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Title: Help: Searching the local helpsystem fails

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Help: Searching the local helpsystem fails

Applies to

SuSE Linux: Versions since 4.4

Symptom:

You want to do a keyword search in the local support database using the S.u.S.E. help-system.

You've installed all required packages such as sdb, sdb_cgi and apache resp. apassl . In Support DataBase - local with search you find the menu entry for the keyword search. You enter a keyword. However instead of an answer you get an error message or no answer at all.

Cause:

There are several possible reasons for this behaviour :

  1. You're using sdb and sdb_cgi from different versions of S.u.S.E. Linux .

  2. Maybe you forgot to start httpd .

  3. You have specified a Proxy, but forgot to remove the local system or the local domain from the list.

  4. You're using apassl (Secure Apache) instead of apache. These use different data directories.

  5. The name of your machine is too long or contains special characters.

Solution for 1. :

Install the packages sdb and sdb_cgi (series doc) using YaST.

Solution for 2. :

Start YaST ( as root). In the menu System Administration choose Change configuration file. Search for the variable START_HTTPD and set it to yes by pressing F3. SuSEConfig will be started automatically as soon as you leave the mask. Then start httpd manually (as root) :

   /sbin/init.d/apache stop
   /sbin/init.d/apache start
resp.
   /sbin/init.d/apassl stop
   /sbin/init.d/apassl start
if you've installed apassl.

Solution for 3. :

If your browser (e.g. lynx) evaluates the corresponding environment variable, set this variable to a correct value and remove "localhost" and/or the domainname from the list; For further details see lynx_proxy.html.

If you're using Netscape, you can do these changes in the menues :
"Edit" - "Preferences" - "Advanced" - "Proxies" - "No Proxy for".

Solution for 4. :

The packages sdb and sdb_cgi install their files into apache's directories. Therefore the Secure Apache (apassl) cannot access them. You can solve this problem by creating the corresponding links. In upcoming versions of S.u.S.E. Linux (> 5.2) this problem will be solved. Proceed as follows :

   cd /usr/local/httpsd/cgi-bin
   ln -s ../../httpd/cgi-bin/sdb-suche
   ln -s ../../httpd/cgi-bin/sdb-suche-e
   ln -s ../../httpd/cgi-bin/sdb_txt
   ln -s ../../httpd/cgi-bin/sdb_txt_d
   ln -s ../../httpd/cgi-bin/sdb_txt_e
   ln -s ../../httpd/cgi-bin/sdb-suche
   cd ../htdocs
   ln -s ../../htdocs/support-db

Solution for 5:

Sometimes the reason why searching the helpsystem doesn't work is the name of the computer, which doesn't conform to naming conventions. You can check this by starting the Apache server with the command

/sbin/init.d/apache start
If the message
httpd: cannot determine local host name.
Use ServerName to set it manually.
appears, then there is an error. Check the name of the machine. There should be no special characters and the name should not be too long

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See also:

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Keywords: HELP, SDB, SUSEHILF, HTTPD, APACHE, WWW, SERVER, DOKUMENTATION, APASSL

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Categories: Documentation

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Mainpage o Searchform o History o Versions o Categories o Contents
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SDB-rb_susehilf, Copyright SuSE GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany - Version: 09. Jun 1998
SuSE GmbH - Last generated: 07. Oct 1999 17:59:32 by maddin with sdb_gen 1.00.0