NetPresenz v4.1

© 1992-96 Peter N Lewis

This program is $10 shareware.

NetPresenz was previously called "FTPd". This is the same program, albeit a new version. If you have a license to FTPd, that license is automatically a license to use NetPresenz (although there is an upgrade fee if you purchased FTPd prior to Jan 1, 1995).

NetPresenz is dedicated to werner@rascal for his many years of devotion to the Macintosh Internet community. You have our thanks!

"rave reviews for FTPd"
- Australian MacWorld, page 22, June 1993

1994 Derek Van Alstyne Rising Star Award - MacUser December 1994

Cool Tools award from Apple - September 1994

USENET Macintosh Programmer Award - May 1995

Contents


1.0 Configuring NetPresenz

1.1. How do I access my Web pages / what URL do I use?

You can reference your macintosh by looking up its IP number in your MacTCP or TCP/IP control panel. Your IP address is a dotted quad of 4 numbers, like 130.95.156.3 or 1.2.3.4. Then you can use the URL:

http://1.2.3.4/ (for WWW) or,

ftp://1.2.3.4/ (for FTP)

...where 1.2.3.4 is your IP number. If you want to reference your machine by name (like http://www.mymac.net/) then you need to have an entry put in your DNS by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or Network Admin.

DNS stands for Domain Name Server. The way machines actually find each other is by IP number (a doted quad of numbers like 130.95.156.3)- but what we usually type is a name like earwax.pd.uwa.edu.au or stairways.com.au. Your DNS looks up what IP number is associated with the name of the machine.

1.2. How do I set up a name for my Macintosh?

DNS stands for Domain Name Server. The way machines actually find each other is by IP number (a doted quad of numbers like 130.95.156.3)- but what we usually type is a name like earwax.pd.uwa.edu.au or stairways.com.au. Your DNS looks up what IP number is associated with the name of the machine. The error you are getting means that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) has their DNS configured 'wrong' somehow.

Depending on how you connect to the Internet your IP number may be dynamically allocated which means it isn't always the same, which means it can't have a DNS entry (DNS entries are static).... or at least, a given name won't always point to the same machine.

Have a disussion with your ISP and ask for their help. They may be able to give you an account with a static, DNS mapped IP number.

1.3. Is it possible to run NetPresenz without File Sharing on?

No. NetPresenz requires File Sharing or AppleShare which in turn requires AppleTalk. If you are on a serial network (eg SLIP or PPP), then you may not have an AppleTalk network and you may not want to waste a serial port just to turn AppleTalk on. You can get around this by using a Dummy network device which will let you have File Sharing on without any physical network connection.


If you use MacTCP you can use Dummy Adev:
<ftp://ftp.stairways.com//stairways/thirdparty/dummy adev.sit.bin>
or (especially if you have a Duo), try Single Talk:
</info-mac/comm/atlk/single-talk-11.hqx>

If you use Open Transport you can use the Remote Only extension which comes in the Open Transport Extras directory of the Open Transport 1.1.1 installation.

Note that if you have an Ethernet port and you are not using it you can just assign that to be your AppleTalk network device.

1.4. How do I use the SMNT command?

The SMNT command lets you automatically mount AppleShare volumes on your network if Remote Mounting is enabled in FTP Setup in NetPresenz Setup.

Try mounting the volumes using SMNT command, firstly by sending commands from your ftp client, or alternatively using the "Login Commands" under "FTP Users" in "NetPresenz Setup"

The syntax for the smnt is as follows:

SMNT [volume:]server[@zone][:user[:password]]

Login Commands in the "FTP Users" dialog in "FTPd Setup" is the correct

place to put them. eg:

SMNT Evil630:Loony@*

would mount the volume Evil630 on Loony as a guest (my network has no zones) or

SMNT Evil630:Loony@MyZone:fred:fish

would mount the volume Evil630 on Loony which is in the zone "MyZone" as "fred" with the password "fish".

This will be done automatically if it the mounting command is typed in the Login Commands in the FTP Users dialog in NetPresenz Setup.

1.5. Why won't my SMNT command work?

If you are attempting to mount a NT Server, a Unix machine running CAP or NetATalk or any other third party (non Apple) AppleShare Server you may need to enable Clear Text Password serving under General Security in the Security settings in NetPresenz Setup.

Note also, that while AppleShare volumes are not case sensitive some servers are. So, for instance, if you were mounting a Novell server you may need to use case sensitive Server names and directory names. All passwords are case sensitive.

