Support Start > Web Hosting Technical Information > Installing and Configuring Custom Scripts > Path to cgi-bin

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If you install any scripts, you may need to know the location (path) of your "cgi-bin" directory on the server's disk.

The path to your "cgi-bin" directory is:

/var/www/html/ex/example.com/cgi-bin

So what is the "cgi-bin" directory, anyway?

The "cgi-bin" directory is the location you will use to store your Perl or compiled script files. Any files you place in it will be treated as programs (instead of HTML pages or images), and will be "run" by the server instead of displayed normally.

The "cgi-bin" directory does not exist until you create it with your FTP program at the top level of your website directory. From the perspective of your FTP program, it's just a normal directory (folder) that you can create, but it's treated differently by the server because of its special name.

If you wish, you can make other directories act like the "cgi-bin" directory.

Subdomains and the "cgi-bin" directory

The instructions above apply to the main "cgi-bin" directory at the top level of your site. If you create subdomains and put a directory named "cgi-bin" in them, it won't automatically work like the main "cgi-bin" directory.

For example, if you create a "sales" directory containing a "cgi-bin" directory, so you can access scripts as "http://sales.example.com/cgi-bin/something.cgi", that won't work without extra effort. You'll need to follow the instructions to make the new "cgi-bin" directory act like the main "cgi-bin" directory.