Most do run Apache, but most do not run mod_perl. This has to do with security issues on shared machines.

As far as cgi not working with Apache, that is probably a settings issue. First, mod_cgi has to be enabled in Apache, and secondly, the directory that your script is in has to be configured within apache (through a .conf file or a .htaccess file) to allow the execution of scripts.

These are not the only potential issues, permissions being another, but these are the ones most people have issues with the most. Is the configuration of your local machine set up to run the perl script as a cgi script? I would be willing to bet that the directory you have your script in is not set up to run cgi.

Something like this in a .htaccess file in the directory you want the script to run as a cgi: 

    DirectoryIndex index.pl 
    Options +ExecCGI
    AddHandler cgi-script .cgi .pl

[download]
and then, in the httpd.conf somewhere, put
    ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/path/to/script/directory/"

[download]
You can use an index.pl script to log efforts to directly access the cgi-bin directory, create your own error page, or whatever. I use this to monitor for attempted cracks into the system. It has actually worked well in stopping some. Returning their IP address after a few tries on a page that says illegal access attempt logged scares most kiddies off. You can also do without it. The fewer things a stranger has access to, the safer you are.

I would develop the code in as much the same environment as what I was going to place it in, so if the host uses cgi-bin, I would use cgi-bin. This helps down the road by eliminating potential issues with differences in environments, like using mod_perl to develop in, but then using cgi to run in production. Bad combination. I would also try to keep my scripts in a directory that is not in the public_html path. Most hosts I work with allow that and it is much more secure.

Good luck to you.
digiryde

In reply to Re^3: Apache ignores ARGV[0] request by digiryde
in thread Apache ignores ARGV[0] request by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.