CGI Scripts & Databases

  What is CGI?
CGI, Common Gateway Interface, includes programs that run on the server to enhance the quality and functionality of a web site.
  Do you allow CGI to run on your servers?
We do allow running of cgi scripts on the servers.
  Where can I put my CGI scripts?
CGI scripts are executable from anywhere, or from within the cgi-bin directory in your home directory. If you use Microsoft FrontPage, it is recommended that you put them within your cgi-bin directory so FrontPage will not change your permission settings on these files.
  What is the path to Perl?
/usr/bin/perl
  What is the path to sendmail?
/usr/sbin/sendmail
  What is the full path to my cgi-bin?
/usr/local/yourusername/cgi-bin
Replace yoursite.com with your domain name.
  What is the path to my web space?
/usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/yourdomain.com/httpdocs
Replace yoursite.com with your domain name.
  What version of PHP is installed on your server?
We are using version 4.2.2.
  What version of perl is installed on your server?
We are using perl version 5.006.
  Why doesn't my CGI work?
Make sure when you upload the CGI file DO NOT upload in binary mode, instead use ASCII mode. Uploading in binary will cause the server not to recognize the scripts as executables. Most FTP clients will upload .pl or .cgi files in binary mode by default so you will need to change this. You will need to upload the scripts into your cgi-bin directory for security reasons, however they will execute from anywhere within your account. The last step is to set the file permissions. This is otherwise known as chmoding and can be done from most FTP clients. Make sure you CHMOD your scripts to "755" otherwise you will get errors.
  Can you help me troubleshoot my script?
No. Contact the authors of that software for the documentation/help files.
  Why Does My CGI script give me a Permission Denied Error?
CGI scripts need to be set executable. You need to change the mode, or permissions, of your programs with your FTP program, and make them 755, or rwxr-xr-x. Note: A lot of scripts out there will tell you need to make them 775 or even 777. This is not good! It means anyone on the server can write to your script, and since its executable and executes as you, it could delete all your files!
  I keep getting a 500 Internal Server Error. Why?
There are many different possibilities. If you have a problem, misconfiguration, or syntax error in you script, you will probably be able to find it by checking your error logs which can be found in your your control panel under "Statistics -> Show Error Logs".
Although this is generally caused by a problem within the script, many times it is caused by incorrect file permissions either on the script itself, or another file or directory used by the script.
You should also verify the that the script paths are set correctly. You should verify that the first line of your script is the path to Perl, and that it is correct. It should be set to: /usr/bin/perl. You should also verify that the scripts were uploaded in the correct mode (ASCII or Binary - check the readme for the scripts to see any special instructions. Normally it is ASCII). Another problem could be permissions of the file or directory. Your script permissions should be 755, or rwxr-xr-x.
  What is PHP?
The folks over at PHP.net say it best... "PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language." In other words, PHP is a programming language, similar to HTML, but is parsed by the server, rather than the browser. It is often used with databases to build sites with dynamic content.