Fasthost Linux upload problems

[aimweb]

Hi

I see that others have had problems uploading to a Fasthosts Linus server. Can I ask for some help? I have been pushed backwards and forwards between Actinic and Fasthosts support, neither helping. I am wanting to upload my shop to a test site for the first time and I am having problems with the Network setup.

Here is my Network export:

HTTPPROXYMODE 0
HTTPPROXYADDRESS
HTTPPROXYPORT 80
HTTPPROXYUSER
HTTPPROXYPASSWORD
FTPPROXYMODE 0
FTPPROXYADDRESS
FTPPROXYPORT 21
FTPPROXYUSER
FTPPROXYPASSWORD
SCRIPTID 1
SCRIPTEXT .pl
SMTPHOST smtp.aimtest.co.uk
WEBSITEURL http://www.aimtest.co.uk
IGNOREPASSIVEERRORS true
USERELATIVECGIURLS false
PATHTOPERL /usr/bin/perl
USEENHANCEFTP true
FTPCLIENTTIMEOUT 15000
FTPRETRYDELAY 3000
FTPSILENT false
FTPMAXRETRIES 3
FTPCONNECTTIMEOUT 25000
SMTPAUTHREQUIRED false
SMTPUSERNAME
SMTPPASSWORD
SSLCATALOGURL https://www.aimtest.co.uk/acatalog/
SSLCGIBINURL https://www.aimtest.co.uk/cgi.bin/
SSLPATHFROMCGITOCATALOG ../acatalog/
SSLCODEBASE ./
SSLFTPHOST 213.171.193.5
SSLFTPUSERNAME xxxxx
SSLFTPPASSWORD xxxxx
SSLPATHTOCGIBIN htdocs/cgi-bin/
SSLUSEPASSIVEFTP true

Can anyone see an glaring errors here for me? The cgi-bin is set to 755 and the acatalog is set to 777.

Each time I try a TEST through the Network Setup window I get a message which says:

A connection with the server cannot be establish.

The test script failed to execute on the web server. The error could be caused by several things. Check the path to the Perl shell, the CGI script extension, the path to CGI-BIN, and the CGI-BIN URL. This error could also occur if your web site is out of disk space or your web server is not configured to accept POSTs to CGI scripts.

Anyone any ideas please!

[RuralWeb]

move hosts to one that is known to work with actinic eg pinbrook or even actinic themselves. It should takes minutes to configure network settings and get a site live.

[Paul Bulpit]

This may or may not be of use to you because your settings above are SSL, I was on (the same server by the look of the FTPHOST IP address) with Fasthosts until last December when I gave up due to their security issues at the end of last year.

In spite of what Malcolm says, I had two years prior to that without any ongoing issues - but I did have the same trouble as you initially and I do know there's a lot of moans. I seem to remember that I kept repeatedly running 'Test' and getting failure messages - ignored them in the end and uploaded the site and it started working, without making any changes to the Network Settings knowing them to be correct.

The only thing I have done with the attached file is use 'Find & Replace' to take out my domain name & put in yours. (But note, it's not the SSL version, and there's a couple of true/false that are different.)



Paul

[aimweb]

Fasthost Linux upload problems

Thanks for this. I have tried again using the settings in your attachement but the catalogurl and cgibinurl keep defaulting to https. So I tried uploading anyway and now get the following error message part way through the upload:

Some filenames conflict. All files being sent to the web site must have unique names. Please check the list of files in Design | Additional Files.

Some of the following files must be renamed before an upload can occur. Once the files are renamed, reselect them in the Actinic.

D:\Clients\Current\Endacott\endacott\images\trade.gif
C:\Documents and Settings\Kaye Scott\My Documents\Actinic v8\Sites\Big_in_Brackets\images\trade.gif

I have tried several things to cure this but it still happens - am I not doing something obvious here?

[Paul Bulpit]

That's an unconnected issue but needs fixing before you can proceed.

Go to Additional Files, find and delete one of the references to the file trade.gif, then try again.




.

[pinbrook]

Thanks for this. I have tried again using the settings in your attachement but the catalogurl and cgibinurl keep defaulting to https.

i thought the only way you could have SSL/fasthosts is to run the entire site in https - thus this behaviour sounds correct.

[aimweb]

Upload problems

OK just checked the Additional Files option and there is nothing listed.

[fergusw]

i thought the only way you could have SSL/fasthosts is to run the entire site in https - thus this behaviour sounds correct.

This is our understanding as well.
They have/had a vault area as well that you could use e.g. https://vault1.secured.co.uk or something of that ilk! Not ideal for ecommerce sites collecting credit card details for later processing.

[aimweb]

Fasthost uploading problems

I have now been able to establish a connection with the Fasthosts server and have gone through an upload to the server and have managed to get right through the upload procedure up to "Merging Incremental updates at the website" and I get an error message:

Actinic received a network error while merging files on the server. Try again later and contact your network administrator if the problem persists. A connection with the server could not be established

When I click OK it cancels out of the upload.

Anyone had this problem before and managed to get over it? I have emailed Fasthosts support, but they are not too helpful!

[pinbrook]

the merge error you describe is very common, a forum search will reveal potential solutions

[aimweb]

Merge error

Jo

Thanks for this - I have had a look round the forum and it appears that the most common cause is the permission settings for the cgi-bin and catalog directories. I have tried changing these but the cgi-bin seem to default back each time I do it. I am beginning to think this may be a Fasthosts issue and am beginning to wonder if it might just be easier to change hosts. Has anyone actually managed to get a site up and running with Fasthosts?

[pinbrook]

Has anyone actually managed to get a site up and running with Fasthosts?

it does seem to be possible, but the sucess rate seems to be a lottery

[Paul Bulpit]

Has anyone actually managed to get a site up and running with Fasthosts?

As, I believe, already mentioned above, I have - for two years. I did not use SSL (but Actinic Encryption) and once running, I did not play with it. My business grew and I did not look back.

However in October? 2007 FH had some security breach and passwords were reset - this caused a problem as (third-party hosted, i.e. agents' sites) were not notified - they just failed to up/download one day, and we had kittens. Unfortunately my 'agent' wasn't too clued up and didn't get to the bottom of it very quickly.

I was well aware of community unrest with this host. I wanted to go SSL and the initial instructions for

https://vault1.secured.co.uk or something

were incomprehensible, to a mere two-year experienced novice.

the sucess rate seems to be a lottery

so it may have been, I was not aware of that at the time, my site worked. What I cannot tell is, how much better it may have worked if I had been hosted elsewhere.

Given tone of this thread, past and current experience - as a layman -

NOT RECOMMENDED (FOR ACTINIC SITES)

Paul

[RuralWeb]

Back to my post no2 - give up and move

[aimweb]

Yup - I have given up with Fasthosts - their support is less than helpful and I am tearing my hair out and wasting valuable time trying to sort it out so I have decided to go elsewhere.

Tried Pinbrook several times and there never seems to be anyone in sales to talk to so instead I have been talking to 4SureHosting who seem to talk a lot of sense and seem competitively priced. Had a quick look around the forum and they seem to be liked - so here we are going to give them a try....unless anyone thinks otherwise!!!

Thanks for the help all.