From: Campus CGI E-list [campuscgi@PRINCETON.EDU] Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 10:23 AM To: campuscgi@PRINCETON.EDU Subject: CampusCGI Facility Upgrade March 18, 2004 and Testing Your CGI Dear CampusCGI Developer: This message is being sent to you as the owner of an OIT account used for developing Web-based (CGI) programs that run on the CampusCGI Facility. If you manage this e-mail account but do not develop or maintain programs running on the CampusCGI Facility, please forward this message to the person(s) responsible for developing and/or managing Web-based software using this account. OIT is preparing to replace the existing CampusCGI server with a new, more powerful server. The new server is a SUN E450 with two 480 MHz CPUs and 4 GB of RAM running Solaris 9. In addition, the CampusCGI facility will be upgraded to provide new and improved features. These include the following: - new, improved documentation (see http://new-campuscgi.princeton.edu) - an updated Apache Web Server - updated Oracle database drivers (used via Perl DBI, etc.) - desktop access to /usr/campuscgi user directories through SAMBA - SSL connections to your CGI via https (a secure server id will be installed on the server) - basic authentication against Princeton University's LDAP directory (using .htaccess directive "require valid-user" documented at http://helpdesk.princeton.edu/kb/display.plx?id=8707) - access to the Princeton Software Repository, an OIT-managed file system containing up-to-date versions of software that you can utilize in your CGI (e.g., Perl) OIT plans to complete the CampusCGI Facility server upgrade on Thursday, March 18, 2004. OIT requests your assistance to test your CGI programs to confirm they are compatible with the new server. In order to facilitate testing of your CGI programs in the new environment, you can access the new server using the hostname, new-campuscgi.princeton.edu. It will be available for testing your existing CGI programs from now through Wednesday March 17, 2004 (see TESTING instructions below). Please note, there is one scheduled outage planned for new-campuscgi on the morning on Friday, March 12, 2004 to upgrade the operating system to Solaris 9. Until the final upgrade, the existing CampusCGI facility (http://campuscgi.princeton.edu) will run in parallel to the new test facility (http://new-campuscgi.princeton.edu). On Thursday, March 18, 2004, the hostname, campuscgi.princeton.edu, will be assigned to new-campuscgi.princeton.edu to complete the upgrade. TESTING ------- It is important that you test your CGI to confirm that it will run in the new environment on the new server once the upgrade is completed. To make your testing as easy as possible, the new server has access to your /usr/campuscgi user directory and all of your existing CGI programs. When testing, URLs to your CGI are specified in the same way as when opened on the existing CampusCGI facility with one difference. The temporary name for the new server is new-campuscgi.princeton.edu. Below is an example showing how to specify URLs to CGI on campuscgi and new-campuscgi. The example uses a CGI program within the sample CampusCGI user account, "cgilab". In a similar fashion, it is recommended that you run a known CGI program you believe functions from your account on the current CampusCGI Facility, campuscgi.princeton.edu. The URL below demonstrates this. It contains a reference to a CGI program named "tstenv". Opening the URL from a browser runs a test to confirm the CGI runs successfully on CampusCGI. http://campuscgi.princeton.edu/~cgilab/tstenv If the CGI program runs successfully on CampusCGI by returning the expected output, then it is time to test the same CGI script on the corresponding "test" version of CampusCGI (new-campuscgi.princeton.edu). Open the URL as follows: http://new-campuscgi.princeton.edu/~cgilab/tstenv Note the similarity between the first and second URL. The only difference to run the same CGI program on each machine is the specification of the host name. If your CGI runs successfully on the new server (by returning the expected output), then you have confirmed the CGI is compatible with the new server. Of course, when you test, your account name and choice of CGI programs to test will differ from the example above. If your CGI testing indicates that your scripts do not run properly, it is recommended that you consult the new facility's home page at http://new-campuscgi.princeton.edu. On this page, you will find instructions for using the facility, as well as for testing and debugging your CGI programs. Always remember to use the host name, "new-campuscgi.princeton.edu" in your URLs when testing your CGI on the new test facility. CGI TESTING ISSUES TO BE AWARE OF --------------------------------- 1.) new-campuscgi will be down for scheduled maintenance on Friday morning, March 12, 2004 2.) new-campuscgi will be moving from Solaris 8 to Solaris 9 following the scheduled maintenance listed above 3.) Your CGI programs may be interactive and consist of a number of programs. In order to test form submissions, you may need to modify forms that POST to the new test facility. In addition, you may need to modify links generated by your CGI to reflect the new hostname. In order to conduct adequate testing, "test versions" of your forms should post to new-campuscgi.princeton.edu, rather than campuscgi.princeton.edu. Likewise, links that are generated by your CGI that do not use relative addresses may need to be temporarily modified to point to new-campuscgi.princeton.edu. Hopefully, relative URLs are used in your CGI wherever possible to minimize this sort of problem. FOR MORE INFORMATION -------------------- For more information, please consult the CampusCGI test facility home page at http://new-campuscgi.princeton.edu. All documentation regarding testing and debugging on the test facility can be found from this home page. Please consult this documentation as needed to complete your testing and debugging. If you have read the documentation completely and still cannot resolve a problem with CGI on new-campuscgi.princeton.edu (provided that the same CGI does function properly on campuscgi.princeton.edu), please report this to cgiadmin@princeton.edu. OIT greatly appreciates your cooperation in testing your CGI programs to help make the final transition to the new server as transparent as possible. REMOVING YOURSELF FROM FURTHER CAMPUSCGI E-MAIL NOTIFICATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------- This notification message was sent only to registered CampusCGI developers that have elected to receive CampusCGI notifications by e-mail at the time of registration. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail notifications from the CampusCGI list, you can signoff using an automated service. To signoff, please send the following command in the body of an e-mail to listserv@princeton.edu. SIGNOFF campuscgi