Serving web pages from AFS filespace

It is possible to have web pages that live in AFS space - but because AFS has stricter access controls, some additional configuration is required.

The benefit of AFS web space is that access can be made more selective and more robust by using standard ACLs, and additional access constraints can be implemented with further refinements in .htaccess files.

In order to serve web pages, the web server needs to be able to read them. Under NFS or a local file system, web pages are usually group-owned and readable by the apache GID.

General web questions

General web-related 'Frequently Asked Questions'

Listed below are an assortment of frequently, and not so frequently, asked questions relating to websites and webpages hosted by the School of Informatics.

If the question you wanted to ask isn't covered here, then please check the support FAQ as well.

Questions

Authenticated SMTP

Background

As an anti-spam measure, the Informatics mail servers do not allow normal mail connections from outside ed.ac.uk. Unfortunately, this also stops legitimate Informatics staff and students from sending mail from their home machines (or laptops or mobiles) via our mail relays. One solution was to use the IS VPN service or the user's local ISP mailrelay, but this required the user to reconfigure machines/email clients just to send mail.

AFS for Linux

Installing / Configuring AFS on Linux

The School of Informatics uses OpenAFS for its network filesystem. This page describes how to install and configure OpenAFS on Linux. The simplest instructions for installation differ by distribution, though the basic idea and steps will usually be the same. If your distribution isn't listed, it's worth looking at a similar distribution for the basic outline.

Pages