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Do I need a static, or fixed, IP address to use MiniPortal EP?
No, but it is highly recommended, and required in order to use SSL. If you have a dynamic IP address, you may be interested in MiniPortal instead.
Can I run MiniPortal EP with a cable modem?
Possibly, but check that the IP is static. Also check that the cable Service Agreement permits servers to be operated.
Will MiniPortal EP run with a firewall, router, or proxy server?
Yes, but check the configuration if using SSL. When you run MiniPortal EP, the Basic Access Test will help you set configuration values to work with these systems.
What operating systems does MiniPortal EP run on?
MiniPortal runs on Microsoft® Windows® 2000, XP, and 2003.
How much memory does MiniPortal EP require?
128MB or memory is recommended in addition to operating system memory.
How much disk storage does MiniPortal require?
MiniPortal requires about 100MB for storage of all of its files. Additional disk space may be required depending on the size of the websites you plan to host.
Where in my directory structure is MiniPortal EP installed?
The default installation directory is C:/Program Files/InstantServers. The root of your website is under C:/Program Files/InstantServers/MiniPortal/Apache/htdocs.
How do I uninstall MiniPortal EP?
You will then see the message, "Uninstall complete." However, there may still be parts of MiniPortal EP in the file folder. To complete the uninstallation, from the Windows 'Start' menu, select Programs, then click on Windows Explorer. Under Program Files, select the InstantServers folder, then press the delete key and confirm the deletion. The uninstall is now complete
Add/Remove won't let me uninstall MiniPortal EP; what do I do?
Make sure that MiniPortal is not running. Right-click on the MiniPortal icon in the Windows Task Bar System Tray (the small exclamation point in the lower-right corner of your screen). Select 'Exit' from the popup menu. Now, re-run the uninstallation.
How do I host a web site on MiniPortal EP?
To host a web site on MiniPortal EP, see How to Setup a Web Server with MiniPortal.
What can I do with the trial copy of MiniPortal EP?
The trial copy is a full copy of the MiniPortal EP software. The trial copy is not limited in any way, but will expire after a limited time.
How do I access my web server on the trial copy of MiniPortal EP?
You can initially access your web server by typing the URL http://127.0.0.1/ or http://localhost/ into a browser running on the same machine as the web server. A URL containing the IP address of the machine where the web server is running will also work if the machine is connected to a network.
Note: you can find the web server's IP address by rolling the mouse cursor over the MiniPortal EP "!" icon in the system notification area of the system tray (lower right-hand portion of the screen). After MiniPortal EP is running for a few seconds, a list of IP addresses used by the machine will be displayed.
Does MiniPortal EP support dynamic IP addressing?
Yes, but static IPs are recommended. If you have a dynamic IP address, you may be interested in MiniPortal instead.
How do I view domain information?
From the MiniPortal EP Administrator, open the "Tools" folder, "Utilities" subfolder, then click "Domain Lookup". Enter the name of the domain you wish to view. You can find information about your domain and any other registered domain.
How do I view subdomain information?
Limited subdomain information is also available using the steps in "How do I view domain information"? Additionally, you can view subdomain information by accessing your InstantServers account using the InstantServers folder of the MiniPortal Administrator.
How do I find my web server's IP address?
To find the internet IP address of the web server, run the MiniPortal Basic Access Test. The test will report the IP address of the web server as seen by internet visitors. This will also be the IP of any domain names. Note that (due to a router) this IP will likely be different from the web server's local IP address.
The web server's local IP address can be found by accessing the MiniPortal EP Administrator on the machine where the web server is located. Just login and look for the "IP Address" field.
On the machine where MiniPortal EP is running, positioning the screen cursor over the MiniPortal EP icon in the status area of the system tray (lower right portion of screen) will also display the local IP address(es) so long as the MiniPortal EP web server is running.
How do I access the MiniPortal EP Administrator through Windows?
From your local PC running MiniPortal EP, you can access the MiniPortal Administrator through Start->Programs->MiniPortal->MiniPortal Administrator.
How do I access the MiniPortal EP Administrator through the web?
From a local machine, enter the URL http://127.0.0.1/admin/ into any web-browser. Accessing the Administrator via 127.0.0.1/admin/ does not require a registered domain name but it does require that you use your local PC that is running MiniPortal EP. Alternatively, once you have configured MiniPortal EP with a registered domain name, you can access the Administrator from any web-browser, local or remote, through the URL http://YourDomainName/admin/ where YourDomainName is the domain name you registered using MiniPortal.
For security reasons, accessing the Administrator via YourDomainName/admin/ is authenticated and requires a Admin username and password; accessing the Administrator locally through the Start menu or localhost/admin requires no authentication.
How do I create an authenticated directory?
To create an authenticated directory, you must first create a directory to be authenticated. Then one or more accounts must be created to access the authenticated directory (see Accounts).
To create a directory:
The htdocs directory is the root directory for your website. Any subdirectories created in the htdocs directories will be accessible from your website. However, setting directory authentication requirements for a directory will limit accessibility of that directory to specific users. Once you have created a directory you are ready to set authentication requirements.
To set authentication requirements on a directory:
How do I restart MiniPortal EP from Windows?
Right-click on the MiniPortal EP icon in the Windows Task Bar System Tray (the small exclamation point in the lower-right corner of your screen). Select "Manage Servers" from the popup menu. Each MiniPortal EP server can be stopped and started from this dialog box.
How do I restart MiniPortal EP from the System Administrator?
Click the Home link in the MiniPortal EP Administrator main menu. Each server (except the web server) can be stopped and started from this menu. The web server can only be restarted, since stopping it would also stop the MiniPortal EP Administrator.
What version of MiniPortal EP do I have installed?
The MiniPortal EP version is displayed on the 'About' menu of the MiniPortal Manager (right-click the MiniPortal EP icon in the system tray and select 'About').
The version is also displayed on the Home page of the MiniPortal EP Administrator (http://127.0.0.1/admin/).
What type of MiniPortal EP Web Server accounts exist?
How do I create new user accounts with usernames and passwords?
From the MiniPortal Administrator, click "Accounts". Complete the "Username", "Password", and "Retype Password" fields and then select the type of account you wish to create and click "Save".
How do I run CGI scripts with MiniPortal?
CGI scripts should be placed into the domain CGI directory. On a default installation, this would be:
C:/Program Files/InstantServers/MiniPortal/Apache/cgi-bin
Note that if the cgi-bin directory is changed or a different cgi-bin directory is used for an additional domain, the script should be placed there instead.
Also, the first line of each script (the 'shebang' line) must refer to the script interpreter. On a default installation using Perl, the first line would be:
#!perl
See the MiniPortal User Guide for more information.
How can I tell how many people have accessed my site?
In the MiniPortal EP Administrator, open the "Web Server" folder and choose "Site Report". Select a "Set Report Cycle/Period" (e.g. Today, This Week). Then click "Activity". A chart will be produced indicating the number and type of accesses for the period chosen.
How can I tell if site visitors have encountered errors on my site?
In the MiniPortal EP Administrator, open the "Web Server" folder and choose "Site Report". Select a "Set Report Cycle/Period" (e.g. Today, This Week). Then click "Error". A list of the count and type of the most frequently encountered errors will be displayed. This is followed by a list of the count and URL which caused the error, also for the most frequently occurring errors.
How can I tell who is visiting my site?
It is very difficult to know exactly who is visiting a web site. However, it is possible to tell the origination IP address. In the MiniPortal EP Administrator, open the "Web Server" folder and choose "Site Report". Select a "Set Report Cycle/Period" (e.g. Today, This Week). Then click "Visitor". A list of the number of hits and IP address of the top visitors will be displayed.
How can I find out where visitors are coming from?
The source of the link to your site that visitors clicked can (optionally) be recorded in MiniPortal EP's access log. To do this, first configure MiniPortal EP to record the "Referer" field in its log. In the MiniPortal EP Administrator, open the "Web Server" folder, and choose "Logging". Choose "Referer" then "Submit". The referring link for each new visitor will now be recorded. To view these links, open the "Web Server" folder and choose "Site Report". Select a "Set Report Cycle/Period" (e.g. Today, This Week). Then click "Referrer". A list of the number of hits and the referring URL will be displayed.
How do I setup multiple domains with MiniPortal EP?
To setup multiple domains:
How do I setup web space for multiple users if I have only 1 domain?
Web space can be setup for multiple users with 'subdomains'. For example, if you own a domain 'mydomain.com', then you can create subdomains:
A unique directory can be assigned to each subdomain, giving each user their own web space.
To add a subdomain to MiniPortal EP using the MiniPortal EP Administrator (http://127.0.0.1/admin/). Open the 'Web Server' folder, click the 'Domains' link and click 'New'. Then:
I setup two completely different domains; say, 'domain1.com' and 'domain2.com', but each shows the same page! How do I fix this?
Note that the web browser temporary files may need to be deleted, and the browser may need to be restarted to see both domains.
I setup two domains; a main domain, say, 'domain1.com' and a subdomain, 'mysub.domain1.com', but each shows the same page! How do I fix this?
Note that the web browser temporary files may need to be deleted, and the browser may need to be restarted to see both domains.
What is required to use SSL with MiniPortal EP?
To use SSL with MiniPortal EP, a static IP address for each SSL domain is required. The static IP(s) must be routed directly to the server machine. If a router is in use, it must be configured to route the static IP(s) to the server machine and the server machine must be configured to use the IP(s). The router configuration is sometimes called 'DMZ' or 'public' mode.
An SSL certificate for each domain is also required. SSL certificates can be purchased inexpensively from a certificate reseller. The certificate reseller may also provide a CA (certificate authority) file along with the SSL certificate. If so, is should be placed into the same directory as the certificate (see below).
How do I get an SSL certificate? To get an SSL certificate, a private key file and CSR (certificate signing request) file must be created. To create these:
How do I setup SSL with a MiniPortal EP domain?
To setup SSL with a MiniPortal EP domain:
How do I setup Web Folders (WebDAV) with a MiniPortal EP domain?
To setup web folders, WebDAV must be enabled for a folder on a domain, and one or more web accounts with WebDAV access on the domain must exist.
To setup WebDAV:
Important Notes (for WebDAV with 'Map Network Drive' or 'Network Places'):
To enable user access (permissions) for a web folder:
Note: only existing user accounts are displayed. If additional user accounts are needed, create them with a type of 'Web Account Type: Other'.
How do I use Windows 'Map Network Drive' with a MiniPortal EP web folder?
To map a network drive to a web folder:
How do I use Windows 'Network Places' with a MiniPortal EP web folder?
I created a global ErrorDocument using a text string for '404' errors, but I get a 'Page Not Found' when I access a non-existent page for the domain. How do I fix this?
Either:
How do I transfer my existing website to my local computer running MiniPortal EP?
First, download the content of your website from your ISP or wherever else it may be housed using an FTP client. Then, upload the same content using an FTP client to MiniPortal EP using your registered domain name or subdomain name. If you are on the local machine running MiniPortal, you may also use "localhost"as the hostname.
How do I add Perl scripts to my site?
Perl scripts can be placed in either of two directories, cgi-bin or mod_perl. For performance reasons, it is suggested that you use the mod_perl directory since scripts in this directory will be run under Apache's mod_perl extension. Most, but not all, Perl scripts will run under mod_perl, so you may need to use cgi-bin. Both the mod_perl and cgi-bin directories are located under the default installation directory folder (e.g. under "C:\Program Files\InstantServers\MiniPortal\Apache\").
How do I get MiniPortal EP to work behind a firewall, router, or proxy server?
A firewall, router, or proxy server is designed to be located between a user's machine and the internet. It will hide the IP address of the user's machine from view, thereby preventing direct access by external users or programs, some of whom may be malicious. MiniPortal EP operates on a very restricted set of ports and contains a number of security safeguards. It can be exposed for access to HTTP (port 80), HTTPS (port 443), FTP (port 21), and FTP passive ports. Most firewalls, routers, and proxy servers can be configured to enable external access to these ports for one or more machines which they protect. Check the vendor's user manual for instructions on how to do this. Typically, it can be done using a telnet program or web browser.
Who can publish web sites to MiniPortal EP via FTP?
Only FTP accounts of type "Author" can publish web sites.
How do I publish a website to MiniPortal EP using FTP?
You can connect to MiniPortal EP using an FTP client via your registered domain name, or if you are on the local machine running MiniPortal EP, via the domain name 'localhost':
You can now upload your HTML source files and directory structure using your FTP client's put commands.
How do I create an FTP account?
Open the "Web Server" folder and then click "Accounts". Click the "New" button. Enter a user name, a password, re-type the password, then select an FTP account type of either "Author" or "Other" and press "Save". "Author" accounts have the ability to both read and write using FTP, while "Other" accounts are read-only.
How secure is MiniPortal EP?
The MiniPortal EP web server allows HTTP and HTTPS access to your machine on ports 80 and 443. Access is restricted to a subdirectory (e.g. "htdocs") where MiniPortal EP is installed.
When HTTPS (SSL) is used, data sent to and received from the web server is encrypted to prevent eavesdropping.
The MiniPortal EP FTP server allows access to your machine on port 21. The FTP server requires user authentication at the "Author" or "Admin" level. Only those accounts necessary should be created, and passwords should be chosen safely (i.e. no dictionary works, birthdates, etc.). The FTP server can only read and write files and directories within the account's directory level.
All passwords on MiniPortal EP are encrypted, and stored outside of the default web and FTP directories. Because of this encryption, it is not possible to recover a lost password; if a password is lost, a new one must be created from the server machine using http://127.0.0.1/admin/ to access MiniPortal Administrator.
What should I do if I get a 'Page not found' or other error when accessing http://127.0.0.1 or http://127.0.0.1/admin/setup?
First make sure that MiniPortal EP is running. The MiniPortal EP program '!' icon in the lower right portion of the screen should be green.
Next, flush your browser cache. In IE, select Tools->Internet Options->Delete Files and check 'Delete all offline content'. Exit IE and then restart it. Enter http://127.0.0.1/
Next, your DNS cache may need to timeout. Rebooting the machine may help, or just letting a few minutes pass before you try accessing http://127.0.0.1/ again may work.
Next, make sure that you are not using a Proxy Server from your web browser. In Internet Explorer 5, select Tools->Internet Options->Connections->LAN Settings. The 'Use automatic configuration script' box should not be checked. In Netscape 4, select Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Proxies. Make sure 'Direct Connection to the Internet' is checked.
Finally, the '127.0.0.1' entry may have been deleted from the local 'hosts' file. You can manually add it back in. On Win9x, open: 'Windows\hosts.sam'. On Win2000, open: 'WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts'. Then add the following line:
127.0.0.1 localhost
and then save the file. Exit and restart MiniPortal and try accessing the URL again.
What should I do if http://127.0.0.1 is empty or shows 'Parent Directory?
Make sure you have an 'index.html' file in your web server default document directory. Normally, this is the 'Apache/htdocs' subdirectory located under the MiniPortal EP installation directory.
What should I do if I can access http://127.0.0.1 but not the MiniPortal EP Setup page (http://127.0.0.1/admin/setup/index.html)?
This is most likely a timing problem between your web server startup and your browser startup. The browser may try to access the Setup page before the web server has finished initializing. Try to flush your browser cache. In IE, select Tools->Internet Options->Delete Files and check 'Delete all offline content'. Exit IE and then restart it. Rebooting the machine may help, or just letting a few minutes pass before you try accessing the Setup page again may work.
What should I do if I cannot access my domain or subdomain?
Run the MiniPortal Basic Access Test. This will check your machine's IP address and check that your web server can be accessed from the internet.
If your web server can not be accessed from the internet, follow the instructions given by the Basic Access Test to find and fix the problem.
What should I do if the Basic Access Test passes but I still cannot access my domain or subdomain?
If you add '?domain=your-domain-name.com' to the end of the Basic Access Test URL, it will check that your domain is registered on the internet, and display your domain's current IP, so that you can check if it matches your server's external IP.
If your server's external IP does not match your domain's IP, then your domain's DNS is not pointing to the right IP address. If you are using a Trial Subdomain name, login to your InstantServers account and check that MiniPortal has been configured with the correct domain information.
If you are using a full domain name, you will need to update the DNS for your domain name (if your IP is static, you should be able to change the IP address at your Registrar's web site. If your IP is dynamic, you will need a dynamic DNS service).
What should I do if the Basic Access Test passes but I still cannot access my domain or subdomain, and I have a router?
Certain routers do not allow a machine 'behind' the router (i.e. on the local area network) to access itself, or to access any other machine 'behind' the router using a domain name. The reason for this is that the domain name refers to the external IP address of the router. So, any request is routed 'out' to the internet and then back 'in' through the external IP of the router (which is configured to forward requests to the server machine). The router gets confused by this. The solution is to use the internal IP of the server (or 127.0.0.1 if on the server machine) when accessing the domain. The internal IP can be found by rolling the mouse over the MiniPortal icon in the lower right of the screen.
What should I do if I have two domains with different folders, but I only see one domain?
