[mapserver-users] access problems from cgi-bin on Mac OS X 10.4.11 / MAMP

[William Kyngesburye]

On Jul 10, 2009, at 11:28 AM, rmaurer wrote:

> So I'm a first time MapServer user and have been trying to navigate  
> the installation process. I think I almost have it, but I am having  
> some last problems.

Just a check: are you using my installer, or compiling from source?   
What OSX version?

If you are using my installer, and are on OSX 10.4, Mapserver is built  
for Apache 1.3, as found in the system, and it probably won't work  
correctly, if at all with an added-on Apache 2.

If you are on OSX 10.5, why not just use the system Apache 2?

> When I access my executable mapserv file from the command line, I  
> get this:
>
> This script can only be used to decode form results and should be  
> initiated as a CGI process via a httpd server.
>
> All sounds good, right? Well, I am using MAMP to host an Apache2.0  
> server. The httpd.conf file has the following in it:
> Alias /cgi-bin/ "[rootfile]/cgi-bin/"
>
> Directory "[rootfile]/cgi-bin/\>
> AllowOverride None
> Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks Indexes
> Order allow,deny
> Allow from all
> /Directory\>
>
Are the starting '<' really missing, or did Mail strip them out?  I  
also see closing quotes missing and extra \ chars.  Should be:

<Directory "[rootfile]/cgi-bin/">
AllowOverride None
Options ExecCGI FollowSymLinks Indexes
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

> AddHandler cgi-script .cgi .py
>
> I know that first line should probably be ScriptAlias, but I kept  
> getting a "Permission Denied" message and read in a forum that this  
> was a solution somebody had come up with, and indeed it worked for  
> me as well.
>
> Anyways, the problem is that in this cgi-bin I have my mapserv  
> executable (though one of the things I'm thinking is that maybe I  
> need to add something else to AddHandler to make it think that this  
> file is executable?).

That addhandler is to run scripts as CGI.  Mapserv is a binary, so all  
it should need is ExecCGI.


> But when I got to //localhost/cgi-bin/mapserv it tries to download  
> the file as "Untyped Binary Data" and it doesn't execute anthing.
>
I'm not sure, but you may need to load the mod_cgi module in your  
httpd.conf.  Though it may only apply to script CGIs also.

> In case its of any help the ls -l for my cgi-bin gives the following  
> information: -rwxr-xr-x 1 Rebecca Rebecca 51244 Jul 9 07:52 mapserv
>
> Do I not have this installed correctly? Or is my server just not  
> realizing that this is executable. I would be thrilled if I could  
> just get to the point where //localhost/cgi-bin/mapserv just brought  
> up a "No query information to decode" message, since I think I can  
> handle it from there.
>
And, make sure to restart Apache after changing httpd.conf ;)

Oh, and make sure that the system Apache is not running (System  
Preferences->Sharing->Web Sharing), as it will be using the same port  
and your MAMP Apache won't even start.

-----
William Kyngesburye <kyngchaos*at*kyngchaos*dot*com>
http://www.kyngchaos.com/

Earth: "Mostly harmless"

- revised entry in the HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy