which can be accessed at http://yourdomain/squirrelmail/src/login.php. You don't have to be logged in as the User Admin to read your mail.
However, if you happen to be logged in as the User Admin, you can also read your mail via the control panel. Simply click Read E-mail (left) and SquirrelMail will open in a new window (or if your browser does not permit this, click SquirrelMail Interface (right)).
You can automatically back up your home directory and e-mail messages, but you cannot back up your e-mail settings. That's what that little black book next to your keyboard/mouse is for.
Remember that when you restore a backup, the backup replaces all current files. This means that all mail that arrived after the backup was done, will be *lost* when you perform the restore. Your mails are stored in var/spool/mail (just in case you decide to do a manual backup)
To backup: Click Backup/Restore (left), then click Backup (right). Click Backup. To restore: Backup/Restore (left), then click Restore (right). Type in the backup file's path in the Select Backup File field.
It may be a good idea to start by creating a user account for yourself. You can only manage your e-mail settings and home directory files if you are logged in as the User Admin.
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If your domain is still very young (a couple of hours) and you want to test your web site and CGI scripts before the domainname has had time to propagate, you can use the preview URLs http://yourhost/~admin12345 and http://yourhost/~admin12345/yourscriptalias (replace the 12345 with the number given to you by your webhost).
To check your scriptalias: Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click Configuration and make a note of the ScriptAlias.
Click Site Summary (left), then click Change Administrator (right). Here you can change your Site Admin password and your contact e-mail address.
Click Site Summary (left), then click Configuration (right).
A note on interpreting the Bandwidth Monitor: Used = how much bandwidth you've used so far this month; Threshold = the maximum allowed bandwidth usage per month; Cycle Start = on which day the "month" begins.
The following services may or may not be available on your account:
Analog web/FTP log analyser, Apache web server, BIND domain name server, Majordomo mailing list server, Microsoft FrontPage 2002 server extensions, Miva Merchant (for e-commerce), Perl (mod_perl for Apache), MySQL database (via phpMyAdmin), Open SSH secure shell, Open SSL secure web, PHP hypertext preprocessor for Apache, phpMyAdmin webbased MySQL administration, POP3 and IMAP server, proFTPd FTP server, Python, Sendmail SMTP server, SquirrelMail webbased e-mail, Telnet, and Vacation autoresponder
To check if these services are running, click Services (left), then click View Services (right). A blue screen icon in the Status column means the service is available and running, a black screen icon means that the service is not currently running, and the absence of an icon means that the service is not available on this account.
To use SSL you need to generate a certificate, then send it off to someone like VeriSign for verification, then install the verification when it arrives, and then ask your webhost to restart the server.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click SSL Settings, then click Generate, and fill in the form. Don't abbreviate anything. The "Common Name" is your domain name. Click Save to generate the encrypted certificate application. Copy this information to a text editor and save it somewhere safe.
Visit the certificate authority (CA) web site, such as VeriSign, and fill in their application form, providing them with the encrypted text generated in the previous step. They will send you an SSL certificate, usually via e-mail.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click SSL Settings, then click Import, and paste the verification into the Certificate text box.
Now ask your webhost to restart the server. Good luck!
Ensim's directory protection works with users who belong to groups. Therefore, you first need to set up a group, then create users with passwords, and then add those users to that group. Users can belong to more than one group. You may also have just one user in a group. You cannot protect files - only directories (but you can put a single file in a directory).
Therefore, start by organising your users into groups (on paper). You'll also need a descriptive nickname (called the Authorization Name) for the protected directory.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click Manage Groups. Type in your new group name and click Add. NOTE: You cannot change which users should belong to a group by editing at group level. You need to edit the individual users.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click Manage Users. Type in the details for you new user, select which groups it should belong to, and click Add/Edit. NOTE: If you type in a username which already exists, the new information will simply overwrite the old information - no warnings.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click Protect Directories and then click the yellow lock icon (in the Actions column) next to directory you want to protect. Fill in the form and click Protect (this form contains the group names, BTW). You can apparently select multiple directories using Ctrl-click.
To remove protection, click the red crossed out yellow lock icon instead of the yellow lock icon. If a protected directory is linked to several groups, and you want to remove one group, apparently you need to unprotect the entire directory and then reprotect it, linking the remainder of the groups to it. Dunno for sure, though.