See 'Web Server: Domains'.
How else can I tell if my domain name refers to the correct internet address?
Open an MSDOS window, and type "ping yourdomainname.com" (e.g. "ping instantservers.com"). The address returned is the internet address to which the domain name refers.
What do I do if I forget my MiniPortal EP Administrator username and/or password?
For security reasons, you cannot login to the MiniPortal EP Administrator from a remote machine if you do not have a valid username and password. However, logging in to the MiniPortal EP Administrator on your local machine does not require a username and a password. Thus, if you have forgotten your username or password:
The FTP server does not start? What should I do?
Check if another FTP server is already running:
If a connection is established and an FTP 'greeting' message is displayed, there is another FTP server running which must be disabled before MiniPortal EP's FTP server can be used.
Another FTP server is running on my system. How do I disable it?
There are many FTP servers and each is controlled differently. However, the server may be running as a Windows Service. To check this on W2000/XP/2003:
If the FTP server is not found:
I can not login to FTP? What should I do?
To check the FTP server:
The server should indicate that the login was successful (enter 'quit' to logout). If the login was not successful, then another FTP server is running (see above).
How do I setup an FTP account?
From the MiniPortal EP Administrator (http://127.0.0.1/admin/):
I can login to FTP but can not list folders or transfer data? What should I do?
Disable 'passive mode' in your FTP client (or web browser if using it to FTP; if using IE, there is a checkbox for doing this on the Tools->Internet Options->Advanced screen).
I have disabled 'passive mode' in my FTP client, but I still can not login to the FTP server from an external machine? What should I do?
If the external machine is behind a firewall (or router) and the FTP server is also behind a firewall or router, then then the client must use 'passive mode'. The only way to make this work with a server behind a firewall (or router) is to open all ports (possibly ports 20, 21 and some additional ports >=1026) on the firewall (or router) protecting the server.
What do I do if I have multiple network cards (NICs) and MiniPortal EP shows an IP address of '169.254.x.x'?
This external, but so-called 'private address' may be incorrectly used by MiniPortal EP to setup the DNS for your domain (or subdomain) name. You must use a valid 'internal' network address for your internal network. If you are using ICS, change the Network settings to assign an IP address to the NIC connected to the internal network as follows: select Start->Settings->Control Panel->Network, then choose the 'TCP/IP' entry for your internal NIC card and select Properties. Select the 'IP Address' tab and click 'Specify IP Address'. Enter 192.168.0.1 as the 'IP Address' and 255.255.255.0 as the 'Subnet Mask' then click OK. Windows will require a reboot for these settings to take effect. MiniPortal EP should now show the new address (192.168.0.1) and the domain (or subdomain) can now be setup correctly in the DNS.
The MiniPortal EP icon turns red shortly after running MiniPortal EP. What should I do?
The most common reason for this is an error in the Apache configuration file ('Apache\conf\httpd.conf'). This can happen if that file is hand-edited. To check if this is the problem:
If you see an error message, usually Apache will display the line number of the 'Apache\conf\httpd.conf' file containing the error. If the error is not obvious, you may be able to get an idea by comparing 'httpd.conf' to 'httpd.conf.prepl'. The latter is a copy of 'httpd.conf' before the last change made by the MiniPortal Administrator.
The MiniPortal EP Manager does not start and I do not see a MiniPortal EP '!' icon in the system tray. What should I do?
The most likely cause of this problem is a corrupted 'servers.txt' file. If this happens check if the file 'MiniPortal\servers.txt.tmp' exists. If so, make a copy of it and rename it to 'servers.txt'.
The server will not start after I added SSL. What should I do?
To check for server problems:
If you see an error message, usually Apache will display the line number of the 'Apache\conf\httpd.conf' file containing the error. If the error is not obvious, you may be able to get an idea by comparing 'httpd.conf' to 'httpd.conf.prepl'. The latter is a copy of 'httpd.conf' before the last change made.
I get the following error message when starting Apache as above: 'OPENSSL_Uplink(00BC5010,13): no OPENSSL_Applink'. What should I do?
This error may be caused by an incorrectly formatted SSL certificate. If an SSL certificate is copied from an email message, rather than downloaded as a file, it is possible that the line endings are not compatible with PC format. In this case, try copying the certificate using a different editing program (e.g. WordPad instead of Notepad). Or, download the file if possible.