Subs Installation

  1. Make sure you are (or have access to) someone who understands how to set up and configure access control for your web server. Setting up your web server or advice on how to do it is not included in the price of Subs.
  2. Obtain and install Perl 5.
  3. Obtain and install cgi-lib.pl. A version of cgi-lib.pl is included in the distribution, but it will need to be installed in the usual place for perl libraries. Counsult your host system adminstrator.
  4. Order and pay for Subs.
  5. Wait for a user name and password to be sent to you by email.
  6. Fetch the latest version of SUBS (user name and password required) and install it an empty work directory (anywhere except in your Web server document tree).
  7. Unpack the distribution with cat subs1.11.tar.gz|gunzip|tar xvf -. You will need the Gnu Unix tool gunzip(1) to do this.
  8. Edit Makefile and change the paths at the top of the file to suit the location of your web server's document and CGI directories. Pay special attention to PERL and SERVERROOT
  9. If you are upgrading Subs, take a copy of your old config.pl in PRIVATECGIDIR. You will need it later.
  10. Type make all This will adjust the perl paths in all the executables and copy them from your work area to the web server directories. It will create the web server directories if they do not already exist.
  11. If you are upgrading, replace the new config.pl in PRIVATECGIDIR with the old one you copied before.
  12. Configure your web server's access control so that the web server directory you wish to protect requires a password file. The file name of the password file will be entered into Subs shortly. (The way to configure your web server's access control depends on the type of web server you have. It is beyond the scope of Subs or this document to help you with this. You will need to be familiar with access control for your web server or else have access to someone who is).
  13. Arrange for password access control of the protected CGI area (usually located at /cgi-bin/subs/protected). This directory is for CGI scripts that are only accessibel to current subscribers. Added access control is usually done by creating a .htaccess or .nsconfig file in that directory. Refer to documentation for your web server. This directory should be accessible only by current users. Do this by specifying the same password file as the one used to protect your files in the previous step.
  14. Configure Subs with the Configuration page. Help for configuring Subs is here. The first time you run config.cgi, you will not require a password. Therafter you will have to enter the user name 'admin' and the admin password you configured in this step. Make sure you dont forget it.
  15. Confirm that only the 'admin' user can access the private CGI files such as Edit User
  16. Create a test user using Edit User. Make sure the Account Status is approved and the End Date is later than today. Confirm that the password for the new user has been written to the password file name you entered in the previous step by using the Unix ls(1) command.
  17. Confirm that only the test user you created can access your protected files directory.
  18. Confirm that only the test user you entered can access the protected CGI files such as Edit Password and Account Details in the protected area.
  19. If you wish (and we recommend it) arrange for the update or pirateCheck program to run once per day. This would usually be done using the Unix cron(1) command. Instructions are here.
  20. If you need to import your user list from another system, the convertDatabase program may be useful
  21. Add your users using Edit User.
  22. Join the subs mailing list. This will allow you to exchange help and information with other Subs owners. Send email with the single word "subscribe" in the body (not in the subject line) to subs-request@open.com.au

Using CreditNet

If you wish to use CreditNet for automatically CreditCard debiting during online registration, please follow these instructions.

  1. Obtain a Merchant ID and password from CCN (Fees apply).
  2. Obtain and install the CCN ccn_client.pl module. It must be installed in the Subs private CGI directory that you configured into Makefile.
  3. obtain and install PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). PGP is available for non-commercial use from the MIT distribution site for PGP and commercially from ViaCrypt.
  4. Create a suitable home directory for holding the PGP key required by CreditNet. This directory must be visible to your web server. You will need to create a .pgp directory in that home directory and follow the PGP instructions for initialising it.
  5. Install the PGP key for "root@creditnet.com" located at http://www.creditnet.com/creditnet.sig in the keyring in the .pgp directory you set up in the previous step
  6. Go to the Subs configuration page
  7. Select CreditNet as the card processor.
  8. In "Path to PGP program", enter the complete path to the pgp executable you installed above. Usually this will be /usr/local/bin/pgp or similar.
  9. In "Path to PGP home directory", enter the complete path to the PGP home directory you created above.
  10. Ensure that you have entered prices for all your subscription periods. Prices are in US dollars, and should be entered like 10.00, 12.50 etc. Do not enter the dollar sign.
  11. Save your configuration