Bringing Up a MacHTTP Server

This chapter instructs you how to bring up the Macitosh-based WWW server called MacHTTP.

Bringing up a MacHTTP is a very simple process. Follow these instructions:

1. Acquire the MacHTTP distribution. The authoritative address is http://www.biap.com/.
2. Debin-hex the archive with StuffIt Expander or some other debin-hexing program like StuffIt Lite. If you use a WWW browser to download the archive, then it will most likely be debin-hexed for you.
3. Uncompress the resulting archive with something like StuffIt Lite. Again, it may get uncompressed for you if you used a WWW browser to download it.
4. Make sure the MacTCP control panel is configured correctly. (It most likely is if you just acquired MacHTTP from the Internet. Otherwise you would not have gotten this far.)
5. After uncompressing the archive, a folder should have been created called "MacHTTP 2.2". Open it. Open the folder named "MacHTTP Software & Docs". Double-click on icon named "MacHTTP 2.2".

Congratulations! You have just brought up MacHTTP.

Initially Testing Your Server

1. Open the control panel document called MacTCP and note your IP address. It will look something like "152.1.24.177".
2. Use your WWW browser's "Open URL" menu option and enter the URL specifying your server. The URL will look something like "http://152.1.24.177/".
3. As a result you should see a screen titled "Welcome to this MacHTTP Server!"

Editing Your First HTML Document

1. In the same folder as your MacHTTP application there is a file named "default.html". Open it. It was created with Simple Text, the editor that came with your Macintosh, and therefore it should open right up.
2. In the first paragraph change the text "Welcome to this MacHTTP Server!" to something like "Hello World! I'm on the Web".
3. Save and close the file.
4. Return to your WWW browser and reopen the connection to your server like you did in the previous section.
5. You should now see "Hello World! I'm on the Web" instead of the text that was previously there.

Congratulations! You have just edited your first HTML document.

MacHTTP Can Handle the Load

Because MacHTTP is so effective it can handle as many as 10,000 connections per hour, as many connections made to many university servers per day. To be this effective it is a wise idea to dedicate the computer running MacHTTP to be just that, a dedicated computer. While MacHTTP can run on the same computer as an individual's desktop computer, it is not recommended. Because MacHTTP is a server application the computer running MacHTTP should be treaded as a server and not somebody's everyday computer. MacHTTP was not necessarily designed to be run on the same computer as somebody's desktop computer. Respect this design feature and MacHTTP will give you many, many happy months of trouble free services in return.

See Also

1. Bill Doerrfeld, "MacHTTP-Talk Digests" <URL:http://www.blueworld.com/bluespace/bluedata/MacHTTP-Talk_Search.html>

2. Brad Schrick, "Brad's WebSTAR/MacHTTP Pages" - [This is the most comprehensive list of MacHTTP/WebSTAR servers available.] <URL:http://brad.net/webstar/>

3. Chuck Shotton, "How to serve Mac documents" - Information on serving documents from Mac-specific applications like MS Word, Excel, or MacDraw Pro. (This info is somewhat outdated by the addition of MIME types in MacHTTP 1.2.4 and later.) <URL:http://www.biap.com/machttp/howto_docs.html>

4. Chuck Shotton, "MacHTTP Technical Reference" - This document is intended to provide a reference to MacHTTP features and capabilities. [This document is also available as a part of the complete MacHTTP 2.2 distribution.] <URL:http://www.biap.com/documentation/technical_ref.html>

5. Chuck Shotton, "MacHTTP Questions and Answers" <URL:http://www.biap.com/documentation/QandA.html>

6. Chuck Shotton, "MacHTTP Security" - MacHTTP has two techniques for providing access controls. MacHTTP can restrict incoming connections based on the IP address or domain name of the remote client. Also, MacHTTP implements the "Basic" authentication scheme supported by most WWW clients and servers. This method allows you to assign access controls to files or folders that require a remote user to enter a valid username and password before they are allowed to access the information. <URL:http://www.biap.com/tutorials/Security.html>

7. Chuck Shotton, "Performance Tuning for MacHTTP" - There are lots of different ways to get MacHTTP to "go real fast." This document discusses a few of the factors that affect MacHTTP's performance and how you can adjust them. <URL:http://www.biap.com/tutorials/Performance.html>

8. Eric Bickford and Brad Schrick, "Mac Webmasters Consultant Directory" - "This Web site lists more then 150 consultants available throughout the world who are experts in electronic publishing on the Internet's World Wide Web using Apple Macintosh and compatible computers." <URL:http://www.macweb.com/consultants/>

9. Grant Neufeld, "Macintosh World Wide Web Frequently Asked Questions" <URL:http://arpp1.carleton.ca/machttp/doc/>

10. Ian Andrew Bell, "Macintosh WWW Tools Compendium" <URL:http://www.arpp.sfu.ca/tools/>

11. Robert Lentz, "Macintosh Web Programs and Utilties" <URL:http://www.astro.nwu.edu/lentz/mac/net/mac-web.html>

12. StarNine, "StarNine Mailing List Maintenance" <URL:http://emod.starnine.com/starnine/ListSTAR-Administration/Address-List-Editor.html>

13. StarNine, "WebSTAR by StarNine Technologies" - Based on Chuck Shotton's MacHTTP, WebSTAR(TM) helps you publish hypertext documents to millions of Web users around the world, right from your Macintosh. You can also use WebSTAR to put any Macintosh file on the Web, including GIF and JPEG images and even QuickTime(TM) movies. And yet, using WebSTAR is as easy as AppleShare(r). Plus, it's faster than many Web servers running on UNIX. <URL:http://www.starnine.com/webstar/webstar.html>

14. Stephen Collin, "Web 66" - <URL:http://web66.coled.umn.edu/>

15. Stephen E. Collins, "Classroom Internet Server Cookbook" - This is cookbook gives the recipes for setting up an Internet server in a classroom. <URL:http://web66.coled.umn.edu/Cookbook/contents.html>

16. Verity Inc., "Recent MacHTTP/WebSTAR messages sorted by date" <URL:http://asearch.mccmedia.com/MacHTTP_Talk/>

17. Verity Inc., "Virtual Library Search [Macintosh]" - This page allow you to search the archives of the MacHTTP Mailing List. <URL:http://asearch.mccmedia.com/MacHTTP_Talk/search.html>

Eric last edited this page on September 26, 1995. Please feel free to send comments.