MGI 1.x Installation

Please read the entire Install Procedure prior to actually installing MGI. There are several different configuration changes you need or may need to make. Some folks have found it helpful to take notes about what specifically pertains to their own installation. If you have any problems or questions, please feel free to contact PagePlanet Software by email at support@pageplanetsoftware.com, by phone at 919-852-5262, or use our listserv to which you may subscribe at http://www.pageplanetsoftware.com/

The following installation guide for MGI assumes that you are running WebStar 4.x,.

This install process is the same for version 3.x on up of WebStar as well and we have found no differences from prior versions.

Installation procedures are identical for both the regular WebStar and the WebStar/SSL, though the new bundling of WebStar SSL in 4.2 does not require you to install a second copy of WebStar. The MGI plug-in installed once on the server serves both non-secure and SSL requests provided you are running both versions on the same machine.

To install MGI on your server:

  • Download MGI from the PagePlanet Software web site.
  • Double click on the VISE installer icon.
  • Read and agree to the licensing agreement.
  • Click on the install button.
  • Enter your MGI serial number as found in the email you received upon the purchase of MGI. If you are installing the demo version of MGI, you will not need to enter in a serial number; it is there already.

The installer will then search for all copies of WebStar located on all mounted hard drives. If only one copy is found, the install process proceeds automatically. If more than one copy of WebStar is located, a dialog box appears asking you to locate the copy of WebStar you wish to enhance with MGI.

  • Locate the target copy of WebStar and click on that entry in the dialog box.
  • Once the target copy of WebStar is selected, click on the OK button.

If the install operation was successful, click on Continue or Quit depending on whether you wish to perform additional installations of MGI or begin using MGI immediately.

Upon installation, MGI will install five items on your hard drive.

  • On the root level of the machine boot volume, an MGI Installer Log File.
  • In the WebStar Plug-Ins folder, the MGI server.
  • In the WebStar Plug-Ins folder, the MGI Files folder.
  • In the system extensions folder, the MGI Libraries folder.
  • In the WebStar Plug-Ins folder, the MGI Domain Administration.

If at any time you wish to remove MGI from your system, simply drag those five items to the trash and MGI will be gone. You may also need to remove any files created by the MGI functions involving database applications located within the root of any domain using MGI. Those files will be all be located in a folder named "MGI Data". You may have multiple "MGI Data" folders depending on how you have structured your web site. However, they are simply files and do not interact with any system processes or other programs so they are safe to remain until it is convenient for you to remove them.

IMPORTANT:

Farther in this install documentation you will be instructed to also change some suffix mappings in the WebStar Admin as part of the MGI install configuration. When uninstalling MGI AFTER you have made those changes in the WebStar Admin, make sure that you also change those suffix mappings back to what they were before you installed MGI. Not doing so will result in WebStar taking in HTTP requests and failing to process them since MGI will have been removed, yet WebStar will still be looking for MGI.

When you are installing the MGI demo, it will run for two hours then time out. By quitting WebStar, then relaunching WebStar, MGI will run for another two hours in demo mode. You may continue to use MGI in demo mode for as long as you wish.

Upon your purchase of MGI, you do not need to download another copy of MGI from our servers if you elect to purchase MGI Deluxe. Simply do a reinstall of the copy of the MGI demo you already have. You do not even have to do a remove of the MGI demo files already on your system; they will be overwritten by the new install process. When the demo copy asks you for a serial number, just delete the demo serial number that displays as default and enter the permanent serial number we will send you upon purchase. Then MGI will run without any time out restrictions. Any"MGI Data" folders created while in demo mode will continue to exist and function upon reinstall of MGI.

There is a known problem involving all 3.X versions of WebStar and how its thread management system interacts with threaded plug-ins. Clearway Technologies has developed a fix for the problem with a product called ThreadTweaker. We strongly recommend that all users of WebStar running on System 8.5.1 and below with WebStar 3.X install this free plug-in. It is available at http://www.clearway.com/ThreadTweaker/ . The issue does not exist with WebStar 4.X and higher.

Once MGI is installed, set the memory allocation for WebStar as follows:

  • Determine how many threads you wish WebStar to initiate at start-up. For every thread over 12, add 100K to the memory allocation for WebStar and 100K for the memory allocation of MGI; both those memory allocations add together and the memory allocation increase is only made in the WebStar Get Info window. There is no memory allocation window for MGI. Example: if you wish to increase the number of WebStar threads from 12 to 50, you would need to add memory allocation for 38 threads. Multiply 38 by 200K (100K for WebStar and 100K for MGI) and you would need to increase WebStar's memory allocation by at least 7.6 megs on top of any memory allocations that WebStar server running 12 threads itself and associated StarNine plug-ins to WebStar may require. The minimum memory allocation for WebStar needs to be increased by at least 16 megs regardless of the formula.
  • Highlight the WebStar server icon and use the key command Apple-I or use the pull down menu under the Finder's File menu to "Get Info".
  • Increase the memory allocation for WebStar in the Preferred Memory to the figure as determined immediately above.
  • Increase the memory allocation for WebStar in the Minimum Memory to the figure as determined immediately above.
  • You may now wish to increase the Preferred Memory allocation of WebStar to whatever you wish. We recommend that you allocate as much Preferred Memory to WebStar as it practical and available. The need to do so is not a function of MGI itself, but of the nature of how a web server functions; the more memory, the better. We prefer to allocate between 80 and 120 megs of memory to a web server whether it is explicitly needed or not.
  • Close the Get Info box
  • In addition to the memory allocations required for running additional threads, you also need to allow for a minimum of an additional 16 megs of free RAM in the system heap; 30 megs is prefered. WebStar takes all plug-ins to its architecture and loads them in the system. No alterations to memory allocation needs to be initiated for that process; you simply need to make sure that the RAM is available on start-up of WebStar.

