Ikonboard - version 3.1.5A
Installation & Setup Guide
 
Welcome

Thank you for downloading Ikonboard.   We appreciate your interest in our product and have provided these guides to make installation as painless as possible.  Please read the directions carefully prior to installing this script on your server.  If you have difficulty, even after reading these instructions, please check the support forums for previously posted solutions.  If you still have difficulty after going through these processes, you may fill out a support ticket, or post in our forums.   The members of Ikonboard's support team will help you resolve your issues where possible. Often, other members will be there also to help assist you with common questions or problems.

Remember there are a lot of people using that board, so be patient when asking for help. Team members WILL get to you as soon as they see your post and have an idea how to troubleshoot your particular situation. If you wish a trained technician form the Ikonboard support team will install your board for you for the set fee of $12.99. Full details can be found in the member area under advanced services.

For your convenience, words in with a () immediately before them are defined by clicking on the question mark.
 
 
In order to put ikonboard on your site, you will need to have :
   
1) A website that allows self-installed cgi scripts.
   
2) An () FTP client. A good source to find one is ZDNet.com, if you don't have one. Some of the more popular ones are Smart FTP for Windows users, and Fetch for Mac users. (NOTE: We are not associated in any way with these companies, these are simply the most frequently recommended programs by iB users.)
   
3) A host that has installed Perl 5 or better with the DB_file module installed.
   
Please note that although we offer MySQL databases for Ikonboard, that it is not a requirement to have MySQL capabilities on your site in order to use this version of iB.

If you decide to use MySQL at a later date, this can be set up easily in your Admin Control Panel
 
 
Step 1 - Getting Started
 

Inside your iB zip file, you should see the following folders :

[img]          [Tools]          [Upgrading]           [Upload_Files]

If you have never installed ikonboard before, or are not sure what your sendmail path, or directory paths are, then you will want to go into the Upload_Files folder first, then into the cgi-bin folder to find the () perl_test.cgi script. If you have installed ikonboard before, and know all your paths, please skip to Step 2. Sign into your site with your FTP client and look for a cgi-bin. Here are a few examples of what you might see. Please find the one closest to your directory structure and follow it based upon color references. Dark Green will represent your html folder and Blue will represent your cgi folder.

 

cgi-bin/
httpdocs/

cgi-bin/
www/
cgi-bin/
public_html/
public_html/cgi-bin/
(where cgi-bin is inside public_html folder)
www/cgi-bin/
(where cgi-bin is inside www folder)
/cgi-bin
(where there is only one place to upload with cgi or cgi-bin is inside of it)
 

   If you do not see a cgi-bin, or a folder named cgi or something similar, then you will need to make one, as long as you know your host supports cgi. Create the folder and () CHMOD it to 755.  ** Please Note : Windows servers do not accept CHMOD values. The steps discussing CHMOD may be skipped if your site is hosted on a Windows server. **

Once you have pulled it up in your browser window, you should see these items listed on the page if the script has been allowed to work. Remember yours will be different depending on how your host is set up :

 
 
Ikonboard Path and Environment Test 
 
This script checks your paths and environment variables and prints the results based on its best information available.
 
Has DB_File Perl module installed? Yes
Has CGI Perl module installed? Yes
Has DBI Perl module installed? Yes
Has DBD-Mysql Perl module installed? Yes
 
Results:

You can run either a DBM or SQL database as all required perl modules are installed. You will need to contact your server administrator for SQL usage information.

Environment:
 
