Adding Support for Dynamic Web Content

This document explains how to add support for dynamic web pages, including:

• ASP (Windows-based accounts)
• ASP.NET (Windows-based accounts)
• SSI (Server Side Includes)

CGI Scripts

To add CGI support, it will suffice to create a CGI alias or, in other words, to specify a CGI file extension and a CGI handler for it, for instance Perl. For example, you can specify that all *.cgi files must be treated as executable Perl scripts.

To add a CGI alias, do the following:

1. Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu.
2. Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field.
3. On the Web Service page that shows, scroll down to find the CGI-dir option and turn it on. Now all files in the cgi-bin directory will be treated as CGI executables. This is the directory to place all your cgi scripts.
4. On the Web Service page, scroll down to find the CGI option and click the Add icon on its right.
5. Enter an extension beginning with a dot and select the handler from the list:

   

PHP

You can add support to your own PHP scripts. Currently, we support PHP versions 4.x and 5.x.

To add PHP support, do the following:

1. Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu.
2. Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field.
3. On the Web Service page, scroll down to find the PHP option and turn it on.
4. ( in 3.0 for Windows-based accounts and in 3.1 for Unis-based accounts) If you wish to have the different PHP version than the default one set by the administrator. Choose the PHP version from the drop-down box if you wish to have the different version than the default one set by the administrator:

   

5. Agree with the charges.
6. Skip this step if you are using a Windows-based plan.
   At the top of the Web Service page, click the Apply link for the Server configuration to change. The changes will take effect within 15 minutes.
7. On the Web Service page, click the Add icon that has appeared next to the PHP option.
8. On the page that appears, enter an extension for your PHP pages beginning with a dot, for instance .php4. Select the MIME type from the list.
9. Skip this step if you are using a Windows-based plan.
   At the top of the Web Service page, click the Apply link for the Server configuration to change. The changes will take effect within 15 minutes.

Starting with H-Sphere 3.1, you can have more options in choosing different PHP modes for PHP 4 and PHP 5 versions. For this, first disable the PHP option on the Web Service page and then enable the Advanced PHP option below. You can choose between the following modes, if enabled by your administrator:

• libphp - PHP runs as an Apache module. The advantage is that PHP is always in memory use which results in a higher speed capability and lower server load.
• cgi - PHP runs as a CGI script in a separate process which starts with each request and completes its work upon the script execution. This provides a simpler and more secure PHP work, but draws excessive memory usage and higher memory load.
• fastcgi - PHP also runs as a CGI script, but under a single process which does not stop when the script is executed. This allows to minimize server load while running PHP in CGI mode.

ASP

To add support for ASP (Active Server Pages) in a Windows-based account, do the following:

1. Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu.
2. Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field.
3. On the Web Service page, scroll down to find the ASP option and turn it on.
4. Agree with the charges.

ASP.NET

To add support for ASP.NET in a Windows-based account, do the following:

1. Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu.
2. Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field.
3. On the Web Service page, scroll down to find the ASP.NET option and turn it on.
4. (H-Sphere 3.0 and up) Choose the ASP.NET version from the drop-down box.
5. Agree with the charges, if any.

Server Side Includes

You can add your own SSI aliases or, in other words, specify SSI file name extensions. For example, you can specify that all *.ssi files must be treated as server side includes.

To add an SSI alias, do the following:

1. Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu.
2. Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field.
3. On the Web Service page, scroll down to find the SSI option and click the Add icon on its right.
4. Agree with the charges, if any.
5. In the window that appears, enter your SSI file extension beginning with a dot:

   

6. Skip this step if you are using a Windows-based plan.
   At the top of the Web Service page, click the Apply link for the Server configuration to change. The changes will take effect within 15 minutes.