Creating index.html

The first thing needed to create a web page or site is a file called index.html. This file must be located in your public_html directory. We have provided a simple template for you to get started.

This file must be placed in your public_html directory.

The following commands are ftp commands from UNIX to retrieve the index.html file:

dimacs 2% ftp

You should now see the ftp prompt (ftp>)

ftp> ftp dimacs.rutgers.edu

The ftp server will now ask you for your name. The correct name to enter is "anonymous".

Name (dimacs.rutgers.edu:chuey): anonymous

Now it will ask you for a password. Here you should enter your dimacs email address. You will not see what your typing in as a password, but trust that you are.

Password: username@dimacs.rutgers.edu

Again you will see the ftp prompt. The following commands will retrieve the index.html template.

ftp> cd pub
ftp> cd drei97
ftp> get index.html

You now have the index.html template in your root directory. You now have to move it to your public_html directory. Just a few more commands to go.

ftp> quit
dimacs 2% ls
dimacs 2% mv index.html public_html/

The last command changed the permissions on this file so you can view your web page on Netscape or any other browser. You will learn more about permissions later.

After you have downloaded this file and placed it into your public_html directory. You need to do a few more simple steps in UNIX for you to be on your way. If you go into a UNIX shell you should see the familiar dimacs (lunar/av) 2% prompt. You need to get into your public_html directory. At the prompt type in the change directory command.

dimacs 2% cd public_html

You should now be in your public_html directory. You now can use the list command to see the contents of the directory. The example is below.

dimacs 2% ls

The contents of the directory will be listed. You should see the file index.html if you saved it correctly. You now have to change the permissions or change the mode of the file so it can be seen on the browser. There are two ways of doing this. The first is with numbers. The other way is with letters. The examples of changing the mode are below.

dimacs 2% chmod 644 index.html
dimacs 2% chmod a+r index.html

You are now set to start building your home page. You can visit the following sites to guide you along the way.