1.6. How do I make a new User for FTP access?


The new user can now be used in NetPresenz. The user logs in with the

password defined in the Users and Groups control panel.

2.0 NetPresenz on a Dialup Link

Many questions relevant to this section are answered in the previous section: 'Setting Up NetPresenz'.

2.1. Can I use NetPresenz over a modem?

Yes you can, but there are some complications you need to be aware off. If you have a permanent connection, with a fixed IP number then there is no problem. If you have a fixed IP number but you don't have a permanent connection then your site will not be available sometimes and you may wish to consider putting your Web or FTP site on a permanently connected computer- it can be very frustrating for users of your site to find that it is mysteriously not available some times.

If you don't have a permanent connection or a fixed IP number then NetPresenz will only be useful to you on occasions. IP numbers are how people find your computer on the network, and if your IP number changes constantly then people won't be able to consistently find your computer, which means they can't put permanent links in place. For a more detailed explanation of IP numbers see the next question.

2.2. How do I make my computer keep the same IP number?

What IP number you have depends on how you connect to the net. Most Internet Service Providers allocate a differnet IP number every time you connect by modem. If you are connected to the Internet through a Local Area Network or the like you may have your IP number allocated from another machine which means it may change.

Either way ask your ISP or Network Admin for help. They may be able to allocate you a static IP number, although this may cost more money.

3.0 Crashes and Cures

3.1. Why does NetPresenz fail when I click the 'FTP User' icon?

This is a sure sign that your Users & Groups file is corrupt. Trash the file, restart and reset your AppleShare privileges. NetPresenz Setup uses an API library from Apple to get the list of users from the Users & Groups file, and this library is less than robust. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do to fix the problem, and we don't really expect Apple to fix it either.

3.2. What Extensions/etc. is NetPresenz known to be incompatible with?

AutoDoubler is known to have problems with NetPresenz/File Sharing. AutoDoubler users should exclude the folders that are shared with File Sharing. An earlier version of Farallon's PowerPath caused conflicts with NetPresenz, Farallon recommend using the latest version if you are experiencing difficulties.

Recommend advice is to disable any non-Apple Extensions/Control Panels/Applications if you are experiencing unexplained crashes to determine whether the problem persists without these Extensions/Control Panels/Applications. If it disappears, try isolating the Extension/Control Panel/Application that is causing the problem.

3.3. Why is NetPresenz crashing on startup?

Or: Why do I get an Error Type 11 on startup?

You Preferences or log file is probably corrupt. Open the System Folder:Preferences: NetPresenz Preferences folder and drag the contents to the trash. You will need to re-install your preferences by entering them again in NetPresenz Setup.

If this does not fix the problem try deleting and re-entering your Internet Config preferences: corrupted IC prefs may cause similar problems.

3.4. Aliases don't work! What is wrong?

Aliases will in general resolve properly and work correctly so long as:

* the person trying to resolve the alias has permissions to access the aliased file

* the aliased file hasn't been moved around too much

Because of the way NetPresenz works Peter can't use the Alias Manager, so he has to manually resolve them. Generally this isn't a problem but sometimes the link becomes invalid and NetPresenz can't find the file. In this case you need to refresh the link by doing a 'Get Information' on the alias in the finder and clicking on the 'Find Original' button. This will update the alias.

The easiest way to update all your aliases is do a Find File for 'kind is alias'. Then work your way down the list doing a 'Get Info' and 'Find Original' on each item. (Unfortunately Find File isn't scriptable so I can't write an Applescript to do this automatically.)

3.5. Aliases still don't work. What is wrong now?

Your directory structure probably looks something like this:

        HD
        |
     +--+---+---.....
     A      B
     |      |
     C*    C.html

HD has only user permissions set: no one else has access.
A and B both have guest permissions set.

C.html is a file and C* is an alias to C.html.

The default directory in FTP Users is set to /A/

You ftp to your machine using the URL <ftp://your.machine.ip/> and you get the contents of the A directory- in this case C*. So you double click on C* and... it fails.

And the reason for this is that B isn't in the same directory struture as far as the Guest user is concerned. To him the filing system looks like this:

    A
    |
    C*

...B doesn't exist. But if your Hard disk looked like this:

        HD
        +--------
       Pub      
        |
     +--+---+
     A      B
     |      |
    C*    C.html

Where Pub has Guest permissions, then the Directory structure looks (to guest) like this:

       Pub      
        |
     +--+---+
     A      B
     |      |
    C*    C.htm
l

And C* will resolve properly, to the file '../B/C.html'. Aliases have to resolve in a way that makes sense to the directory structure visible to the User. Aliases are not like links in Unix (where, in some real sense, the alias *is* the file).

