Document revision date: 28 June 1999

These release notes contain additional or late-breaking information about Netscape FastTrack Web Server for OpenVMS Alpha.

Revision/Update Information: This manual supersedes the Netscape FastTrack Web Server Version 3.01 for OpenVMS Alpha Release Notes.

Software Version: Netscape FastTrack Web Server Version 3.01A for OpenVMS Alpha

Compaq Computer Corporation
Houston, Texas

Digital Equipment Corporation makes no representations that the use of its products in the manner described in this publication will not infringe on existing or future patent rights, nor do the descriptions contained in this publication imply the granting of licenses to make, use, or sell equipment or software in accordance with the description.

Possession, use, or copying of the software described in this publication is authorized only pursuant to a valid written license from Digital Equipment Corporation or an authorized sublicensor.

© Digital Equipment Corporation 1999. All rights reserved.

Compaq, the Compaq logo, and the DIGITAL logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Alpha, AlphaServer, AlphaStation, DEC, DIGITAL, OpenVMS, Tru64, VAX, VMS, are trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation.

The following are third-party trademarks:

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Netscape, Netscape FastTrack Server, and Netscape Navigator are registered trademarks, and Netscape Navigator Gold and Netscape Communicator are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation.

Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, used under license for technology invented by Netscape.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

MultiNet and TCPware are registered trademarks of Process Software Corporation.

Other product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective companies.

This document was prepared using VAX DOCUMENT, Version V3.2n.

ZK6561

The OpenVMS documentation set is available on CD-ROM.

Contents

1 Version 3.01A of Netscape FastTrack Server for OpenVMS Alpha

New in Netscape FastTrack Version 3.01A for OpenVMS Alpha is the ability to deploy and manage multiple FastTrack servers in a clustered environment. This allows users to more efficiently and easily manage many different Netscape servers from a single administration server.

These release notes provide details about prerequisites, restrictions, and known problems for this version of Netscape FastTrack for OpenVMS Alpha. In addition to these release notes, a FAQ file and the OpenVMS Supplement are also available.

If you want to upgrade the FastTrack server from Version 3.01 to Version 3.01A without changing your current configuration, run FT 3.01 ns-setup and use your current server root directory as the server root. At the end of ns-setup, answer No to "Configure new server now?" This keeps all of your existing configuration settings.

3 FastTrack Cluster Support

FastTrack for OpenVMS Alpha Version 3.01A now uses the Netscape clustering feature described in Chapter 3 of the Administrator's Guide.

To view the documentation on line, on the Administration Server screen, click the Help button and go to Chapter 3, Managing Clusters.

Note that FastTrack for OpenVMS Alpha is not designed to utilize OpenVMS clustering technology. A separate installation of FastTrack is required on each node of an OpenVMS Cluster that will run FastTrack.

4 New Logicals with Multiple Equivalences for CGI Variables

In FastTrack Version 3.01 for OpenVMS Alpha, DCL CGI variable values were limited to 1024 characters. Image CGI variables were limited even more. These limitations were OpenVMS limits.

In Version 3.01A, you can define logical names to control the method of defining the CGI variables. This directs FastTrack to use logical names with multiple equivalences when longer CGI variables are needed.

See Section 11 and Section 12 for information about these new logical names.

5 Web Application Interface (WAI) Not Supported in V3.01A

The WAI feature (Programs | WAI Management) is not supported in Version 3.01A. This feature will be provided in a future release.

6 Server Status | Archive Log | rotate log Option Not Supported in V3.01A

The Server Status | Archive Log | rotate log option is not supported in Version 3.01A. This feature will be provided in a future release.

7 Mixed UNIX and OpenVMS Style File Names Using Extended ODS-5 Syntax Not Supported

The On-Disk Structure Level 5 (ODS-5) volume structure, introduced in OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2, supports long file names, allows the use of a wider range of characters within file names and preserves case within file names.

However, the DEC C RTL shipped with OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 does not provide full support for extended file names on ODS-5 devices.

This lack of full support imposes certain restrictions on users running Netscape FastTrack Server or deploying Java applications on an ODS-5 device.

