User's Guide
Installation
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Version 3.1 User's Guide |
Installation |
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Installing NetCloak requires several steps, many of which are different depending on which web server you are using. The following sections provide an overview of the installation process, then specific instructions for several popular Mac OS web servers. If you are already comfortable with configuring your web server to use CGI or plug-in extensions you'll find NetCloak simple to install. Even if you are familiar with configuring actions, we suggest you skim this chapter for specific procedures and options unique to NetCloak.
If you have already downloaded a demo version and installed the NetCloak Introduction, you need only follow the steps for creating a suffix mapping and/or associated action and to validate the demo software. You will also need to validate the demo version by entering your serial number and validation code on the Validation page of the web administration.
Each of the HTML pages you create using NetCloak commands must be processed by NetCloak, or "cloaked". Most web servers in use today make use of "suffix mappings" and "actions", which greatly simplifies using NetCloak (and many other server add-on tools) on your server.
An action is configured in the web server, and defines a method for handling a request. Most servers have built-in actions for "TEXT", which tells the server to return the requested file as text (ASCII) data, and "BINARY", which tells the server to send binary data. Servers also allow you to define your own actions which tell the server to hand off the request to a plug-in module or an external CGI instead of just sending the requested file.
A file suffix is the last few characters of the filename, and begins with a period. File suffixes are normally used to denote what type of information is contained in a file, such as HTML text or a GIF image. Common suffixes include: ".html", ".gif", and ".jpeg". A suffix mapping defines which action to be taken for a particular suffix. For example, you can configure your web server to use NetCloak as an action to process all files with the suffix ".html".
Exactly how you define suffix mappings and the action to be taken varies from server to server. Basic instructions for several different servers are included in the following sections. For detailed information on configuring suffix mappings, see the documentation that came with your server.
No matter what server you are using, we suggest that you take the time to configure at least one suffix that uses NetCloak to process files. Remember that any page that you use NetCloak extension commands in will need to be named with the appropriate filename suffix. For example, if you define a suffix mapping of ".nclk" for NetCloak processing, any page that includes NetCloak commands must have a filename ending in ".nclk".
To install NetCloak, you must first place NetCloak and its associated files in the appropriate places on your server. Next, you must create a suffix mapping and an associated action to call NetCloak when pages are requested from your server.
Because NetCloak requires very little overhead, most Webmasters that use NetCloak simply make NetCloak the action responsible for processing pages with the suffix ".html". Since all of your HTML pages most likely end in ".html" already, this will allow you to use NetCloak in any of your HTML pages without worrying about whether the page is cloaked or not.
There are actually two versions of NetCloak included in the package: a Plug-In and a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) application. Most Mac OS web servers support WebStar API plug-ins, and best results are usually obtained with the plug-in. NetCloak imposes almost zero overhead when running as a Plug-In, ensuring peak performance from your web server.
Servers that support plug-ins include WebSTAR, WebTen, Quid Pro Quo, AppleShare IP and TeleFinder. Some notable servers that do not are Mac OS Personal Web Sharing, Microsoft Personal Web Server and NetPresenz. The NetCloak CGI is not as fast as the plug-in, but is compatible with web servers that do not support WebSTAR API Plug-Ins.
The location of the NetCloak application or plug-in and the NetCloak support files is dependent on the web server application you are using. The NetCloak Plug-In file must go in the web server's plug-ins folder. This folder is normally named "Plug-Ins" and is usually located in the web server root folder. The location of the "NetCloak Files" folder used by the plug-in varies according to which web server you use – see the instructions below specific to your web server.
To install the CGI version of NetCloak, see the instructions in the Reference Guide.
Most web servers define actions and suffix mappings separately. WebSTAR, Quid Pro Quo and WebTen work this way, so you must first define an action which calls NetCloak, then assign that action to selected suffixes by defining suffix mappings (sometimes called "MIME mappings" or "MIME extensions"). The NetCloak plug-in will automatically define an action for itself named "CLOAK_PI" so you only need to worry about creating an appropriate suffix mapping in most cases.
Some web servers define actions and suffix mappings together. AppleShare IP defines MIME mappings which include both a file suffix and the method for handling requests for that file type. The Web Sharing control panel defines actions which are similar to AppleShare IP's MIME mappings.
For servers like WebSTAR and WebTen which support multiple virtual-hosted or multihomed Web sites served by a single server, you may need to define actions and suffix mappings for each site separately.
Configuration is most convenient through NetCloak's web-based administration pages. Both the plug-in and the CGI version can be configured this way, but the CGI can also be configured through the application's traditional user interface. Using the CGI to configure the plug-in is possible, but not recommended.
Once you have the plug-in and other NetCloak files installed and your web server running again, load the main administration page (the Status page) with the URL:
http://your.server/pi_admin.nclk
You will, of course, need to replace "your.server" with the address of your web server. Normally there is an additional step— most web servers require a username and password to access any "pi_admin" URL. You may need to configure a username and password in your web server before you will be able to access the admin pages, or, for some servers, the server admin username and password will work.
