Web Management Basics

NOTE: This is a project for the course cs379--System Administration and Security at UM-St. Louis. Besides this document, I also installed a NCSA httpd web server on my computer at home which was runing Linux. At the final presentation, I established a SLIP connection between the computer in the classroom and my computer at home, accessed this web page for presentation, and showed the web management issue which can only be made clear with the server side access.

The World Widw Web

What is the World Wide Web?
Features:
- Web Browers and Servers
- Support for Multiple Data Transfer Protocol
- Uniform Naming Scheme-URLs
- Pages and Compound Pages
- Hypertext
- High-Level Page Description Language
- Multimedia
- Extensibility
What Can You Do with the Web?
- Distributing Scientific Data
- Commercial Uses
- Campus Guides
- Educational Courseware and Technical Manuals
- Hypertext Books
- Public Service Information
- Guides to the Internet
The World Wide Web FAQ

The WWW Management

The Tasks of Managing a Web Site
Setting Up World Wide Server
Customizing the Server
- On-line ordering through fill-out forms
- Guest books and membership questionnaires
- Electronic catalogues with database access
- Email interfaces
- The Common Gate Way Interface(CGI) FAQ List
Managing Log Files
- Rotating and Archiving Logs
- Log File Format
- Log Analysis Utilities
  - WWWStat & GWStat
  - Wusage
Security
- The Security Issues
- Basic Security Measures
  - Securing the Host System
    A web site is only as secure as the host on which it runs.
  - Turning off Insecure Web Server Features
    - Automatic Directory Listing
    - Symbolic Link Following
    - User-Supported Directories
    - Executable Scripts
    - Sharing the Document Root with FTP
  - Using File System Permissions
  - Running in a Change Root Environment
  - Built-in Server Protection and Authentication
- The World Wide Web Security FAQ

Fangxiao Xu, xu@newton.umsl.edu

Last Modified April 24, 1996