You can also set up protected directories with FrontPage Extensions. Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click Protect Directories and then click Microsoft FrontPage Extension Permission Management to access the interface. From there you're on your own.
These "users" should not be confused with the "users" created in the section for directory protection. The protected directory users cannot log in as the User Admin. When creating many users, it may be wise to first set up the defaults (i.e. create a user template).
Click Mailboxes/Users (left), then click Set User Defaults (right). Fill in the details, and click Add. To allow unlimited webspace, type 0 (zero).
Click Mailboxes/Users (left), then click Add User (right). Fill in the form, and click Add. Again, use 0 (zero) for unlimited.
Click Mailboxes/Users (left), then click User List. Click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to the user to edit his information.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Miva Merchant.
For some odd reason, Site Admins can only create and setup a so-called default database. The default database is one in which the site bla.bla.com's database name is bla_bla_com.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to MySQL Database Server. You can also change your password here.
Through the Sendmail SMTP Server you can manage aliases, autoresponders and set spam filters.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Sendmail SMTP Server. Basically, to add an alias, click Add an Alias. To edit the alias, click the pencil icon next to it (in the Actions column), and to remove it, click on the recycle bin icon next to it. Instead of Add an Alias, the same goes for Add a Responder and for Add a Spam Filter.
Through the Majordomo Mailing List Server you can manage mailing lists (create and removes lists, add and remove users).
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Majordomo Mailing List Server. Click on View to view the current setup, or click on Create to create a new mailing list. Deleting a mailing list works with that recycle bin icon thingy.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Majordomo Mailing List Server. Click View, and then click on the appropriate icon (in the Actions column) next to the relevant mailing list. The icon looks like three white boxes on the left, a traffic light layout on the right, and little black lines connecting the left and right pictures. Type in the e-mail addresses, seperated by commas and no spaces, and click Subscribe. Once you've added users, you can remove them on this same screen using the recycle bin icon next to their names.
You can send commands via e-mail to majordomo@yourdomain. Send only the command at the top of the message. The following standard commands are used: help, info yourmailinglist, lists, which joe@soap.com, who yourmailinglist, subcribe yourmailinglist joe@soap.com, and unsubcribe yourmailinglist.
You can manage files via the control panel as if you were working on your computer (albeit a bit slower). Ensim also creates symbolic links to files (much like shortcuts). The icons for symlinks are grey. When a file is removed but the symlink remains, the symlink icon has a red lightning bolt across it. Deleting a file does not affect the symlink, and deleting a symlink does not affect the file.
Click Files (left), then you're in the File Manager. Play around, have fun. To copy or move, you have to select a file and select Add File(s) to Clipboard, and then perform some action at the destination involving tickboxes.
You can only upload content using FTP or FrontPage. There's no upload button in the File Manager (sad, hey).
Backing up and restoring works similar to that of the User Admin. Again, you can't backup user information, but the helpfiles say you can backup User Admin data (whatever that means).
Click Site Reports (left), then click one of the options there (right). Good luck!
The help file dealing with CGI scripts is hidden away as a subpage of "Welcome to WEBppliance". To use CGI you need to know what your scriptalias is, you need to upload the script, you need to set the permissions, and then test it.
Click Services (left), then click the pencil icon (in the Actions column) next to Apache Web Server. Click Configuration and see the ScriptAlias.
Use FTP to upload the file to /var/www/scriptalias.
Use the File Manager for this. Click Files (left), and then drill down to the relevant directory. Click the icon that looks like a blue page next to the relevant file or directory, and set the permissions.
The script's URL is http://yourname/scriptalias/yourscript.
If your script uses user environment variables, you may add these ones provided by Ensim:
SITE_ROOT = the root path of the domain
SITE_CGIROOT = the toplevel CGI path of the domain
SITE_HTMLROOT = the toplevel HTML CGI path of the domain
If the script is a mail script, make sure the From field is correctly filled in otherwise returning mail will be send to the server instead of the mailbox.
Update log: for some reason Geocities trashed the account and removed the web site. Here I am uploading it again.
Compiler: Samuel Murray-Smit, irritated Webppliance user, at ordinateur{at}websurfer{dot}co{dot}za.
Created: 2003-03-30
Updated: 2003-07-19
URL: http://www.oocities.org/webppliance_faq/index.html