$ENV{SERVER_SOFTWARE}: Apache/1.3.27 (Unix) FrontPage/5.0.2.2510 mod_ssl/2.8.12 OpenSSL/0.9.6g
$ENV{GATEWAY_INTERFACE}: CGI/1.1
$ENV{DOCUMENT_ROOT}: /www/u/username/htdocs
$ENV{UNIQUE_ID}: PsC2-n8AAAEAAOGfm1A
$ENV{REMOTE_ADDR}: 10.100.1.1
$ENV{SERVER_PROTOCOL}: HTTP/1.1
$ENV{SERVER_SIGNATURE}:  
$ENV{REQUEST_METHOD}: GET
$ENV{ALIAS}: /www/u/username/cgi-bin/ikonboard/perl_test.cgi
$ENV{QUERY_STRING}:  
$ENV{HTTP_USER_AGENT}: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
$ENV{PATH}: /etc:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
$ENV{HTTP_ACCEPT}: */*
$ENV{HTTP_CONNECTION}: Keep-Alive
$ENV{REMOTE_PORT}: 13084
$ENV{SERVER_ADDR}: 207.70.170.23
$ENV{ssl_unclean_shutdown}: 1
$ENV{HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE}: en-us
$ENV{nokeepalive}: 1
$ENV{SCRIPT_NAME}: /cgi-bin/ikonboard/perl_test.cgi
$ENV{HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING}: gzip, deflate
$ENV{SCRIPT_FILENAME}: /www/u/username/cgi-bin/ikonboard/perl_test.cgi
$ENV{SERVER_NAME}: www.ikonboard.net
$ENV{REQUEST_URI}: /cgi-bin/ikonboard/perl_test.cgi
$ENV{HTTP_COOKIE}: lastactivity=1052807513; lastvisit=1052800920; iBSessionID=e294f3837019d51f542b4278cc462232; iBPassWord=5bf2658edf34678279f5aac14ee204db; iBMemberID=87-1052806881; skin=Default; lang=en; ARRAY(0x804e054); fPrefs=1%3A30%3ATOPIC_LAST_DATE%3AZ-A%3A0; LPid=1052807512; stsf_lastactivity=1052794329; stsf_lastvisit=1052783909; stsf_iBSessionID=84da65f82987e4aebe1f0e7ea018cd57; stsf_iBPassWord=5bf2658edf34678279f5aac14ee204db; stsf_iBMemberID=87-1030766046; stsf_skin=Default; stsf_lang=en; stsf_fPrefs=17%3A100%3ATOPIC_LAST_DATE%3AZ-A%3A0; stsf_LPid=1052794299
$ENV{downgrade_1_0}: 1
$ENV{SERVER_PORT}: 80
$ENV{force_response_1_0}: 1
$ENV{HTTP_HOST}: www.ikonboard.net
$ENV{SERVER_ADMIN}: webmaster@domain.com
 
Include Path:
  • /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/i386-freebsd
  • /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005
  • .
  • /usr/libdata/perl/5.00503/mach
  • /usr/libdata/perl/5.00503
 
If your board does not have the DB_File and DBI perl file module installed, you will not be able to use Ikonboard.
   
If you do not have the DBD-Mysql perl module installed, you will not be able to use a mySQL database
   
The "The absolute path to this script is:" shows you your cgi-path, which you will want to make note of, as you will need that when running the installer.
   
If you see a bunch of code on the page when you go to access the script, the the site or directory is not configured for Perl usage, and you will be unable to run ikonboard on your server.
   
If you get an Internal Server Error, please check first to see if you CHMOD the file correctly. It should be RWXR_XR_X or 755. If it is CHMOD correctly and you still get an Internal Server Error, then check to make sure your cgi-bin has also been CHMOD correctly to 755. If the error occurs still after checking those two things, then you will need to contact your host, as something has not been configured correctly or they may not support cgi scripts.

If everything checks out OK to this point, then you are ready to proceed to Step 2. Please note : You may wish to keep this open in a separate browser window during the install process, as you may need to reference the send mail and directory path during the run of the installer script.
   
 These are two examples of the CHMOD values you will use during the installation of Ikonboard. Depending on the FTP client you have chosen, the placement of "Owner", "Group", & "Everyone" may be different and "Everyone" may be replaced by "World". The effect is no different, regardless of what it's called, so long as you understand what value you are giving your files and to whom.
Example of "755"
Example of "777"
Step 2 - Uploading & Setting File Permissions :
 

Now it's time for the good stuff. Please read the instructions below and follow them very carefully. 97% of all installation problems are avoidable by paying attention to the instructions.

