How to enable a web application using CGI on IIS6 & W2003?

I am trying to get an application running on IIS6 on a new Windows
2003 server. The application is a web viewer of a software versioning
system repository (CVS). The viewer is named ViewCvs and is programmed
via CGI using Python as the scripting language.
I have been successful in automating the install on IIS4 and IIS5 on
all previous NT class operating systems. But when I run the
installation on IIS6/W2003 and then try to access the application it
gives me a 404 error.

I have checked that the Virtual Directory gets created successfully
and that all settings that were needed for IIS5 are also there now.
But still the access is denied.
I have been pointed towards the Web Service Extensions setup, but I
have two problems here:
1) In the IIS Manager page for Web Service Extensions I don't
understand what to really do... I cannot relate to the terminology.
What is a WSE in the first place? The 3 letters 'CGI' or what?

2) I must do the setup programmatically so I have been adviced to use
iisext.vbs to do this. But when I try to follow the online guide I get
caught by the terminology again. :-(

Can someone please help me by advicing which calls to iisext.vbs I
should make to enable the web server to allow access to the cgi file?
The virtual directory named viewcvs is created at:
C:\Programs\ViewCvs\VDIR
The application that runs the viewcvs.cgi file is located here:
C:\Programs\Python23\Python.exe

This is all in the virtual directory properties and look fine to me...

In despair,
Bo

David
Tue Feb 10 23:32:57 CST 2004

WSE is an association of an "Web Service Name", such as "Python", with an
executable that implements the Service, such as
"C:\Programs\Python23\Python.exe". Theoretically, there could be multiple
executables that implement a given "Web Service", so the UI (and iisext.vbs)
allow you to add multiple executables to a given WSE.

End users logically enable WSE (they shouldn't have to know "to enable
Python, I need to enable the following five DLLs and two EXEs"), which in
turn enables each of the DLL/EXE files specified by the WSE. What this does
is permit IIS to execute those executables when they are encountered.

Finally, ScriptMapping remains the way it has been -- you map the extension
".cgi" to the script engine "C:\Programs\Python23\Python.exe". Whenever you
request a .cgi resource, IIS first sees if the resource is a static file,
script, or executable (it's script due to the ScriptMapping). Then, IIS
looks up the script engine and sees if the executable is allowed to run by
any WSE. If WSE do not exist for Python and you make a request to .cgi that
is scriptmapped to Python, you will get a 404.2. As soon as you have an
enabled WSE that includes Python's executables, it should start working

What should really happen is that the Python installer should create its own
WSE such that every user of Python doesn't have to reinvent the wheel
(possibly incorrectly).

--
//David
IIS
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
//
"Bo Berglund" <bo.berglund@telia.com> wrote in message
news:o2ci20ll7v88tknlcr3mu1cm8r53imovrf@4ax.com...
I am trying to get an application running on IIS6 on a new Windows
2003 server. The application is a web viewer of a software versioning
system repository (CVS). The viewer is named ViewCvs and is programmed
via CGI using Python as the scripting language.
I have been successful in automating the install on IIS4 and IIS5 on
all previous NT class operating systems. But when I run the
installation on IIS6/W2003 and then try to access the application it
gives me a 404 error.

I have checked that the Virtual Directory gets created successfully
and that all settings that were needed for IIS5 are also there now.
But still the access is denied.
I have been pointed towards the Web Service Extensions setup, but I
have two problems here:
1) In the IIS Manager page for Web Service Extensions I don't
understand what to really do... I cannot relate to the terminology.
What is a WSE in the first place? The 3 letters 'CGI' or what?

2) I must do the setup programmatically so I have been adviced to use
iisext.vbs to do this. But when I try to follow the online guide I get
caught by the terminology again. :-(

Can someone please help me by advicing which calls to iisext.vbs I
should make to enable the web server to allow access to the cgi file?
The virtual directory named viewcvs is created at:
C:\Programs\ViewCvs\VDIR
The application that runs the viewcvs.cgi file is located here:
C:\Programs\Python23\Python.exe

This is all in the virtual directory properties and look fine to me...

In despair,
Bo