How do I upload a precompiled script?

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You can use precompiled programs with our Web hosting service, as long as they're compatible with our version of Linux.

We currently use Debian Linux 3.1. Most Linux programs should run on this operating system. Note that we roughly keep up with Debian's "stable" releases, meaning that as Debian releases new versions (which happens every year or so), we upgrade our servers. If you use scripts that might be affected by a Linux upgrade, you should subscribe to our mailing list so that you're aware of any changes.

Installing a precompiled program

To install a precompiled program:

• Place the program in a directory (folder) named "cgi-bin" using your FTP program. You will need to create this directory the first time you upload a file to it.

• Upload the program file in "binary" mode. Note that this is different from the mode you would use to upload a Perl or PHP file. If you accidentally upload a compiled program in ASCII or text mode, it will not work.

• Set the file permissions to make your script "executable" after uploading (you'll sometimes see this process referred to as making the script permissions "mode 0755" or "mode 0700").

Your FTP program documentation should explain how to create directories, transfer a file in binary mode, and change the permissions of a file you've uploaded.

You can use our Script Checker to verify that the program was uploaded properly. That page also gives you a quick way to make the file executable if you prefer to do that on the Web, rather than using your FTP program.

Once your compiled program is installed, you'll access it as:

http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/program.cgi

Of course, use the actual name of your script instead of "program.cgi".