Navigate into your Upload_Files folder. This is what will be in that folder :

 
cgi-bin
      BACK_UP
           index.html
      Data
           index.html
      Database
           index.html
      INCOMING
           index.html
      INSTALL_DATA
           board_rules.dat
           email_template.dat
           mem_groups.dat
           ssi_templates.dat
           cgi_path.html
           cgi_url.html
           global_template.html
           index.html
           news.html
           non-cgi_path.html
           non-cgi_url.html
           register.html
           tiker.html
           help.txt
           mysql_schema.txt
           oracle_schema.txt
           postgres_schema.txt

(continued next column)

      install_modules
           Archive
                Compress
                     Zlib.pm
                index.html
                Tar.pm
           admin.pl
           database.pl
           populate.pl
           start.pl
           tar.pl
           functions.pm
      Languages
           index.html
      OUTGOING
           index.html
      Skin
           index.html
      Sources
           index.html
      ikonboard.cgi
      installer.cgi
      ikonboard.conf
      index.html
      Data.tar
      Database.tar
      Languages.tar

(continued next column)

      non-cgi.tar
      Skin.tar
      Sources.tar
iB_html
      uploads
           index.html

Upload Types :

The following files must be uploaded in () ASCII mode :

*.html
*.dat
*.txt
*.pm
*.pl
*.cgi
*.conf


The following file types must be uploaded in () binary mode :

*.tar


NOTE : If your FTP client allows for auto-detect, this is usually the safe way to go, though you may wish to check for your own benefit to make sure that it does upload the files listed above in ASCII format, or you may have problems with your board.

Legend

Directory (folder)

html document

undefined file type

tar file

text type document

text file

 
 
 
For Windows
 
You will probably need to rename your *.cgi files to have the extension *.pl. The majority of windows servers only run pl files.
   
CHMOD settings have no effect. Select all the files (including directories) in your ftp client and upload them into your cgi-bin folder on your server. (To see how to select multiple files, look here.)
   
Select the iB_html folder and upload it into the place where your webpages go. This is likely to be either public_html, www, or httpdocs folder.
   
Point your browser window to the location of the installer.pl or installer.cgi file and walk through the installation. Further assistance for this process can be found in the Installer Guide.
   
 
For Unix/Linux
 
If you are using multiple cgi scripts on your server, you may wish to make a folder inside your cgi-bin just for ikonboard. The names "forums", "boards", "ib3" are a few examples of what you might name that folder. If you make one, CHMOD it to 755.
   
Select all the files in the cgi-bin folder of your hard drive and upload them into the cgi-bin of your server. All your files, including those inside other folders will be uploaded into the correct place. (Most FTP programs do support uploading of a number of files together, if yours does not, make certain that you upload ALL files exactly as show in the directory tree above. To select multiple files, you can a) select the top file, hold down your shift key and select the bottom file or b) select the top file, hold down control and select each additional file individually or c) use a combination of the two.)
   
Select all the folders on your server that you just uploaded (the ones in the cgi-bin), the 6 () tar files and the ikonboard.conf files and CHMOD them to 777. (Most FTP programs support this. If you cannot select multiple files, then do them individually.)
   
Select the three cgi files (ikonboard.cgi, perl_test.cgi & installer.cgi) and CHMOD them to 755.
   
Navigate into the INSTALL_DATA folder. Select all files inside and CHMOD them to 777.*
   
Navigate into the install_modules directory. Highlight everything inside it and CHMOD to 777.*
   
Navigate into the area where your html files are stored. This will be something like public_html, www, or httpdocs.
   
Select the iB_html folder on your hard drive and upload it into the html area of your web server.
   
Highlight the iB_html folder and CHMOD it to 777.*
   
Navigate inside your iB_html folder. Select the directories inside it (uploads and non-cgi) and CHMOD them to 777.*
   

*Note some Apache servers will only execute chmod 755

You have now completed uploading and setting permissions on all the necessary files. Now you are ready to run the installer. For a walk-through guide, please go to the Installer Guide.

 
 
Credit

(c) 2011 South West Telephone Inc.