What are homeweb scripts?

Homeweb scripts are available on the Mason Cluster to help you set up your personal website and its permissions on mason.gmu.edu. Two scripts are available: homewebon and homeweboff.

homewebon

The homewebon script sets permissions on your home directory and creates a public_html folder with the permissions needed to publish web content. The script:

Sets permissions on your home directory to 711. You, as the owner, can read, write, and execute. The group and others cannot read or write, but they can execute.
Checks whether a public_html folder already exists. If the folder does not exist, the script creates it.
Sets permissions on your public_html folder to 755. You, as the owner, can read, write, and execute. The group and others can read and execute but cannot write.

These permissions allow the Mason web server to serve files from your public_html folder.

Step 1: Connect to the Mason VPN

Connect to the Mason VPN.

Step 2: Connect to the Mason Cluster

Connect to the Mason Cluster using the instructions for your operating system:

Windows: Connect to the Mason Cluster using PuTTY
Mac: Connect to the Mason Cluster using Terminal

Step 3: Run homewebon

At the command prompt, enter homewebon and press Enter.

Terminal showing the homewebon command and its output.

homeweboff

Use the homeweboff script to remove your personal website from public view. The script changes directory permissions so the website files are no longer publicly accessible. Your content may still be cached or archived elsewhere on the web.

The homeweboff script:

Sets permissions on your home directory to 700. You, as the owner, can read, write, and execute. The group and others cannot read, write, or execute.
Sets permissions on your public_html folder to 700.