You can use any HTML editor to create a Web site, although most functional corporate Web sites are created by professional designers. But depending on your needs and resources, your implementation tool can range from any of the readily available Web site creation programs (some of which are free) to a team of programmers. Another avenue is to out-source the creation of your Web site.
Creating personal and departmental Web sites can be simple, requiring only minutes to assemble. You can use any HTML editor to create the pages of your Web site.
When you create your home page, save the file as INDEX.HTM or .HTML and that file will automatically appear when your Web site is accessed. You can then create links to other pages and graphics with any filenames.
HINT: You can configure the Enterprise Server to recognize a specific filename and extension so that when a user enters your Web server's URL, it will automatically display your home page. See Setting the Primary Document Directory.
You can configure your NetWare 6 server to host multiple Web servers. This way, a single NetWare 6 server running NetWare Enterprise Web Server can host all the Web server needs of your company; or, if you are an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you can host Web sites for your customers. This makes it easy to allow two or more departments to create their own Web sites without requiring that they each have a server.
You can host two types of Web servers on your NetWare server:
Each type has its strengths and weaknesses; you should choose the one that's right for your situation.
For information about setting up hardware virtual servers, see Setting Up Hardware Virtual Servers. For information about setting up software virtual servers, see Setting Up Software Virtual Servers.
If you have already successfully installed NetWare 6 and the Enterprise Web Server was included in the list of products to install, you can access it right now. A sample Web page and some sub-pages have been included. You can remove these pages and replace them with your own content.
HINT: Before replacing the sample Web site, you might want to look through it first. It is a good place to start for an introduction to all of the Web-based management tools included with NetWare 6 and includes links to the actual management tools.
To view the sample Web site, open a client Web browser on a workstation in your network and enter your NetWare server's IP address or DNS name. For example:
http://server_IP_address
or
http://domain_name
NetWare Enterprise Web Server has a document root or primary document directory. By default, the path to the primary document root directory is
SYS:\\NOVONYX\SUITESPOT\DOCS. This is where all of the content for the sample Web site is stored.
All content placed in this folder is visible to your Web site audience. If necessary, you can easily specify another directory as the primary document root directory. (See Setting the Primary Document Directory.)
Once your Web server is running, you can start posting content for the world (or your department or company) to see by placing files in the Web server's primary or additional document directories.
For example, suppose you created a new HTML file called WELCOME.HTM that included some information about your department that you wanted to share with other departments in your company. You would then copy the file to SYS:\\NOVONYX\SUITESPOT\DOCS, which is the Web server's default primary document directory.
If your server's domain name were SALES.MYCOMPANY.COM, people in your company would enter the following URL to view the new document.
HTTP://SALES.MYCOMPANY.COM/WELCOME.HTM
You could also then edit the document from the document root directory and the moment you save your changes, users would see the changes when they refresh their Web browser or when they view the page for the first time.
As mentioned above, a number of files are stored in the \DOCS root directory. You should replace these files with your own files. The page you choose as your home page should be named INDEX.HTML. By default, the Enterprise Server recognizes this name and will serve it up automatically when a user points at your server's domain name. However, you can specify an alternate filename as the default index page. (See Specifying a Default Home Page.)
You can also create additional document directories, which is a good idea if departments want to publish their own content to the company Web site but when you don't want to give users control of the primary document root. (See Setting Additional Document Directories.)
You can follow the same procedures when creating a company Internet site, intranet site, departmental site, or even a personal site. What differentiates each of Web site is whether the Web site is placed on the Internet outside the firewall or on the intranet inside the firewall. Departmental Web sites are typically a software virtual server where personal Web sites are easily created by each user.
A Web site on the Internet is typically the place for you to publish information you want visitors to read. However, a Web site on an intranet is most effective if employees can participate and share information with others. This makes it possible for users to communicate within a department, for departments to share information with other departments, and for company leaders to communicate with the entire company.
Web content contributors have three options for publishing content to your Web server:
In each case, the administrator must first do something to allow the user to access directories on your server.
Use ConsoleOneTM to set up access rights to your NetWare server for each person who will be contributing content to your Web server.
Provide users with the correct network path to your server and to the folders with which they will be working.
HINT: If users want to map a drive without having to install or use the NetWare client, they can use NetDrive, which is included on the root of your NetWare 6 Client CD. (See Installing Novell NetDrive in the Novell NetDrive Administration Guide.) Once NetDrive is installed, you can map a drive across the Internet to folders on your NetWare server. You must have WebDAV enabled. See Web Publishing through WebDAV.
Make sure WebDAV is enabled on your Web server. (See Web Publishing through WebDAV.)
On a client computer, open Internet Explorer.
In the Address field, enter your server's domain name, followed by "My Network". For example:
https://digital.airlines.com/My Network
You can also use your server's IP address. For example:
https://157.168.179.200/My Network
Press Enter and, when prompted, enter your directory service username and password.
To publish content using NetDrive, refer to the Novell NetDrive Administration Guide.
Users on your network can also create their own personal Web sites. This requires no administrative interaction other than making sure you specified a home directory for users who want to publish their own Web content. If you have not created home directories, you can easily go into each user directory and add one using ConsoleOne.
Create a PUBLIC_HTML directory in your personal directory.
Copy or create a Web page and place the INDEX.HTML file in this directory.
Access the Web site by entering the following URL in your browser's Address field:
http://servername/~username
or
http://IPaddress/~username