AutoRank Pro v2.0.x to v2.1.0 Upgrade Instructions

Follow these instructions to upgrade your version 2.0.x installation to version 2.1.0
These instructions will also work to upgrade the freeware AutoRank v2.0.0

  1. Extract all files from the AutoRank Pro v2.1.0 archive you downloaded.

  2. In each .cgi file, you will need to set the location of Perl 5 on your server.
    This is done on the first line of the file, usually looking something like:

    #!/usr/bin/perl

    Where /usr/bin/perl is the location of Perl 5.

  3. The script now uses default settings for the members, template, and script data directories. If you have a directory structure that looks like the following, you can skip this step: (If you are using cron, do not skip this step!)

    /home/username/cgi-bin/AutoRankPro/sdata
    /home/username/cgi-bin/AutoRankPro/members
    /home/username/cgi-bin/AutoRankPro/templates

    If your directories are not named sdata, members, and templates, you will need to edit variables in the scripts. functions.cgi, rankem.cgi, out.cgi, search.cgi, and index.cgi will all need to be setup. If you are using cron, you MUST use full directory paths. If you are not using cron you can use a setup similar to what is already there. The variables are marked with comments that will assist you in properly setting them.

  4. Now, upload ONLY the update.cgi file, in ASCII mode, to the directory where your current AutoRank Pro .cgi files are located. Set the permissions on this file to 755; then bring it up in your browser by calling it from the URL at which it is located. This will update all of your current member database for use with v2.1.0

  5. Optional Step This next step is optional, but will save you some space on your server. You can delete all of the files in the sdata directory, except the following files:

    - admin.epf
    - members (GDBM Version)
    - members.dir (SDBM Version)
    - members.pag (SDBM Version)

    None of the 2.0.x data formats are supported by 2.1.0, so you will not be damaging anything by deleting these files.

    Also at this stage you can delete all of the files in your member data directory. You may want to back them up to your local computer just to be safe, but again these files are not used by v2.1.0. They will only be taking up space on your server.

  6. Next you can begin uploading the new files. Start with the files in the sdata directory, then the templates directory, and finally all of the .cgi scripts. Upload ALL files in ASCII mode.

    Recommended Permissions:
    File or Directory Permissions
    All .cgi Files 755
    search.html 666
    quick.html 666
    help.dat 644
    errors.dat 644
    sdata 777
    members 777
    templates 755
    All .htmlt & .etmpl Files 644
    Directory where list HTML files will be written 777

  7. Now you are ready to run setup.cgi. Bring it up in your browser by pointing it to the URL at which it is located. This is where you will set all your variables; descriptions of each are included in the setup.cgi form. Your administrative password from v2.0.x will work for v2.1.0

  8. After you have setup all the variables, you will need to enter the administrative script to setup all of the HTML for your site, and anything else that needs to be taken care of.

  9. Note about old accounts: Any accounts created with v2.0.4 or earlier will not be able to view their passwords. Those passwords were stored using a one-way encryption algorithm, and no plain text copy of the passwords were kept. If you edit any of those accounts from admin.cgi, you will have to give them a new password - make sure you inform the account holder of the change.

    If the account holder chooses to edit their account, they will have to enter a new password for their account and it will be stored for later retreival.

    If someone has an old 2.0.x password, and has not updated it, they will not be able to get it from the password reminder utility. They must login to their account and setup a new password before they will be able to be reminded.

  10. Note about accounts.cgi: With v2.1.x you can access the account maintenance features by having a link to accounts.cgi?login - Other formats will not work.

  11. That's all! You should now be able to continue normal script operations.