AnyBoard Installation Guide

Note: Don't be confused by the
http://site/cgi-bin/AnyBoard.cgi/dir1/dir2/?cmd=log URL syntax you will see. Here, /dir1/dir2/ is merely another parameter passed to the AnyBoard.cgi script, it is NOT a directory under /cgi-bin/AnyBoard.cgi.

System requirements

AnyBoard can be installed on most web servers, including UNIX and Windows NT. The basic requirements for AnyBoard are

• CGI access. Your server must allow you to install your own CGI scripts. Normally, the CGI scripts are installed under a directory named cgi-bin/, cgi-local/, cgibin/, scripts/, etc. Consult your ISP on this.
• PERL 5.004 and up. PERL Version 4 won't work. Some systems have both PERL 5 and PERL 4 installed, you need to find out the path to PERL 5. If you have telnet access to your server, the command "perl -v" will show the perl version.

Your ISP should have a FAQ page answer questions such as CGI access and perl scripts. Always consult your ISP if not sure. Look at the questions at the installation request page for information you need for an install. You should also try the AnyBoard online installer at http://anyboard.net/cgi-bin/abinstall.cgi first.

Download AnyBoard Free Version (links directly to AnyBoard.zip file), unzips it, you will find a script file named AnyBoard.cgi, which is the AnyBoard program.

Installation procedures

1 Modify the PERL path as needed, optionally, set SMTP server name (Trivial)

The first line of AnyBoard.cgi script reads

#!/usr/bin/perl

/usr/bin/perl is the default location of perl on UNIX. If perl is installed at a different location, modify this to match it. For instance, some ISPs install perl at /usr/local/bin/perl5, then this line should be changed to

#!/usr/local/bin/perl5

On a Windows systems, this line has no effect and should be left unmodified. Windows programs use file extensions to indicate its type. For instance, if you are using ActivePerl (http://www.activatestate.com), then the default extension for a perl cgi script is .plx, so you should rename the AnyBoard.cgi to AnyBoard.plx.

Optional

If you want to use email validation and email notification features, set the correct $smtp_server variable. SMTP server is the one through which email is SENT. If your web server is www.yourname.com, the SMTP server is usually yourname.com. Your dial-up ISP also has SMTP server running, however, usually you can NOT use it from AnyBoard, because AnyBoard sends email from your web server machine, but your ISP's SMTP server only accepts email sent from your PC via dial-up connection. If you configured a SMTP server and seeing Relaying error when AnyBoard tries to send email, it means the SMTP server does not accept the email. Always ask your ISP for help in situations like this.

2 Upload and setup master configuration directory (Trivial)

The AnyBoard.zip distribution file includes a directory named abmasterd/, this directory contains sample forum configuration files, such as the one used by AnyBoard support forum. You must upload this directory to your web server, and then set the $abmain::master_cfg_dir variable in the AnyBoard.cgi script to point to the absolute path of abmasterd. You must make sure that abmasterd/ is writable by the CGI program.

At shell or FTP prompt, this step can be achieved by

% chmod 777 abmasterd
% cd abmasterd
% pwd

Edit AnyBoard.cgi by setting $abmain::master_cfg_dir to the output from the pwd
command. If you have FTP only access, the output from pwd may not the be real absolute path, in this case, you should ask your ISP about the full path to abmsterd/.

3 Copy AnyBoard.cgi to your cgi-bin, perform script configuration (Pay attention now)

After uploading the modified AnyBoard.cgi to your cgi-bin/, on Unix systems, you need to make the script executable by changing its permissions:

At shell or FTP prompt
%chmod 755 AnyBoard.cgi

After these steps, the script is installed and ready to run, we should now perform a diagnosis of the installation via the URL
http://your-domain/your-cgi-dir/AnyBoard.cgi/?cmd=sinfo&all=1
(Note the / after the AnyBoard.cgi script name.)

For instance, the sinfo command for AnyBoard.net is http://AnyBoard.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi/?cmd=sinfo&all=1

This should bring up a page with information on the web server and the script installation, it looks like this

Pay attention to the comments area, in particular, the CGI user and Master CFG entries. If the script can not find the master config directory or the directory is not writable, then installation can not continue. You must fix the abmasterd/ first.

Next and more importantly, check if the PATHINFO is correct and if PATH matches your site's top www directory, if they do match, then you are all set. If not, then you need to follow these additional instructions.

When you use the URL http://your-site/your-cgi-dir/anyboard.cgi/?cmd=sinfo&all=1 to check the script, the PATHINFO used is "/". If the PATHINFO displayed is not "/", for instance, if it contains the anyboard script name, then the server provided a bogus PATHINFO. In some cases, a URL with a / after the script name can even confuse a non-standard server and cause a server error. In these cases, you must set the $abmain::no_pathinfo variable in the script to 1, and explicitly set the $abmain::fix_top_dir and $abmain::fix_top_url variables. The $abmain::fix_top_url is the top URL of your web site, and $abmain::fix_top_dir is the physical path of the web directory. For example, the $abmain::fix_top_dir for http://anyboard.net/ is /home/anyboard/www/. You may also set the $abmain::fix_cgi_url to the full url of the anyboard script, e.g., http://anyboard.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi. The following table lists the required and optional configurations for AnyBoard to work.