3.6. Why can't I open the NetPresenz log file?

The log is a text file in the System Folder:Preferences:NetPresenz Preferences folder. You can Duplicate this file and edit it, print out or otherwise manipulate it in BBEdit or any word processor. NetPresenz leaves the file open while it is running so you can't directly edit the file while NetPresenz is running. You need to Duplicate the file in the Finder first, and work with the duplicate if you don't want to quit NetPresenz.

4.0. NetPresenz and AppleShare

4.1. Is NetPresenz compatible with AppleShare and personal File Sharing?

Yes. When using personal file sharing, NetPresenz requires System 7.5.1 (or later versions).

4.2. Adding users under AppleShare.

When you have AppleShare installed on the machine running NetPresenz Users are not automatically listed in the FTP Users window of NetPresenz Setup.

With AppleShare installed a new option is added to the User pop-up in NetPresenz Setup, so it now looks like:

Default
---------
Anonymous
Users
Owner
---------
Other...

You then 'import' the Users using the 'Other...' menu option.

New in NetPresenz 4.1 : Adding users under AppleShare can be laborious, so we have added scripting support to NetPresenz Setup. NetPresenz Setup is now Apple scriptable with the commands deleteuser, setuser, getuser and listusers.


By example:

tell application "NetPresenz Setup"
deleteuser "user1"
setuser "user1" directory "dir1"
setuser "user2" directory "dir2" command "

smnt   		    					volume:server@zone:username:password
"
getuser "user3"
listusers
end tell

5.0. Program Specific and Miscellaneous

5.1. Why does NetPresenz only log IP numbers?

NetPresenz logs the email address supplied by the anonymous user along with the IP address. I'm not going to do a DNS reverse name look up because it's wasteful in processor time and network bandwidth, and also because it delays the login and makes it hard to do log entries (instead of just writing a line to the file, I have to wait around for the DNS to respond)

5.2. What advice do you have about setting up a server?


5.3. Does NetPresenz keep a log?

Yes. NetPresenz automatically keeps a log, you will find it in the "NetPresenz Preferences" folder in your "Preferences" folder in your "System Folder".

5.4. Why does my web broswer want to save the file when serving HTTP with NetPresenz?

This means your MIME types and file mappings in Internet Config are wrong or that Internet Config is not installed. Upgrade to Internet Config and click "Defaults" in the "File Mappings" dialog in Internet Config.

5.5. How do I make NetPresenz serve Shockwave files properly?

You need to reconfigure Internet Config so that the File Mappings have a few additional entries. Open up Internet Config, click on File Mappings and then Add the following New Entries, just like the diagram indicates:

A Picture of Internet Config's File Mapping Window

Shockwave
.dcr
Application/x-director
Binary Data
FGDM
AFTB
Shockwave for Director 4.0

Shockwave
.dir
Application/x-director
Binary Data
FGDM
AFTB
Shockwave for Director 4.0

Shockwave
.dir
Application/x-director
Binary Data
FGDM
AFTB
Shockwave for Director 4.0

5.6. NetPresenz on a 2 Macintosh Network.

If you have two Macs, one plugged into the other directly via Localtalk you can run NetPresenz. You need to configure MacTCP so that each machine has an IP number, then you can reference the other machine via IP number.

There is a good description of how to configure a two Mac TCP/IP network in a document called MacTCP Info by Eric Behr <behr@math.niu.edu > available at:

<http://www.math.niu.edu/~behr/docs/mactcp.html >

5.7. How do I make the Interaction.cgi work with NetPresenz?

The Interaction.cgi is pretty easy to setup, but the instructions are slightly different to the distribution documentation.

1. Put the folder that contains Interaction in a guest readable site: the guest must be able to execute the CGI.

2. Make an alias of the application file "Interaction" by selecting it and choose Make Alias from the File menu in Finder. Put this alias in the same directory as the HTML document which refers to Interaction. Rename the alias "Interaction.cgi". (The alias is not strictly necessary: you just need to make sure that you use the correct path when specifying the location of the Interaction CGI. If the alias is in the same directory then you don't have to worry about specifying the path.)

3. Start the web-server application, then start Interaction by double-clicking the "Interaction" application icon.

Interaction works right "out of the box", so at this time, you (and everyone else) should be able to access the forums and chat services by using the URL http://www.mydomain.com/interaction.cgi (substitute www.mydomain.com with the domain or IP of your own web server). Please note that there should not be a trailing slash in this URL.

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