When a user requests a file which does not exist, or the user has insufficient privileges to access a file, web servers return some sort of error page. Similarly, when a user makes a request with a file path but no filename, web servers return a predefined "default" or "index" page.
When NetCloak handles such a request, it must perform the same function. If you are using the plug-in version of NetCloak with WebStar, WebTen or other servers that allow defining these files in the server, just make sure the "Ask Web Server" option is checked and NetCloak will automatically use the setting in the server. This will work with multi-homed or virtual host servers with different files or filenames for each site. If you have a server such as AppleShare IP or Web Sharing which do not use HTML files for these pages, you will need to create them and configure NetCloak with the filenames.
When you purchased NetCloak, you received a serial number and validation code. If you installed a demo version of NetCloak you will need to enter these in order to remove the demo expiration date.
Load the Validation page of the NetCloak web administration. Enter your serial number and validation code in the spaces provided, then click the Validate button. If validation was successful, the page will have a message "Validation Complete". It should look like figure xx. If the validation page is returned without the Validation Complete message, be sure you are entering the serial number and validation code correctly.
Figure 10: The Validate page of the NetCloak web admin.
Alternatively, you can use the Validate command in the File menu of the NetCloak CGI application. After validating the CGI, the Validate Plug-In command will be available. This can be used to validate the NetCloak plug-in, even if it is a demo version which has expired. Be sure to quit your web server before attempting to use the Validate Plug-In command.
Once you have created suffix mappings to use NetCloak, your server will always send files with that suffix through NetCloak. If you remove NetCloak, an error will result unless you reset the suffix mapping. If you are using WebSTAR, you can use the NetCloak CGI application's Auto-Map menu commands ".HTML files to BINARY Action", ".NCLK files to BINARY Action", and ".FDML files to BINARY Action" to easily reset these suffix mappings.
If you are using a web server other than WebSTAR, you will need to manually remove the suffix mapping. See your web server documentation for instructions on editing suffix mappings and default suffix mappings. If you manually created a suffix mapping for a suffix other than ".html", ".nclk", or ".fdml", then you will need to manually reset or delete it.
The "NetCloak Files" folder is normally located in the WebSTAR folder, which is also ordinarily the Root Folder of yourweb site.
1. Copy the "NetCloak Plug-In" file from the "NetCloak 3.1" folder to the "Plug-Ins" folder in the same folder as the WebSTAR application. 2. Launch WebSTAR.If you want to process all HTML files through NetCloak, also follow these steps:
3. Launch the NetCloak CGI application. 4. Select ".HTML Files to Plug-In" from the "Auto-Map" menu. 5. Quit NetCloak.
You can also change the suffix mapping for ".html" to the action "CLOAK_PI" manually with WebStar Admin instead of using the NetCloak CGI application.
The NetCloak Pro Plug-In automatically registers the "NFORMS_PI" action with WebSTAR and maps the ".fdml" suffix to that action. No additional steps are necessary, unless you want to use other filename suffixes with your FDML files.
These instructions apply to AppleShare IP 5.x
With AppleShare IP, the "NetCloak Files" folder used by the NetCloak Plug-In is located in the "Extensions" folder inside the System Folder of yourserver.
1. Copy the "NetCloak Plug-In" file from the NetCloak 3.1 folder into the "Plug-Ins" folder inside the Web Folder on your AppleShare IP server. 2. Launch AppleShare IP Admin. 3. Open the "Web & FTP MIME Types…" window by selecting it in the Server menu. 4. Click on the line with the suffix ".html", then click the Edit button. 5. Click on the pop-up menu for Action: and select Execute… 6. After the file open dialog box appears, select the "Plug-Ins" folder in the list and click the open button, then select NetCloak Plug-In in the file list and click the Open button again to select the NetCloak plug-in. 7. Click the OK button in the Edit MIME Type dialog box, then click Save. Click the OK button in the alert that appears after you click the Save button. 8. Open the Web & File Server Settings window by selecting it in the Server menu. 9. Select the Web Plug-Ins pane by using the pop-up menu at the top of the window. 10. Check the Enable Plug-Ins checkbox. 11. Change the Maximum Plug-In Memory Usage setting to at least 2048 KB. 12. Click the Save button to save the changes, then close the window 13. Stop the AppleShare IP Web & File Server, then re-start it.
You must manually create a MIME mapping for forms processing if you have the Pro version of NetCloak.
1. Launch AppleShare IP Admin. 2. Open the Web & FTP MIME Types… window by selecting it in the Server menu. Click on the line with the suffix ".html", then click the Duplicate button. 4. Change the suffix to ".fdml". 5. Click on the pop-up menu for Action: and select Execute… 6. After the file open dialog box appears, select the "Plug-Ins" folder in the list and click the open button, then select "NetCloak Plug-In" in the file list and click the Open button again to select the NetCloak plug-in. 7. Click the OK button in the Edit MIME Type dialog box, then click Save. Click the OK button in the alert that appears after you click the Save button. Stop the AppleShare IP Web & File Server, then re-start it.
