Information Technology

Server Side Scripting Policy for Appserv and Webdev

Available Services
Both AppServ and WebDev suppport server side scripting.  To maintain the most stable environment possible, users must do all script editing (not static HTML editing) and script development on WebDev.  Once the script has been fully tested, users can move the script to AppServ.  This way, AppServ should be fairly stable; however WebDev will be prone to crashes and other problems due to script errors.  This instability is unavoidable.  It is imperative that users do all script editing and testing on WebDev.  If a users script crashes AppServ or causes other serious problems, we will be forced to disable or remove his/her scripts and/or account.

Username and passwords will be the same for all three machines. 

WWW will continue to be the primary web server for all non-scripted web content.  AppServ should only be used for scripted pages, thus no static content (basic HTML pages) should be kept on it.  Users will continue to use WWW as their primary site address and for the majority of their content, and simply link to any scripts they might need on AppServ.

All three web servers (WWW, AppServ and WebDev) support the following connectivity:

  • NetWare mapped drives
  • FrontPage Webs
  • FTP

AppServ and WebDev support the following types of scripting and/or languages:

  • ASP.NET
  • PHP
  • Perl and PerlScript
  • Server parsed HTML (a.k.a. Server Side Includes or SSI)
  • ColdFusion Applications

ASP is technology for developing dynamically created web pages by embedding either the VBScript or JavaScript scripting languages inside a normal HTML based web page.  All ASP pages must have the .asp extension.  FrontPage can easily develop ASP pages that interact with Excel spreadsheets, Access databases, and other data formats; however, its ASP functionality is somewhat limited.  For help on developing with ASP, you can go to the following sites:

PHP is a scripting language similar to ASP; however, PHP is both the technology and the language.  PHP pages must have the .php extension.  The PHP language syntax is very similar to the C and Perl programming languages.  For help on using PHP, you can go to the following sites:

Perl is a scripting language that cannot be embedded in an HTML file.  Perl scripts are generally used to accept web page form results and generate response pages, e-mail users, etc.  All Perl scripts must have the .pl extension.  Perl is extremely powerful and flexible, but the language can be very difficult for users to learn.  For help on using Perl, you can go to the following sites:

Server Parsed HTML (or Server Side Includes/SSI) allow for referencing other web pages/scripts from within an HTML page as well as calling external programs and referencing system variables.  All Server Parsed HTML files must have the .shtml, .stm, or .shtm extension.  Common uses of SHTML are including the output of a Perl script, discovering the type of browser the remote user has, etc.  For help on SHTML, you can go to the following sites:

Contact Information and User Accounts

  1. All webs must have a permanent MSU Moorhead Employee as primary contact for the web.  All webs and usernames are administered by the Information Technology Department.
    1. Department and college webs will have the department or college chair, director, or dean as the primary contact, unless otherwise assigned to another person, by one of the above positions.
    2. Security access to the web can be granted by any person with current security access to the web site, with the exception that the chair, director, or dean can give other permanent MSUM employees right to grant security access to other employees or students. This request will be accepted via email.
    3. Students will be allowed to have user accounts on the web servers, if requested by a primary contact for a web. This access will only be granted to registered students and they must have an mnstate email account. This access will be checked on a semester basis and disabled if the student is not registered.
    4. Employee user accounts will be checked on a semester basis to make sure the employee is still employed by MSU Moorhead. Employee must have an mnstate email account.  If the user is not employed any longer the user account will be disabled.  Minnesota State University Moorhead reserves the right to remove from the University website any web pages of former employees within ten (10) calendar days following the individual's final day of employment.
      1. Individual webs will be named the same as the individuals MSU Moorhead email account.
      2. Individual webs will have the individual as the primary contact.
    5. Student Organization web accounts will have the campus advisor as the primary contact. If a student is to be granted access to a student organization web, the student must be a registered member with Office of Student Activities for the organization to which the access will be granted.
  2. There will be no generic user accounts. Each user that needs access to a web must have an individual user account on the web server.
    1. Each user account name will be created with the same user name as their MSUM email.
  3. Before a user account or web is disabled, we will attempt to contact the user via their MSU Moorhead email account.  Minnesota State University Moorhead reserves the right to remove from the University website any web pages of former employees within ten (10) calendar days following the individual's final day of employment.
  4. Passwords must be changed on a semester basis for the user accounts.