In general, users running Netscape FastTrack or deploying Java applications on OpenVMS can input either UNIX style file names or OpenVMS style file names. (FastTrack will usually output UNIX style file names.) With both products, file names are often constructed by FastTrack or the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

Because mixed UNIX and OpenVMS style extended file names are not yet supported by the DEC C RTL, you may be required to use UNIX style syntax when interacting with Java applications or FastTrack, for example, to modify a root to which you append additional directories or a file name.

The following example illustrates sample mixed UNIX and OpenVMS style file names that are not supported in OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2:

doc/foo.bar.bar ./tmp/foo.bar.b^_ar ~foo^.bar

These mixed UNIX- and VMS-style file names will be supported in a future release of the DEC C RTL for OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2.

8 Use File Names with Extensions for New Files

When you specify a file name for a new file to be created (such as an access log file, error log file, when exporting an LDAP database to a file, and so on), you can avoid confusion by always specifying a file extension. Problems can occur if the directory contains a subdirectory with the name of the file you are creating.

For example, suppose you specify a file name without an extension (FOO instead of FOO.TXT), and there is a directory called FOO.DIR in the same directory where the file FOO is to be created. The file FOO. is created, but it will have attributes appropriate to a directory rather than attributes appropriate to a file. In particular, it will look like a directory file, with the following record attributes:

Record format: Variable length, maximum 512 bytes, longest 512 bytes Record attributes: No carriage control, Non-spanned

For example, if you create a directory called ERRORS.DIR under the server [.LOGS] directory for the server, then start the server again (after removing the original ERRORS. file), the server will hang. It cannot create an ERRORS. file, the default name for the error log, because there is a file called ERRORS.DIR already in the [.LOGS] directory.

To correct the problem, delete ERRORS.DIR, then restart the server.

9 Dynamic Configuration File Name

By default, OpenVMS users cannot use the file name .NSCONFIG for their dynamic configuration file name.

Valid file names must be in the form NSCONFIG or VMS.NSCONFIG. Beginning a file name with a period (.) is invalid. For example, .NSCONFIG is invalid.

By default, the presence of a dollar sign ($) character in either the translated requesting URL path or the path to the dynamic configuration file name causes the dynamic configuration function to fail.

If you want to use a dollar sign character in your FastTrack installation directory, User Public Directory mappings, or any other directory mapping in your FastTrack server, use the following logical:

NETSCAPE$disable_$_match_character

This causes FastTrack not to treat the dollar sign as a special character and avoids the conflicts that often occurs on OpenVMS.

10 No Privileges in Installed CGI

In order to execute a CGI program with privileges, it is necessary to install the image with privileges. However, when the CGI runs, it does not have the expected privileges.

This is a known problem in the current DEC C RTL and is corrected in the ALPACRT07_071 ECO for OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1.

11 Symbol Truncation When Using C CGIs

By default, the standard set of environment variables such as CONTENT_LENGTH are passed into C CGI programs by *envp and are accessible through the getenv() system call. A restriction in the C RTL (run-time library) prevents such an environment variable from being passed correctly if it is more than approximately 230 characters in length. Strings longer than 230 characters will be truncated.

In keeping with the method used in other OpenVMS web servers, FastTrack for OpenVMS Alpha can be configured to use logicals with multiple equivalences when longer CGI variables are needed.

For C image CGIs, define the following two logicals where the FastTrack server process can access them:

• NETSCAPE$USE_LOGICALS_FOR_CGIVARS
  This logical turns on the fix for DCL/Perl CGIs. CGI variables will be defined as logicals instead of symbols.
• NETSCAPE$CGI_USE_DCLCOM_FOR_IMAGES
  This logical forces image CGIs to use DCL.COM to set up their environment variables. When combined with NETSCAPE$USE_LOGICALS_FOR_CGIVARS, this logical enables the enhancement for image CGIs.

The note in Section 12 applies to C CGIs as well as DCL and Perl CGIs.

12 Symbol Truncation When Using DCL or Perl CGIs

By default, the standard set of CGI environment variables are passed into DCL and Perl CGIs by OpenVMS symbols. OpenVMS symbols are limited to 1023 characters. Therefore, if one of these variables is longer than 1023 characters, the variable will be undefined in your DCL or Perl CGI.

In keeping with the method used in other OpenVMS web servers, FastTrack for OpenVMS Alpha can be configured to use logicals with multiple equivalences when longer CGI variables are needed.

