Using (Fast)CGI for non-PHP websites

You're not stuck with PHP if you want to make a dynamic website. You can use all sorts of frameworks and programming languages with ULYSSIS, as long as it has CGI or FastCGI support.

If you want to use a certain programming language or framework, and you can't get it to work, don't hesitate to contact us at ulyssis@ulyssis.org.

CGI

CGI is a very easy and simple way to create a dynamic website. We use Apache's mod_cgid to provide support for CGI.

FastCGI

We use Apache's mod_fcgid to provide support for FastCGI.

Example: Django

If you want to make a website using Django, we recommend that you use a virtualenv. This tool is already preinstalled on our shell servers.

You can use the following steps to get up and running with Django at ULYSSIS:

1. Log in to a shell server
2. Create a new virtualenv, you can create one in ~/.venv, for example:

   virtualenv ~/.venv

3. Activate this virtualenv:

   . ~/.venv/bin/activate

4. Install Django inside of this virtualenv:

   pip install django

5. Create a new Django project:

   django-admin.py startproject mysite

   Replace mysite with your project's desired name.

6. Install flup for FastCGI:

   pip install flup

7. Put an .htaccess file in your site's directory, e.g. the www folder:

   Options +ExecCGI
   AddHandler fcgid-script .fcgi
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ mysite.fcgi/$1 [QSA,L]

8. Create the starter script (replace user with org if you are an organization, and username with your ULYSSIS username):

   #!/home/user/username/.venv/bin/python
   
   import sys, os
   
   sys.path.insert(0, '/home/user/username/mysite')
   
   os.chdir('/home/user/username/mysite')
   
   os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'mysite.settings'
   
   from django.core.servers.fastcgi import runfastcgi
   runfastcgi(method="threaded", daemonize="false")

   Call this script mysite.fcgi.

9. Make the starter script executable:

   chmod +x mysite.fcgi

10. Go to username.ulyssis.be (or whatever URL you chose to use), and it should show you the default "Welcome to Django" page.

This guide was based on, and you can find more information in the official Django documentation:

• The Django tutorial
• Running Django on a shared-hosting provider with Apache