This tutorial will guide you through a new installation of Microsoft Front Page Server Extensions 2002 (version 5.0) on Red Hat Linux 8 running apache 1.3 web server and suexec.

Obtaining install files and preparing for installation

Login to your linux system as root and then visit http://www.rtr.com/fpsupport/download.htm. You will need to download the following two files to your root directory:

http://www.rtr.com/fpsupport/fp2002sr1_download.htm
ftp://ftp.rtr.com/pub/fp_install.sh.gz

NOTE: You will be required to enter some details before downloading the fp50.linux.tar.gz.

Preparing fp_install.sh

Once the files have downloaded, you will first need to unzip the fp_install.sh.gz file. Do this by typing the following command at the prompt:

gunzip fp_install.sh.gz

The file will be uncompressed to a new file called fp_install.sh. This will be executed later to initiate the installation of the Front Page Server Extensions 2002. So we first need to make the file executable. Do this by typing the following command:

chmod 777 fp_install.sh

Creating user account for root web user

We will also need to create a new user for use during the installation. This user will be used for the root web. Create a new user using the following commands at the prompt:

useradd webuser
passwd webuser
Changing password for user webuser.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Ensure that you set a secure password for this user and also ensure that the user id is greater than 100. The group will be created automatically for this user and will also be called webuser.

Installing Front Page Server Extensions using fp_install.sh

Now that you are ready to begin installing Front Page Server Extensions 2002, you can run the fp_install.sh file to commence the installation. Do this by typing the following command at the prompt:

./ fp_install.sh

You will now be presented with a series of questions to help the program install the software to your computer. Default answers are enclosed in square brackets [ ] and the the last character indicates the selection that we recommend you make (of course you may wish to choose others than those specified here).

Are you satisfied with your backup of the system (y/n) [N]? Y

Front Page Server extensions location [/usr/local/frontpage/]: /usr/local/frontpage/

Where is the zcat which can uncompress gx files? /bin/zcat

The files will now be uncompressed to the /usr/local/frontpage/ directory (or the directory you chose). You will next be prompted to read and agree to the software licencse. Read the License by pressing Enter until you reach the end (100%) then enter Y to agree.

Which version of apache will you be using (1.3 or 2.0)? 1.3

You may be asked about installing the mod_frontpage.so module to apache at this point. For this example, we used a fresh installation of apache suexec and chose to install the mod_frontpage.so module into our current apache binary.

Where is the current apache daemon located? /path/to/apache/bin/httpd

Would you like interactive prompting for each webs owner/group (y/n) [Y]? N

Which local character coding does your system support: [1] 1

What should the default language be: [1] 1

Do you want to install a root web (y/n) [Y]? Y

Server config filename: /path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf

Frontpage Administrator's user name: webuser

Unix user name of the owner of this new web: webuser

Unix group of this new web: webuser

Enter user password: xxxxxxxx

Confirm Password: xxxxxxxx

Install new sub/per-user webs now (y/n) [Y]? N

Do you want to install virtual webs (y/n) [Y]? N

We say no to the last two options so we can add them by hand later on in this tutorial using the owsadm.exe command.

Administering Front Page Server Extensions using the owsadm.exe command

Unlike Front Page Server Extensions 2000 (version 4.0), 2002 uses the command line command owsadm.exe to administer the system as opposed to the fpsrvadm.exe command. The main difference here is that owsadm.exe does not provide an interactive menu and can only be run via the command line. This section provides a list of commands that can be performed together with an explanation of what each does. Also note that we only provide examples of a few of the many things that can be achieved using this command, more detailed information on the usage of the owsadm.exe commain can be found by visiting:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/sppt/sharepnt/proddocs/admindoc/owsl01.asp

The owsadm.exe command is located at /usr/local/frontpage/version5.0/bin/owsadm.exe. These example commands assumes that you are currently in this directory. Also note that this path may be different if you have chosen to install the files to a different location (see previous section).

Parameter explanations

[virtual-server-name] - The server name of this virtual server as it appears in your httpd.conf file (e.g. vs.yourdomain.dom)
[unix-user] - The unix owner of the web root. Files will be created as this user within the web when files are published
[unix-group] - The unix group of the web root. Files will be created as this group within the web when files are published
[publish-username] - The username that you use to login via the frontpage client
[publish-password] - The password that you use to login via the frontpage client

Installing Front Page Server Extensions for a virtual server (virtual web)

./owsadm.exe -o install -p 80 
-m [virtual-server-name] 
-xu [unix-user] -xg [unix-group] 
-s "/path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf" 
-u [publish-username] -pw [publish-password]

NOTE: If you are using suexec on a virtual server, you will be unable to login via the client if your User and Group are set in the VirtualHost directive within httpd.conf. You will need to remove this in order to publish using Front Page Extensions.

Uninstalling Front Page Server Extensions for a virtual server (virtual web)

./owsadm.exe -o unistall -p 80 
-m [virtual-server-name] 
-s "/path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf"

Installing a Front Page Server Extensions sub web on a virtual server

./owsadm.exe -o install -p 80 
-m [virtual-server-name] 
-w [sub-web-name] 
-xu [unix-user] 
-xg [unix-group] 
-s "/path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf" 
-u [publish-username] 
-pw [publish-password]

NOTE: Sub webs cannot be removed using the uninstall option. You should use merge or delete (see below).

Merging a Front Page Server extensions installation for a sub web with its parent web

./owsadm.exe -o merge 
-m [virtual-server-name] 
-w [sub-web-name]

NOTE: The merge will only work if you created the sub web using the same unix username and group as its parent.

Deleting Front Page Server Extensions for a virtual server

./owsadm.exe -o delete -p 80 
-m [virtual-server-name] 
-s "/path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf"

Deleting a Front Page Server Extensions sub web on a virtual server

./owsadm.exe -o delete -p 80 
-m [virtual-server-name] 
-w [sub-web-name] 
-s "/path/to/apache/conf/httpd.conf"

NOTE: If you choose delete then all files will be removed for that account. Uninstall simply removes the default files and leaves all other files intact so use the delete option with caution.

Enabling authoring on a web

./owsadm.exe -o enable 
-m [virtual-server-name]

NOTE: You can also add the -w [sub-web-name] property to this line to disable authoring on a sub web too.

Disabling authoring on a web

./owsadm.exe -o disable 
-m [virtual-server-name]

NOTE: You can also add the -w [sub-web-name] property to this line to disable authoring on a sub web too.

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