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Web hosting (personal)

All accounts include hosting with a web address at:

  • https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~user (canonical version)
  • https://ocf.io/user (shorter version)

where user is the account name.

Groups, faculty, and staff may also request a virtual host for another domain (e.g., group.berkeley.edu).

Uploading Files​

Upload files to your web space the same way you upload files to your OCF account (typically SFTP if used remotely). The only difference is that files for your web space are placed in your public_html directory.

Additional details​

The web server runs Apache 2.4 with FastCGI (mod_fcgid) and suEXEC. Access and error logs are accessible in /opt/httpd using SSH.

The web server itself runs as a dedicated user. If your .htaccess file is not world-readable (e.g., chmod 644), the web server will return the error "401 Forbidden".

PHP/CGI/FastCGI scripts are executed as your user, so they do not need to be world-readable. If they contain sensitive information (such as database passwords), you should make them private (e.g., chmod 600 or chmod 700).

Both individual hosting and student group hosting are done entirely over HTTPS.

Supported languages​

  • PHP 7.0.33
  • Perl 5.24.1
  • Python 2.7.13, and 3.5.3; Django 1.10.7; Flask 0.12.1
  • Ruby 2.3.3; Rails 4.2.7.1
  • NodeJS 4.8.2

Other flavors of the day may work but are not currently supported. We may be able to install additional packages on request, but will generally advise you to use alternatives instead (such as installing in a virtualenv or inside your home directory).

FAQ​

My public_html directory is missing, how do I fix that?​

We automatically create the public_html symlink for all new accounts, but it's possible that it was accidentally removed (or that you have an older account from before we started the practice).

Keep in mind that just recreating the directory is not sufficient; it must be a symbolic link to your actual web space. If you simply make a directory named public_html, it won't be used for your website.

Here are two easy ways to re-create the symlink:

via the web interface​

  1. Open the [[web commands interface|commands]] in your web browser.

  2. Select the "makehttp" option. Enter your OCF username and password, and choose "Run command". You should see something like this in the output, assuming you entered your username and password correctly:

     public_html folder has been created successfully.

via SSH​

  1. Login to your account via SSH.

  2. After you go past all system messages, you will see prompt:

    tsunami$

    At this prompt, type makehttp. This command will create your web directory. Here's a sample screen output:

    tsunami$ makehttp
    public_html folder has been created successfully.