Conifguration	What it is	Required?	Examples
$master_cfg_dir	Where site configuration information is stored.	Yes!	UNIX: $master_cfg_dir="/home/anyboard/abmasterd"; Windows: $master_cfg_dir="D:/inetpub/abmasterd";
$no_pathinfo	Can we use PATHINFO?	No for standard servers. Yes for IIS and other non-standard ones.	$no_pathinfo = 1;
$fix_top_url	Top URL of the site.	Yes if $no_pathinfo is set to 1.	$fix_top_url="http://anyboard.net/";
$fix_top_dir	Directory for the top url above.	Yes if $fix_top_url is set.	UNIX: $fix_top_dir = "/home/anyboard/www"; Windows: $fix_top_dir="D:/inetpub/www/";
$fix_cgi_url	Full url of the AnyBoard CGI script.	Optional	$fix_cgi_url= "http://anyboard.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi"; $fix_cgi_url= "http://251.222.123.234/cgi-bin/anyboard.pl";

As you can see, for standard web servers, the ONLY parameter you need to enter into the script is the $abmain::master_cfg_dir: AnyBoard can automatically determine the other values. For non-standard servers, you have to set the other 3 parameters, either by editing the script or use the reconfigure function on the master admin panel. Of course, if you like, you can set the 3 parameters for standard servers.

If you can not get the sinfo command working at all, consult your ISP's FAQ pages for answers on how to install perl cgi scripts, do not send the questions to Netbula.

4 Create new forum via the WEB

The following command is conveniently listed on the master admin panel.

1. Use browser to access the following URL, make sure you turned on cookies
   
   http://yoursite/your-cgi-dir/bnyboard.cgi?cmd=init
   
   (For instance, http://AnyBoard.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi?cmd=init )
   
   When you access this URL the first time, AnyBoard will ask you to create the master administrator by entering a name and a password. Master administrator is the one who can create forums via the web. Be sure to record the master admin name and password.
   
   
2. After you created master admin, you will be prompted to login as master admin. Enter the admin login and password you just created, the master admin page shows up. Click on the link for create new forums, which brings up the forum creation form. (The form below has information filled)

   
   

3. Enter master admin username/password, which you set in step a)
   
   
4. Enter virtual path to forum directory to be created, this directory must be non-existant. Virtual path is the path after the domain name.

   For example, for http://AnyBoard.net/forums/AnyBoard1/, the virtual path is /forums/AnyBoard1/;
   for http://yourdomain/~user/forum/ the virtual path is /~user/forum/

5. Choose forum administrator name and Submit the form.
   The new forum will be created and admin login window will show up. With the example in the figure above, the newly created forum is at http://AnyBoard.net/forums/AnyBoard1/

If the forum creation failed, you should read the error messages carefully and go back to check your configurations. You can either edit the script to change the parameters or use the reconfigure function available on the master admin page.

AnyBoard now automatically brings you to the admin panel, and you can start configuring the forum.

We have setup a site for you to test create your AnyBoard

Manual creation of new forum

If the WEB creation method failed, there are several possible reasons, most probably due to invalid permissions, you should try to resolve the problem. In any case, you can still create forum directories manually.

a) Make a directory under your www/ directory to host the forum, for instance, AnyBoardhome

b) Go to AnyBoardhome/, and make the following sub directories (case sensitive):
posts, postdata, archive, polls, chat, .fYz

c) Under AnyBoardhome/, create a file named .forum_cfg (note the dot), this is the forum configuration file, you can leave it empty. On Windows, you can't create such a file from Windows Explorer, but you can create an empty file, and then at the command prompt, use the "move" command to rename this file to .forum_cfg .

d) Make sure the directories and the .forum_cfg file is writeable by the CGI.

At shell or FTP prompt, steps a) to d) can be achieved by the following command
sequence

% cd www/ (your web docs directory)
% mkdir AnyBoardhome (replace AnyBoardhome with any path you want)
% chmod 777 AnyBoardhome
% cd AnyBoardhome
% mkdir archive posts postdata polls chat .fYz
% touch .forum_cfg (for FTP upload the .forum_cfg file)
% chmod 777 archive
% chmod 777 posts
% chmod 777 postdata
% chmod 777 polls
% chmod 777 chat
% chmod 777 .fYz
% chmod 666 .forum_cfg

(You may not need 777 permission if setuid CGI is used)

Now the forum is actually created, but you are missing its index page.
To generate the html page,

1. Login the forum admin panel, via the URL
   http://yoursite/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi/AnyBoardhome/?cmd=log

   The default administrator name is admin, and there is no password.

2. Run the command "Regenerate main forum" from the admin panel. The main index.html page will be generated.

5 Congratulations

If you do the above, you have a forum running, you should start configuring the forum, such as changing admin login and password. AnyBoard has over 300 confiiguration parameters, see the AnyBoard manual for details.

6 Additional help needed?

If you can get the step 3) working and can't go beyond that, please submit an installation request, and we will have a look. If your system rquires special treatment, we may install AnyBoard on your site for free (you need to provide login/password to your site), otherwise, you may order the installation service from us.