Installing the server


his chapter tells you how to install the Netscape Enterprise Server and begin configuring it for your needs.

 

The administration server

When you install the Netscape Enterprise Server, the administration server is installed on the same computer. The administration server is a web-based server containing forms you use to configure your Netscape server products, including the Netscape Enterprise Server. With the administration server, you can manage multiple servers from a single interface.

 During the installation of your Netscape Enterprise Server, you select a port for the administration server. Like any other server, the administration server listens to that port and responds to requests sent to it.

For more information on the administration server, see Managing Netscape Servers. For information on accessing your Netscape Enterprise Server through the administration server, see Chapter 3, "Managing your server."

 

Before you begin installation

Before you install the Netscape Enterprise Server, you should do the following: If you need more information on accomplishing these tasks than is included in the following sections, consult your system manager.

 

Make sure DNS is running

When you install the Netscape Enterprise Server, you'll be asked for a hostname or an IP address (or multiple entries of the same) as input strings. As you prepare for installation, make sure DNS is running properly. Otherwise, the server can't resolve (translate) hostnames and can't connect to any remote hosts.

Create an alias for the server


If your server will run on one machine among many in a network, you or your system administrator should set up a DNS CNAME record or an alias (such as www) that points to the actual server machine. Later, you can change the actual hostname or IP address of the server machine without having to change all URLs that point to the server machine.

For example, you might call the server my_server.my_company.com and then use an alias like www.my_company.com. So the URLs to documents on your server would always use the www alias instead of my_server.

 

Create a user account for the server

If you don't know how to create a new user on your system, you should consult your system manual or a Unix administrator's handbook.
You should create a Unix user account for the web server. You probably want the server to have restricted access to your system resources and to run under a nonprivileged system user account.

When the web server starts, it runs with this Unix user account (you'll specify this account during installation). Any child processes of the server are created with this account as the owner. The account needs read permissions for the configuration files and write permissions for the logs directory. For security reasons, the user account shouldn't have write permissions to some of the configuration files, though some, such as the access control files, should be group writable. If the security of the server is compromised, no one can write to the configuration files.

In addition, the user account you create for the server should belong to a group that contains the server users for all Netscape SuiteSpot servers. With a SuiteSpot group, multiple servers can have access to shared files.

 You should create a dedicated account for the web server. You can use the account with the name nobody, but you might not want to give the user nobody SuiteSpot group permissions. In addition, the user nobody might not work on some systems. Some systems assign a user ID of -2 for the user nobody. A user ID of less than 0 generates an error during installation. Check the /etc/passwd file to see if the uid for nobody exists, and make sure it is greater than 0.

Note
It's strongly recommended that you use a dedicated account for the server.

 The administration server can also run with a user account that has write permissions to the configuration files for all installed servers. However, it's much easier to run the administration server as root because then the administration server user can start and stop servers with port numbers less than 1024. (Port numbers greater than 1024 can be started by any user).

 For more information about the administration server, see Managing Netscape Servers.

 

Choose unique port numbers

You need two port numbers: one for the administration server and one for the web server.

 Port numbers for all network-accessible services are maintained in the file
/etc/services. The standard web server port number is 80 and the standard SSL-enabled web server port number is 443, but you can install the server to any port. If you use a port other than the default port (port 80), the URL used to gain access to your home page will change. For example, if your computer is called www.mozilla.com and you choose port 9753, your server's URL will be http://www.mozilla.com:9753/.

 You should choose a random number for the administration server to make it harder for anyone to breach your server. When you configure your server, you use the administration server's port number. For example, for server mozilla.com, the server's URL could be http://www.mozilla.com:2634/.

 Make sure the port you choose isn't in use. Check the file /etc/services on the server machine to make sure you don't assign a port number that is reserved for another service. If you choose a port that is being used by another service, the installation program prompts you for another port.

 

Note
If you choose a server port number lower than 1024, you must be logged in as root to start the server. After the server is bound to the port, the server changes from the root user account to the user account you specify. If you choose a port number greater than 1024, you don't have to be the root user to start the server.

 

Migrating existing server settings

Before you migrate a 2.x server to a 3.0 server you should read the information on upgrading/migrating in Managing Netscape Servers.

 Use the administration server to migrate settings from a previous version of the server. For more information, see "Migrating a server from a previous version" on page 46.

 Copy any documents that you still want to use from your 2.0 document directory to your new 3.0 document directory.

 

Installation instructions

The following sections describe the installation of the Netscape Enterprise Server.

