Installing at hosting facility...

[Pericles S. Nacionales]

I was just helping someone deal with this very issue...  If your hosting
service is unix-based you're better off compiling MapServer within their
server (if allowed).  You can of course compile MapServer using a similar
platform and upload the binaries to the server.  The potential problem here
is that the libraries you compiled MapServer with might not be the same
version as the libraries installed in the server.  It's a pain to deal with
this.  Ultimately, what you can do is compile MapServer, copy all the
libraries you used and package them together.  Now, you'll probably end up
with duplicate libraries on the server and that will give you other problems.
What you can do is create a wrapper shell script like so:
#!/bin/sh
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/some/path/to/mapserver/libs
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
/cgi-bin/mapserv

Save that script as something like mapserv.cgi in your CGI directory and make
sure it's executable.  Now, when you call MapServer, use mapserv.cgi instead
of mapserv.  If they give you an editable Apache config (or whatever httpd
server they use), you can also just append SetEnv LD_LIBRARY_PATH
"/some/path/to/mapserver/libs" to this config file and forego writing a
wrapper script.

If your hosting service is Windows-based, you still need to copy those
libraries as chances are they don't exist in the server.  You can also follow
the same strategy as with the unix server but instead of specifying
LD_LIBRARY_PATH you'll be editing the PATH (you could screw things royally if
you don't know how to edit this).  And unless your Windows server has a bash
shell installed you'll be using Windows CMD shell.

Also, if you're on Windows, there are a few binaries available for your use.
Check maptools.org and the main MapServer web site.  I'm still providing
binaries for Windows but I actually don't use them as I'm strictly on Linux
these days.  So, if you use mine, I might not be able to provide help.

Sorry to give you such a long reply and probably confusing you in the process.
The short answer is YES, but not insurmountably hard, and NO, if you
anticipate the problems I mentioned above.

There are other ways, of course, and this only applies to the CGI program.
Talk to your hosting service people, they might already have MapServer
installed for you. ;)

Good luck and welcome to the MapServer world!
Perry N.

On Wednesday 22 December 2004 03:12 pm, keith fraley wrote:
> I am new to map server, what a breath of fresh air!!!
>
> Im glad to see this effort moving forward!
>
> I come from an ArcIMS and ArcGIS Server background so
> I have much exposure to web based mapping.  The
> question I have is, am I going to run into problems
> trying to get this system set up at my hosting
> facility (http://www.lunarpages.com)?  Is it something
> that can be compiled elsewhere and then just FTP'd up
> to the hosting site?
> I am totally lost here, thanks in advance!
>
>
>
>
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--
Pericles S. Nacionales

Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
University of Minnesota
work: 612 624 6713
e-mail: nacional at cbs.umn.edu