Installation DF™ Site Monitor

1. Preparing to installation.

For installing You should have the distribution kit (sm.zip) and FTP access. Domain name wich will be used for installation should be web accessable.


1.1 Choosing the distribution kit.

It is needed to identify the operating system (OS) of a server the system will be installed on. The distribution kit should match the OS on server. If the distribution kit You have doesn't match the OS please address to DF for the needed distribution kit. At the moment we compile our software for: Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris (CPU x86) and Windows NT.
You may find out the OS from server administraor or identify the OS independently using "Perl Informer" testing script.
For identifying the OS independently You should:

  • download DF Perl Informer from dfservice.com site (http://dfservice.com/perl-informer/en/)
  • upload in text mode perlinfo.cgi in folder "cgi-bin" on the site the system will be installed on, assign permissoin 755 (rwx r-x r-x).
  • call http://site.com/cgi-bin/perlinfo.cgi trough the web
  • The OS should be visible in the row Operation System: [ linux / freebsd / solaris / MSWin32 ]

Distributive files of one and the same version may differ from each other by one of the following parameters: compatibility with different operation systems and the presence or absence of libraries. The programs that do not include libraries (Glibc) require their presence at the server — these libraries are installed at most servers, so there won't be any problems with that. The programs that include libraries (static versions) do not require their presence at the server but may run with errors at some servers.
We recommend you to try installing the versions without libraries first.


1.2 Uploading the distribution kit.

Extract files conained in archive(sm.zip) to local disk and upload them on server in cgi-bin directory, where will be system installed. Files with extension .cgi must be uploaded in binary mode. After upload assign its permition to 755. The smtpl folder must be uploaded in text mode.


1.3 Launching the installation program.

Launch smadmin.cgi (http://your_site.com/cgi-bin/smadmin.cgi). You will see new administration password request form. Set your password and getting started with system set-up.


If launching failed — there can be following reasons:

  • wrong smadmin.cgi file permission. Check it, the permission should be 755 (rwx r-x r-x).
  • the distribution kit is compiled not for your server's OS.
  • the distribution kit is uploaded not in binary mode. Reupload the distribution kit in binary mode.
  • CGI scripts is uploaded in folder where cgi-aplications launching is forbidden. Make sure that other cgi-aplications can be launched in this folder. If other scripts can't be launched- try create .htaccess file (if this file exists then just add following line to it) with "AddHandler cgi-script .cgi" line (without quotes). If it doesnt help address to administrator.
  • absence of Glibc and libraries at the server (Linux — /lib/libc.so.6, /lib/ld-linux.so.2; FreeBSD — /usr/lib/libc.so.4). You can make sure that the libraries are absent at your server with the help of DF Perl Informer, perlinfo.cgi->C++
    Library: N/A. If there's a FreeBSD v5,6,7+ OS installed at the server, there might be a problem with the library version. In this case you should install libc support for the 4th version of FreeBSD or create a symbol link to a library of an older version (FreeBSD 5: 'ln -s /usr/lib/libc.so.5 /usr/lib/libc.so.4'; FreeBSD 6: 'ln -s /usr/lib/libc.so.6 /usr/lib/libc.so.4'; FreeBSD 5,6: 'ln -s /usr/lib/libc.so /usr/lib/libc.so.4') — to do that you must have the status of server administrator (root). If you have troubles installing the libraries, use the static version of the program.

Possible error in the process of launching smadmin.cgi:
your status doesn't allow you to create the cad folder in the folder containing the system's cgi-scripts.

Software error.
For help, please send mail to this site's webmaster [email protected]

If you are webmaster of this site, more information you can see in error log.
Error Action : 3 - Create directory
Error Number : 13 - Permission denied
File/Variable/More : ./smdata
Line : 76
Source : smadmin.cpp
Unit : smadmin.cpp
Is Fatal Error : yes

To be able to solve this problem you should assign the rights 777 (rwx rwx rwx) to the folder containing the cgi-scripts (cgi-bin). If after that the cgi-scripts stop working — cancel the rights (755) and contact the support service team of the hosting to get this problem solved.


2. System set-up.

During the first system launching all settings are as default and it will be asked to confirm them in Setup dialog.
The following system settings must be specified:

  • Enter your email (Admin Email), if it is differ from offered by default.
  • Check up the path to sendmail.
  • Set up GMT time offset of system.

About others settings read internal help (query in the right upper corner).


Apart from this, method of running the checking module has to be selected. The module can be launched in two ways: using server cron or the built-in scheduler. Cron is recommended for better reliability. If your server does not have cron enabled, use the built-in scheduler. To do this, specify the Сheck Start: Sheduler option and press the "Start Sheduler" button. The button should change "Stop Sheduler", which means the scheduler was launched. Read the built-in documentation for more info on using the scheduler.
Information about setting up server cron is given below.


3. Cron settings(crontab).

Cron is a tool to schedule program launch. You can set up cron jobs using the hosting control panel (hqhost.net), the 'crontab' command ("crontab -e"), or by contacting the hosting support service.


For the program to work you need to add this string to cron:
"*/3 * * * * cd full_path_to_cgi-bin ; ./smcrn.cgi check 15"


Where:
full_path_to_cgi-bin is the path to the cgi files folder. You can get this path by using DF Perl Informer script. Run this script from the folder where the system was installed (perlinfo.cgi->Script Path: full_path_to_cgi-bin).
15 is the maximum number of sites checked per single script launch.