Warning
You must install your version 3.0 servers in a separate server root directory from the server root that contains your 2.x servers.
Before installing the Netscape Enterprise Server, install Netscape Navigator 3.0 (or later) or Netscape Navigator Gold. You need one of these applications installed to configure your server. Both applications are available for downloading from http://home.netscape.com; Navigator Gold is included with Netscape Enterprise Server.

 

Logging in as the correct user

Before you install the server, you must log in as root, unless you meet both these conditions: If you meet these conditions, you should log in with the user account that the administration server will use.

Unpacking the files

To get the Netscape Enterprise Server files and unpack them, follow these steps:
 
  1. Put the Netscape Enterprise Server CD-ROM in the drive and change to the directory on the CD-ROM labeled with the Unix operating system that your computer uses (for example, type cd solaris).

  2. Type cd entprise to change to the installation directory.

  3. Copy the entprise.tar file from the CD-ROM directory to your home directory or another directory. This directory should not be the directory where you plan to install the server. The installation program needs about 100 MB of disk space. Copying the file may take a little time.

  4. Change to the directory where you copied the .tar file.

  5. Unpack the .tar file by typing tar xvof entprise.tar. This command unpacks the server files and creates a temporary directory structure under the current directory. Unpacking the file may take a little time.

  6. Type cd enterprise-30-export-us (for the export version) or enterprise-30-domestic-us (for the U.S. version) to change to the new directory. This directory contains a README text file that has up-to-date information about the Netscape Enterprise Server. You should read this file before continuing.

Running ns-setup

To run ns-setup, follow these steps:
  1. Type ./ns-setup to start the server installation. If you aren't logged in as the root user (superuser), or if you don't have sufficient write permissions, you'll get one or more error messages.

  2. Choose whether you accept the software license agreement by typing yes to accept, or no to decline.

  3. Type a server root directory or accept the default. This is the directory where the server files and directory structure will be installed. The program extracts the server files for the administration server and the Netscape Enterprise Server from the .tar files. This may take a little time.

  4. If you already have a version of the administration server installed, you are asked if you want to configure the server. Type yes to continue. Type no or press Enter to use the existing configuration.

  5. Type the machine name or accept the default.

  6. Type the administration server port number or accept the randomly generated default. Make sure you remember the port number for the administration server.

  7. Type the administration server user. In many cases this user is root.

  8. Type the user name and group that the Netscape Enterprise Server will run as. This user should be different from the administration server user. The user should belong to the group that has access privileges for SuiteSpot servers.

  9. If you have existing installations of Netscape servers that use the previous version of the administration server, enter the path to them here. Or, if you are planning to install a server that uses the older administration server, enter the path to where you are planning to install it. If you change your mind about the pathname, you need to edit the file server_root/admin-serv/config/sr2x to include the new path.

  10. If you are using an LDAP-based directory server, type yes. If not, type noIf you are answered yes, type the LDAP server URL with the correct SSL information, server name, server port, and distinguished name (DN).

  11. Type the administration server access User name and password. (You will be asked to type your password twice for verification.) If you are using LDAP-based authentication, you must make sure that this user has access permissions to the LDAP server to perform user/group management tasks.

  12. The installation program writes the parameters in the administration server configuration files and starts the administration server. Press any key to continue with the installation.
You are now ready to configure your new server. You will be prompted for the name of your network client. The default is Netscape Navigator. If you want, you can launch the client and begin configuring your Netscape Enterprise Server immediately.
 
Note
Netscape recommends that you configure your server immediately after installation.

Configuring your new Netscape Enterprise Server

To complete the installation, you must configure your server using the administration server's Server Administration page. After the installation program writes the configuration files to the disk, the administration server starts and this page is displayed.
 
If you don't understand a setting, you can use the default value and later change it via the Server Manager forms.
The configuration HTML form collects data used to generate the configuration files magnus.conf and obj.conf. The server uses these files to control how it works. For complete documentation, see the NSAPI Programmer's Guide on the Netscape DevEdge web site at
http://developer.netscape.com/library/documentation/.
The last step of running ns-setup started your network client. If your client isn't running, start it. Type the URL for your server's administration server, using the following format:

 http://system_name:admin_port/

 Here system_name represents the name you entered for your system's full name during installation and admin_port is the administration port you specified (for example, http://server1.mozilla.com:54321/).

 To configure your web server follow these steps:
 

  1. From the Server Administration page, click Create New Netscape Enterprise Server.

  2. Type the server name. The default is the current server name, but you can enter another server name if you want. Users will use this name when they access your server. Include your machine and domain name. If your system administrator has set up a DNS alias for your server, enter the alias here. If not, use the machine's name combined with your domain name as the server's name.

  3. Type the IP address your server should listen to (the bind address). Leave this field blank if you're not planning to have your system answer to different IP addresses.

  4. If you want your system to answer to multiple addresses, you need to configure your system to listen to multiple IP addresses. For more information on having your server answer multiple IP addresses, see "Setting up multiple servers" on page 44.
  5. Type the port number of your server. This number can be any number from 1 to 65535. Keep the following in mind when choosing a port number:
  6. Type the server identification that the administration server will use for your server. The server identification should contain no spaces or slashes.

  7. This identification will also be used as the name for the directory in your server root where configuration files are stored. The following are some examples:

    mozilla-unsecure
    mozilla-secure
    unsecure_test_area

  8. Type the user name you want the server to run as. The server user should only have restricted access to your system resources. You might need to start the server as the root user (superuser), but you probably don't want the server running as root. The server will automatically change its user name after startup to the Unix user you enter here.

  9. You can often use a user named nobody in this situation. On some systems, however, nobody isn't a valid user name. Also, the server user should have group access to certain files used by all Netscape SuiteSpot servers. You might not want to give the user nobody group access to those files. If you do not use nobody, create a new Unix user for the server. If you are unfamiliar with creating Unix users, see your system administrator or your system documentation.
  10. Type the Message Transfer Agent (MTA) host. You must enter a valid MTA host if you want to use the agent email function.

  11. Type the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) host. You must enter a valid NNTP host if you want to use agents with the capability to post to news.

  12. Specify when you want the server to resolve IP addresses to hostnames. When an HTTP client connects to your server, it knows the client's IP address but not its hostname (for example, it doesn't know that the hostname for 198.95.251.30 is www.netscape.com). If your server responds to many requests per day, stopping hostname resolution can reduce the load on your DNS or NIS server.

  13. You have three choices: you can choose to have hostnames resolved always, you can choose to have them resolved only for access control and CGI, or you can choose never to have hostnames resolved. Choose one of these options by clicking the radio button next to it.
  14. Type the server's document root directory. This directory will contain most of your server documents. If the directory you enter doesn't exist, the software will create it.

  15. By creating a document root for all of your documents, you place all of your documents in one location, and the server handles the URLs. Any request for a document is automatically redirected to the document root you enter here. Because full file system pathnames are neither used nor displayed on any client's network navigator, your file system is safe, and users won't be able to get information about the rest of your system.
  16. Click OK.
If the configuration was successful, you will see a page showing your new server's name, the port it listens to, and the primary document directory. From this page, you can configure your server further, register your server for technical support, install another server, or return to the Server Administration page. Clicking on the "Configure your server further" link will take you to the Server Manager, where you can configure your server. For more information about the Server Manager, see "Using the Server Manager" on page 48.

 

What the installation process does

The installation process places all the files under the server root directory that you specified during installation.

 The following files are created under the server root directory:
 

The following directories are created under the server root directory.

Troubleshooting installation

This section describes the most common installation problems and explains how to solve them.

I accidentally denied all access to the Server Manager forms.
Log in to the system as root or with the server's user account. In the admin-serv/config directory, edit the ns-admin.conf file. There's a line for allowed hosts or allowed addresses. Use wildcard patterns, or modify the lines to include your host and address, save the file, and then restart the administration server.

Clients can't locate the server.
First, try using the hostname. If that doesn't work, use the fully qualified name (such as www.domain.com), and make sure the server is listed in DNS. If that doesn't work, use the IP address.

The port is in use.
Most likely, you didn't shut down a server before you migrated the settings. Shut down the old server, then manually start the new one.

The port might also be used by another installed server. Make sure the port you've chosen isn't already being used by another server.

The server is slow and transfers take too long.
If you log accesses through SYSLOG, you might encounter reduced performance. Switch to using the server's error log files instead.

The server machine might need more RAM. Also, other applications running on the computer might be using CPU cycles, degrading server performance.

I've forgotten the administration user name and password.
In the admin-serv/config directory in your server root directory, edit the admpw text file, which contains a line of text similar to the following:

admin:lnOVeixulqkmU

The text before the colon is the administration user name (in this case, admin); the text following the colon is the password, which is encrypted.

Delete everything after the colon and save the file. Shut down the administration server, and restart it. When prompted for the administration password, leave the password field blank. You should be able to access the administration server now. Be sure to create a new password for the administration server. For more information on creating a new password for the administration server, see Managing Netscape Servers.

 


Copyright 1997 Netscape Communications Corporation. All rights reserved.