For C image CGIs, define the following two logicals where the FastTrack server process can access them:

• NETSCAPE$USE_LOGICALS_FOR_CGIVARS
  This logical turns on the fix for DCL and Perl CGIs. CGI variables are defined as logicals instead of symbols.
• NETSCAPE$CGI_VARIABLE_SEGMENT_LENGTH
  This logical changes the length of each logical equivalences segment from the default of 255 to the value that is set. There is a hard-coded OpenVMS maximum of 255 for logicals.

Before you enable the encryption feature for the Administration Server, you must install a server certificate.

After you turn on encryption, perform the following steps to start the Secure Administration Server:

1. Shut down the Administration Server.
2. Restart the Administration Server by entering one of the following commands:

   $ @START_ADMIN

   
   You will be prompted for a password. Or enter:

   $ @START-ADMIN "-Z password"

You must shut down the Web server before modifying the user account under which the web server runs. The files whose ownership is being changed (access and errors) remain open while the server is running. If you do not shut down the web server, the access and the errors files under the logs directory file are not closed and the ownership on the files is not changed.

15 "Forbidden" Error When Setting Server Preferences | Error Responses

When changing settings in Server Preferences | Error Responses in the Administration Server for your FastTrack server, note that the "Forbidden" error is never returned on OpenVMS systems. The "Unauthorized" error occurs when the server is unable to read a file.

On UNIX systems, if you do not have READ access to a file, you can still see the file name and whether the file exists.

On OpenVMS systems, if you do not have READ access to a file, OpenVMS returns "File not found." OpenVMS does not reveal whether the file exists.

16 V1 to V3 Migration Does Not Support Migration of SSL Server

The SSL server key file and certificates are not migrated during the V1 to V3 migration.

After the migration is completed, edit the MAGNUS.CONF file to remove the lines that refer to the certificate file and the key file.

17 Version Numbers in OpenVMS File Specifications

OpenVMS file specifications are permitted in most places where a file name must be provided. However, a version number cannot be specified.

This means that you can only use the highest version of a particular file. If you want to specify an older version of a particular file, rename the higher version of the file so that the version you want to specify becomes the highest version.

18 JavaScript: Document.lastModified Does Not Always Work

The following code in an HTML document does not return the correct date if Content Management | Parse HTML has been activated.

<SCRIPT>document.write(document.lastModified);</SCRIPT>

The last modified date is not a required portion of the header, and some servers do not supply it. If the server does not return the last modified information, JavaScript receives a zero, which it displays as January 1, 1970 GMT.

19 Compiling an Object for Use in an External Library

When compiling an object for use in an external library (for example, a library of C routines to be used by a server-side JavaScript program), the object must be compiled with the /IEEE_MODE=INEXACT qualifier to maintain compatibility with the server images.

Failure to do this will cause floating point operations to produce incorrect results or other unpredictable results, including system crashes.

20 Trailing Space in Document Directory

Do not put any trailing spaces in directory names. If you do, OpenVMS will not find the directory. (Tru64^tm UNIX allows you to create a space in the directory name.) However, the first time you enter a directory name with a trailing space, a "directory not found" message is displayed.

If you are having problems with a document directory, check the quoted string in OBJ.CONF for extra characters.

21 Purge Files Generated by the Servers

The default directory of the account running the Administration Server will accumulate DAEMONSTAT*. files and START-ADMIN.LOG files. The default directory of the account running the HTTPD Server will accumulate DAEMONSTAT*. files and START.LOG files.

You can safely purge these files.

22 "Apply" is Not Required After You Create a New Personal Server

After you create a new Personal Server, if you click "Configure more about your new server" you will receive the following message:

JavaScript Alert: Warning: Manual edits not loaded Some configuration files have been edited by hand. Use the 'Apply' button on the upper right side of the screen to load the latest configuration files.

You can ignore this message. However, if you want to make configuration changes, use the Apply button after you have made your changes.

When "Enable Async DNS?" is checked yes under Server Preferences | Performance Tuning, it disables DNS queries in the log files. Often only IP addresses will appear the access log files, as if "Enable DNS" was turned off.

If you want to have IP address names in the access log file, leave "Enable Async DNS?" checked no, and check "Enable DNS" as yes.

24 Use Stream_LF Format Files

The FastTrack server handles Stream_LF format files much more efficiently than it does other file types. If you are concerned about performance and have documents that are large or frequently accessed by your server, converting them to Stream_LF format can significantly improve performance.

