web publishing basics

Setting up your dunx1 account

You can have several different accounts at Drexel; the dunx1 account allows you to publish webpages. Log into the IRT accounts management page at: https://coreapp1.drexel.edu/cams/ and confirm that your “Academic Unix” account is active. You must also click on the link called “shell” next to that account and change the shell to C-Shell (or another Unix shell if you have a preference). If you have any trouble with this process, you must contact the IRT helpdesk at 215 895 2698. Note that your dunx1 password may end up different from your regular Drexel user ID password.

How can I publish my file(s)?

To copy a file to the web server we’re using in this class (dunx1), you must use a secure FTP program (as of 1/08). SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol and it is one way of copying files from your local computer to a server (uploading) or copying files from a server to your local computer (downloading).

Some of the SFTP programs available to you as a Drexel student include SSH (for Windows) and Fetch (for Macs). If you’d like to use one of these programs, you can download the software from IRT.

What is the procedure for FTP’ing with SSH?

Launch SSH Secure File Transfer Client.
From the File menu, select "Connect"
Type in dunx1.irt.drexel.edu for the Host Name and your dunx1 userid for the User Name and click "Connect."
A password box should appear; type password for your dunx1 account (note: if you have any trouble with your dunx1 password, you must contact the IRT helpdesk at 215 895 2698).
If an "authentication response" is requested, you must click the OK button.
You should see a window open showing the files and folders in your dunx1 account in the right-hand column. If you see a folder called public_html, good. If not, you must create this folder by clicking the "New Folder" icon in the toolbar. Be sure to rename the new folder public_html. The underscore character should be above the hyphen on your keyboard.
Double-click the public_html folder to open it.
For this class, you are required to create a folder inside public_html called 652. If the 652 folder doesn’t yet exist, you must create it by clicking the "New Folder" icon in the toolbar. Be sure to rename the new folder 652.
Double-click on the 652 folder. Now you should see the content of your course web folder. By the 2nd week of class, you should have 2 files in there. Your homepage is called “index.html” and your new page is called “me.html.”
Keep this file transfer window open while we're creating and editing web pages with a text editor. This is how you will publish your files when they are ready for the internet!
To publish (or upload) a file you have saved on your computer (hard drive, flash drive, floppy disk, etc.), you must locate this local file in the left-hand column of the SFTP program. Then, make sure you can see the correct dunx1 destination on the right side (e.g., you must be in public_html, probably in the folder 652, possibly in a subfolder of that). Highlight the file to upload in the left (local) column. Now drag it to the correct folder on the server (in the right-hand "remote" column). Ta da! Now your local file has been copied to the web server (dunx1) and is available to the internet community.

Viewing published file(s)

Launch your browser (Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc.).
In the address bar, type the URL of your published file, something very like:
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~username/652/me.html (note: the filename may differ)

Trouble-shooting

Browser displays HTML, not webpage

If after you publish your page and try to view it in a browser you see HTML code instead of a beautiful webpage, you probably forgot save your text file with a “.html” extension. Rename your local file, then upload (publish) it again.

Missing file

If after you publish your page and try to view it in a browser you get an error message like: “Not Found: The requested URL /~username/652/me.htm was not found on this server,” then you have a location problem. That means the URL (or web address) you’re trying to view does not point to an actual file at that location. Possibilities: 1) are you sure you put your webpage in public_html, then in folder 652?; or 2) are you using the correct URL to view the page? It should look just like this: http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~username/652/me.html (perhaps a different filename at the end of the path).

File permissions

If after you publish your page and try to view it in a browser you get an error message like: “Forbidden: You don't have permission to access /~username/652/me.html on this server,” then you have a permissions problem. See:

http://www.drexel.edu/irt_new/support/webits/tips/permissions.htm