For security and convenience, we do not run a web server from the main Unix systems in the lab. This duty is performed by a separate computer. This computer has the name of www.uoxray.uoregon.edu. Any access by the outside world to data in the lab should be granted via this machine.
Be sure that everything you put there is ready for disclosure.
Unless you take special precautions placing data on the web server legally
counts as a "publication". When you publish a paper in a journal you
will likely be required to sign a statement that this work has not been published
previously. If you placed it on the web you will not be able to publish
it a second time in a journal. The journals Nature and Science are particularly
strict about this sort of thing. The publication date is also critical
in determining the patientability of an idea.
You must get permission from your boss before putting any unpublished research ideas on the web.
You are not permitted to log onto the web server. You will create
and maintain your files using any member of the Unix cluster via the file
system /internet. Any file in this directory tree is actually stored
on www.uoxray.uoregon.edu and will, in all likelihood, be visible to the
world. This web page describes how you can present data in several
different ways via the Internet.
There is one complication: you must ensure that the protection of all your files is set so that users in the "other" category are granted "read" permission. This is done in two steps: You must ensure that "other" users can pass through the directory you just created and that, once there, they can read your file.
To open a directory to "other" access, change your working directory (with the "cd" command) to the parent directory and type "chmod o+rx file", where "file" is replaced with your directory's name.
The "cd" into your directory and type the command "chmod o+r *". You do not want to type this command in you home directory on the Cluster (/usr/users).
This file access stuff is hard to remember and will likely cause us great difficulty. If you have files in your web directory but the browser claims that it is not authorized to show them to you, this is likely your problem.
You can create your own local web site by creating a directory in /internet/httpd/html/local. Your directory should be named with your username. You may then reach this file with the URL http://www.uoxray.uoregon.edu/~name. You must change the file access permissions to allow users of type "other" to access these files, just as you must with files being served to the world. A description of what you must do can be found here.
For example, I have two (well... three when you count the TNT pages) web areas. They are /dale and /~dale. You may look at them to see how I use them. /dale/welcome.html is the page I expect people to see when they are looking for information about me. /~dale/welcome.html contains my favorite bookmarks. The latter page allows me to hop directly to a site regardless of which computer I am using at the time. I can be anywhere is the world and my bookmarks are available to me. It is not pretty but it doesn't need to be.
If e-mail does not meet your needs, you will have to talk to me (Dale). I can allow login
access to your account on the web server. You will have to set a password,
one that is different from the one you use on the Cluster. You
may then create a directory in /internet whose name is your username and place
your files in it. Give the password of your web server account to your
collaborator and let them sftp into www.uoxray.uoregon.edu using your account.
They transfer out the files, you tell me, and I shut down further access.
Please delete the files when you have finished with them.
Note that I said "sftp" not "ftp". There is no ftp server on www.uoxray.uoregon.edu.
Protection is important to consider with these files too. Normally we allow other members of our group to read our files. Protected files on the web server must be considered different. If you allow others in the "group" to read your private web files, people from outside the lab who have access to someone else's private directory will be able to read your files as well. You should remove all access for "group" and "other" in your private directory. This is done with the command "chmod go-rwx *". If you have a whole directory tree you will have to use the -R option.
This web site uses the Apache web server software. The users' guide for the server is here.
You will likely have to work with me to set up complicated applications. I don't know every type of thing that someone would want to do and probably have not got the permissions set up perfectly.