To determine the format of a file, use the DIRECTORY command as follows:

$ DIRECTORY /FULL file-name

Locate the line beginning "Record format:". The line will appear similar to the following for a file that is already in Stream_LF format:

Record format: Stream_LF, maximum 0 bytes, longest 51 bytes

If the format is not Stream_LF, the file can be converted as follows.

Create a file named STREAM_LF.FDL that contains the following three lines:

RECORD BLOCK_SPAN yes FORMAT stream_lf

Then use the CONVERT utility:

$ CONVERT /FDL=STREAM_LF file-name file-name

You may want to purge file-name after you convert the file.

25 Known Problems in Version 3.01A

The following list contains the known problems in the Version 3.01A kit.

• If you click on the Help button in the Cluster Management | Cluster Control screen, it returns "Not Found." To get Help info, use the Help button on the Cluster Management | Add Server (or Remove Server/Modify Server) screens, and scroll down to the Cluster Control section.
• Cannot migrate user passwords between Netscape Communications and Commerce Version 1.12 servers and FastTrack V3.01A.
  Because of incompatibilities between the way user passwords are stored in V1 and in V3, you should use the V3 Administration Server to reenter user passwords stored in the V1 database.
  You can do this by selecting the Users&Groups screen in the Administration Server. Choose the Manage Users option, and then select and edit each user, choose the password option, and enter the password again.
• Administration Server may fail at first startup.
  The Administration Server may fail the first time you try to start it after initial installation and sometimes after rebooting a system. When you start it again with the same command, the Administration Server will continue to run.

  $ @START-ADMIN

• Server problem with invalid IP address in DIGITAL TCP/IP Services Version 4.2 for OpenVMS (UCX V4.2).
  With DIGITAL TCP/IP Services Version 4.2 for OpenVMS (formerly called UCX Version 4.2), if you enter an invalid IP address for the FastTrack server to bind to, the server appears to come up but does not serve pages, or the server comes up but a hardware virtual server does not work. There is no error message for either of these conditions. The solution is to reenter a valid IP address.
  This problem is corrected in DIGITAL TCP/IP Services Version 5.0 for OpenVMS.
• Global Settings | Restrict Access | Edit ACL does not work with multiple Program Groups.
  If a user is allowed access to multiple Program Groups, ACLs do not function properly. Following is a workaround.
  If your Server Administration requires that user 1 must be limited to a few Program Groups while user 2 must have access to the others, you can work around the problem by displaying the Users&Groups screen, creating five users with different passwords, putting them all in the Administrators group, then giving some of the passwords to user 1 and others to user 2. For example, your SERVERROOT:[ADMINACL]ADMIN-SERV.ACL file might look like this:

  Version 3.0; acl "admin-serv"; deny with file = "/dka300/users/marysr/ss2/adminacl/admin-denymsg.html"; deny (all) (user = "anyone"); deny absolute (all) group != "Administrators"; allow (all) (user = "adminpref") and (program = "Admin Preferences"); allow (all) (user = "globalset") and (program = "Global Settings"); allow (all) (user = "usersgroups") and (program = "Users and Groups"); allow (all) (user = "keyscerts") and (program = "Keys and Certificates"); allow (all) (user = "clustermgt") and (program = "Cluster Management");

  
  Then you could give user 1 the passwords for user="usersgroups" and "clustermgt" and give user 2 the passwords for user="adminpref", "globalset", and "keyscerts".
  Note that, in this example, user 1 must have two windows: one logged in as "usersgroups" and the other as "clustermgt". User 2 must have three windows: one logged in as "adminpref", one as "globalset", and one as "keyscerts". This is because Navigator remembers what userid/password you logged in with the first time and will reuse it rather than honor a second login.

