Gamma Site Guard 2.0

User Manual

Content

Abstract
System Requirements
Features
Installation
Configuring
Troubleshooting
Feedback
Links

Abstract

Site Guard allows you to set up membership areas for websites. It's easy to install, has advanced account management, and a powerful protection system based on .htaccess and .htpasswd capabilities.

System Requirements

The Site Guard requirements are as follows:

Unix-based http server.
.htaccess and .htpasswd capabilities.
Perl 5.0 or above.

Features

Gamma Site Guard has the following key features:

Easy installation with automatic installation testing.
Fully customizable protection via a web-based administration interface.
Easy navigation through your site.
Directory protection with one click.
Advanced user management.
Context help for all parameters.

Installing

To install the software you need to do the following steps:

Unpack the downloaded archive. It contains the SiteGuard directory with all the files.
Upload this directory to your site cgi-bin directory or any other directory where you can run cgi scripts.
You may need to change the path to the perl executable in the first line of the SiteGuard.cgi script. The default path is /usr/bin/perl.
Set executable permission to SiteGuard.cgi. You can do it by executing the chmod a+x SiteGuard.cgi from the shell or using your FTP client.
Depending on your server configuration, you may need to set world-writable permission to the data directory.
Now you can access the script via your web browser. If all installation tests are passed, the script is ready to work. Click on the Administration Area link to begin. Otherwise, see Troubleshooting section.

Configuring

Now you can configure the script. Use the changeme password to log in administration area. The administration area consists of three tabs: Settings, Users, and Directories.

In the Settings tab you may change the general parameters such as the password, area name, or error page. The Users tab allows you to configure your users. From the Directories tab you can select which parts of your site to protect.

Follow these steps to configure the script:

The first thing you need to do is to change the administration password in the Settings panel.
Set the Area Root parameter to the appropriate place in your site. The script tries to automatically determine the root of your site, so this parameter might be already correct.
Pick a good Area Name. It usually appears in the password dialog provided by web browsers.
Create a web page which will be shown to unauthorized users. Set the Error Page parameter to the URL of this page. Notice that this URL must be an absolute path without domain. For example, if full URL of this page is http://www.your-site.com/subscribe/now.html, you need to set Error Page to /subscribe/now.html.
Next, protect the desired directories of your site. Switch to the Directories tab and use the simple browser interface. Each directory can be Open, Closed or Protected. Open means that all users have access to this directory. By default all directories are Open. Only registered users have access to Closed or Protected directories. The directory is Protected if it is not Closed itself, but access to it restricted by some of its Closed ancestors.
Now you may add new users using the Users tab. A user can be Active or Passive. Only Active users have access to protected parts of your site. You may disable but not completely delete a user.

Troubleshooting

The script has several built-in tests. Click on Product Information and Installation Tests. If some of the tests fail, you will see the appropriate message.

Error Message	How to Fix
the 'data' subdirectory is not writable	You need to set world-writable permission to the `data` subdirectory. You can do this by executing the `chmod a+rwx data` from the shell or by using your FTP client.
the '<name>' file/directory is accessible via HTTP	This means that anyone can read your important files using his browser. Site Guard will work though. You should configure your web server to block access to this data.
cannot use the 'DB_File' module	Your Perl installation lacks the required `DB_File` module. The `SDBM_File` module will be used instead, but this will dramatically decrease the performance of the script. You must install the `DB_File` module. Notice that all the data will be lost when you do this.

If you encounter any problem not described here, please contact us.

Feedback

We are very interested in your feedback. You can fill in the following form

or contact us by e-mail. If you purchased our scripts, please include the Product ID in your message.