If you do not increase the memory allocation accordingly, WebStar will fail to launch. Conversly, if WebStar fails to launch it is because you have not increased the memory allocation. This condition constitutes 95 percent of all tech support calls to PagePlanet Software

We have also found that increasing the System Disk Cache to the maximum of 7680K smooths out memory intensive processes regardless of what processes are running on your computer. The System Disk Cache is located in your Memory Control Panel.

Launch WebStar by double clicking on the WebStar icon.

Launch the WebStar Admin by double-clicking on the WebStar Admin icon.

The section immediately following pertains only to settings involving Persistent Connections and Data Caching.

Connect the WebStar Admin to the WebStar server following the instructions included with the WebStar documentation. Once the WebStar Admin is connected to the WebStar server, perform the following:

  • Open the Server Settings Admin window by choosing "Server Settings" under the Edit Menu or by using the key command Apple-E.
  • Place your cursor on the entry "Connections" and click once to highlight.
  • Using your cursor, slide the tab for Connections Per Client to Off and then slide the tab for Connection Duration to Off.

(Turning off Persistent Connections does not directly affect MGIs performance, but there are some known issues involving serving graphics and PDF files, among others, that are negatively affected when Persistent Connections is turned on.)

  • Place your cursor on the entry "Caching" and click once to highlight.
  • Click on the Off radio button for File Info Cache.
  • Click on the Off button for Auto flush Cache
  • Place your cursor on the entry "SSI" and click once to highlight.
  • Click the Off button for Data Caching.

Due to the nature of MGI, and indeed any program that generates pages on-the-fly via a database or otherwise, many functions will not work if any server-side caching is turned on. Given that WebStar performs very well with hundreds of simultaneous connections, there is no real need to invoke caching for speed increases. Any increase in speed by serving pages out of cache is generally overwhelmed by the latency of the end user's connection or the delays in the Internet itself.

Once this section is completed, move on to the next section keeping in mind that you have already connected the WebStar Admin to WebStar and your interface window is still open.

To use MGI as the method of processing pages
with WebStar as your server

Connect the WebStar Admin to the WebStar server following the instructions included with the WebStar documentation. Once the WebStar Admin is connected to the WebStar server, perform the following:

 

  • Open the Server Settings Admin window by choosing "Server Settings" under the Edit Menu or by using the key command Apple-E.
  • Find and click on the entry "Suffix Mapping" in the dialog box that appears.
  • Click on "New".
  • Set the "Action" to MGI by pulling down the popup to MGI in the listing.
  • Type in "MGI" in the "Suffix" field
  • Type in "*" (the figure formed by the keys Shift-8) in the "Type" field.
  • Type in "*" (the figure formed by the keys Shift-8) in the "Creator" field.
  • Type in "text/html" in the "MIME Type" field.

You have now configured any HTML page ending in ".mgi" to be processed by MGI. You may also do the same for .html, .htm, and .shtml by performing the following:

  • Locate the suffix mapping for .html and highlight by clicking on it once with your cursor.
  • The lower portion of the dialog box will now be highlighted and allow for modifications to the entry .html
  • Using your cursor on the Action pull-down menu, drag to MGI.
  • Release your mouse button.

Then move your cursor to the suffix mapping entry for .htm.

  • Locate the suffix mapping for .htm and highlight by clicking once with your cursor.
  • The lower portion of the dialog box will now be highlighted and allow for modifications to the entry .htm
  • Using your cursor on the Action pull-down menu, drag to MGI.
  • Release your mouse button.

Then move your cursor to the suffix mapping entry for .shtml.

  • Locate the suffix mapping for .shtml and highlight by clicking once with your cursor.
  • The lower portion of the dialog box will now be highlighted and allow for modifications to the entry .shtml
  • Using your cursor on the Action pull-down menu, drag to MGI.
  • Release your mouse button.

Click Save and close the Admin dialog box.

Quit WebStar Admin.

Quit and relaunch WebStar.

Your server is now ready with MGI completely installed.

 

To Alter the Default Home Page Order In MGI

WebStar allows you to select a designated home page to use as a default. The most common default is index.html, though there are many others that are allowed. MGI overrides the settings of WebStar and allows you to select your own home page default. MGI even allows you to have multiple default pages.

In the WebStar plug-in folder is an MGI Files folder which contains a Preferences folder. Open that preferences folder. The open the file called MGI Server Preferences. There you will find the list of default home page names as they are checked by MGI. To alter the order that MGI searches for the default page, simply alter the order of the list. You can also add any other default page name as you so desire.

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