• LDAP_INSUFFICIENT_ACCESS error occurs when importing LDIF file into user's database.
  When the directory service is set to use the LDAP directory server, importing an LDIF file into the user's database can result in an LDAP_INSUFFICIENT_ACCESS error generated by the LDAP server.
  This error will show in the LDAP server log file (error 0x32) and results in an error message returned to the Administration Server that it was unable to import the LDIF file. (This means that it was unable to write the file to the remote LDAP server.)
  If you encounter this error, a configuration change may be needed in the LDAP server to allow the Administration Server to write to the LDAP server database. Check with the LDAP server administrator to make sure that the Administration Server installed has been given write access to the LDAP server database. Also, make sure that the instructions on how to configure the access to the remote LDAP server are followed correctly from the Administration Server side.
• Installed images remain open after the Administration Server is down; cannot rerun NS-CONFIG.
  If you need to rerun NS-CONFIG, you will have to INSTALL DELETE the following images:

  [<server-root>.LIB]FIXBG.EXE [<server-root>.BIN.ADMIN]NS-ADMIN.EXE [<server-root>.BIN.HTTPD]NS-HTTPDSO.EXE [<server-root>.BIN.ADMIN]NSADMINSO.EXE [<server-root>.LIB]NSPRSO.EXE [<server-root>.LIB]LDAP10SO.EXE [<server-root>.LIB]LCACHE10SO.EXE [<server-root>.BIN.HTTPD]HTTPDLWSO.EXE [<server-root>.PLUGINS.JAVA.BIN]SJBOOTSO.EXE [<server-root>.PLUGINS.JAVA.BIN]SJAVASO.EXE

• When you deactivate User Document Directories, you get a JavaScript error about 'Success!\n Users' public info...
  You can ignore this error.
• Editing keys do not work during installation.
  Some of the usual editing keys and key sequences (such as ^H (delete) and pressing the left arrow key) do not work properly and disrupt the display.
• Global Settings | Restrict Access | Edit ACL returns JavaScript error.
  The following error occurs when you try on Netscape Navigator Global Settings | Restrict Access | Edit ACL:

  JavaScript Error: http://digvms00:4444/admin-serv/html/aclapplet.html, line 9: java is not defined.

  
  This occurs only on Netscape Navigator Version 3.x. Navigator 4.x works correctly.

• There is no mechanism to prevent the creation or modification of the server if a wrong UIC is used.
  There is no mechanism to prevent someone from creating a new instance of the FastTrack server with either the same account as an existing instance or an account in a different group UIC from the existing instance. Either of these actions will create a server that in fact will not start.
  See the Required Privileges section in the OpenVMS Supplement for more information about UIC group limitations.
• Files named with leading "." not in directory list.
  Files with null file names (for example ".leading_dot") do not appear. This is a UNIX like feature to not show hidden files. There is no workaround.
• Server Status | Monitor Current Activity requires privileges and ECO.
  The PRMGBL and SYSGBL privileges are required if you use the Server Status | Monitor Current Activity capability (also known as Site Monitor). To use the Site Monitor on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1, you must also install the ALPACRT07_071 patch from:

  http://ftp1.service.digital.com/patches/public/vms/axp/v7.1/alpacrt07_071

  
  The software works correctly without the ECO on OpenVMS Version 7.2.

• SSL LDAP between FastTrack and Directory Server.
  SSL LDAP between the FastTrack 3.01A server and any Directory 3.1 Server does not currently work. This will be corrected in a future release of FastTrack for OpenVMS Alpha.
  Non-SSL LDAP was tested and works as expected.
• Generated ACL file contains syntax error that prevents server startup.
  The following line must be the first line of the ACL file:

  version 3.0;

  
  If the version number is not the first line, the server cannot initialize ACLs and will not come up. When recreating an ACL file, the server does not insert this line as the first line.
  To avoid this problem, do not delete the original ACL file, and do not create a new one. If you do create a new ACL file, manually add the version number as the first line of the file.

• Server-side JavaScript web file path must be a UNIX style file specification.
  This is an exception to the general rule about file specifications given in Chapter 4 of the OpenVMS Supplement, which states that in most cases, you can input either UNIX style file names or OpenVMS style file names. On output, you will usually see UNIX style file names.
• OpenVMS Extended File Specifications (EFS) is untested in FastTrack.
  Support for EFS has not been tested in FastTrack Version 3.01A for OpenVMS Alpha. This support will be provided in a future release.
  Extended File Specifications is a feature of OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 that allows the use of Windows® style file specifications.
• Server-side "include virtual" function works for local URLs only.
  The server-side "include virtual" function (also called server-parsed HTML) works only when you specify a local URL. For example, the following does work:

  /test/include2.txt

  
  But the following do not work:

  //localhost/test/include2.txt http://localhost/test/include2.txt

For information about features that are not supported on OpenVMS, see Chapter 4 in the OpenVMS Supplement.

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