These instructions apply to AppleShare IP 6.1 or later.
With AppleShare IP, the "NetCloak Files" folder used by the NetCloak Plug-In is located in the "Extensions" folder inside the System Folder of yourserver.
1. Copy the "NetCloak Plug-In" file from the NetCloak 3.1 folder into the "Plug-Ins" folder inside the Web Folder on your AppleShare IP server. 2. Launch MacOS Server Admin. 3. Click on the web server icon, and select Configure Web Server from the popup menu. 4. Click the MIME Types tab in the Web Server Settings window. 5. Click on the line with the suffix ".html", then click the Edit button. 6. Click on the pop-up menu for Action: and select Handle File Using Plug-In… 7. Select the NetCloak Plug-In from the list, then click the Select button. 8. Click the OK button in the Edit MIME Information dialog box. 9. Click the Plug-Ins tab of the Web Server Settings window. 10. Check the Enable Plug-Ins checkbox. 11. Change the Maximum Plug-In Memory Usage setting to at least 2048 KB. 12. Click the Save button to save the changes, then close the Web Server Settings window. Stop the AppleShare IP Web & File Server, then re-start it.
You must manually create a MIME mapping for forms processing if you have the Pro version of NetCloak.
1. Launch MacOS Server Admin. 2. Click on the web server icon, and select Configure Web Server from the popup menu.Click the MIME Types tab in the Web Server Settings window.
Click on the line with the suffix ".html", then click the Duplicate button. 5. Change the suffix to ".fdml". 6. Click the OK button in the Edit MIME Information dialog box. 7. Click the Save button to save the changes, then close the Web Server Settings window. Stop the AppleShare IP Web & File Server, then re-start it.
The location of the NetCloak Files folder used by the NetCloak Plug-In depends on which version of WebTen you are using. In all cases, the folder is in the same location as the actual WebTen application:
| Location of the NetCloak Files folder by WebTen Version | |
| 1.1.1 | Main WebTen folder |
| 2.0 - 2.1.3 | WebSites folder |
| 2.1.4 - 2.1.x | Tenon Libraries:Tenon Kernel Libraries folder |
| 3.0+ | WebSites folder |
1. Copy the NetCloak Plug-In file from the NetCloak 3.1 folder to the Plug-Ins folder in the WebTen folder. 2. Launch WebTen. 3. Launch your web browser if it is not already running. 4. Access your server's Administration Serve" home page (at http://www.yourserver.com/webten_admin) with your browser.For WebTen 2.1 and earlier only:
5. Click "Advanced". 6. Set the "MyopicPlugInMode" setting to "Off". 7. Click "Save Advanced Settings".If you want to process all HTML files through NetCloak, also follow these steps:
8. Click the Action Handlers button in the Administration Server home page. 9. Type "CLOAK_PI" in an empty Action field. 10. Type "NETCLOAK-PLUGIN" in the corresponding Action Handler field. 11. Click the Save Handlers button. 12. Click the MIME Extensions button. 13. Click the Built-In Extensions button. 14. Select CLOAK_PI from the Action popup menu for the .html extension. 15. Click the Save MIME Extensions button.
Create a MIME extension for forms processing if you have NetCloak Pro:
Click the Action Handlers button in the Administration Server home page. Type "NFORMS_PI" in an empty Action field. Type "NETCLOAK-PLUGIN" in the corresponding Action Handler field. Click the Save Handlers button. Click the MIME Extensions button. Type ".fdml" in an empty Extension field. Select "NFORMS_PI" from the Action popup menu for the .fdml extension. Click the Save MIME Extensions button.
If you use web server software that is not listed, please consult your web server's documentation for information on configuring it for use with NetCloak. In particular, check for support for WebSTAR API plug-ins, and look for information about setting up file "suffix mappings" and creating "actions" or "action handlers".
The NetCloak plug-in automatically registers an action called "CLOAK_PI", and registers a suffix mapping which maps the ".nclk" file suffix to the "CLOAK_PI" action. You should also be able to modify the suffix mapping for ".html" files so that they are handled by the "CLOAK_PI" action (and thus the NetCloak plug-in).
The NetCloak CGI must be configured manually. You should create an action named "CLOAK" that defines a path to "NetCloak.acgi" as its handler, and then create a suffix mapping that maps the suffix ".nclk" (and optionally ".html") to the NetCloak action.
The NetCloak CGI must be configured manually. For instructions on installing the NetCloak CGI with popular web servers, see the Reference guide. You should create two actions, named "CLOAK" and "NFORMS" that both define a path to "NetCloak.acgi" as their handler, and then create suffix mappings that map the suffix ".nclk" (and optionally ".html") to the "CLOAK" action, and the suffix ".fdml" to the "NFORMS" action.
Mac OS Personal Web Sharing does not currently support WebSTAR API plug-ins, so you will only be able to use the CGI version of NetCloak. See the "Using the NetCloak CGI" section for instructions on installing the CGI version of NetCloak.
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