Lab #5.1: Exploring Your CS X Server Account Environment

 

Purpose: In this lab, you should gain the basic skills to work with the CS X server machine and the MySQL server installed on it. Eventually, we would like to host your database projects and the web interfaces to your databases on the CS X server machine.

 

Things to do and report: Go over exercises 1~5 in the following and inform me of your progress in these exercises in your weekly progress report.

 

How to upload or download files to your account on the CS X server using FileZilla

  • FileZilla is already installed in Metzger 100 and is also available for download and installation from FileZilla website
  • Use the File-Site Manager option of FileZilla to set up the CS X server as a new site to connect: Set host as compsci.biola.edu and use the port number 22 and pick the server type: SFTP using SSH, then provide your account username and password.
  • After the setup, under the Site Manager press the connect button to connect to your account on the CS X server. When the connection is successfully established, you can navigate through the directory structures of your accounts on your local computer and the CS X server to freely upload and download files through FileZilla.
  • Exercise 1: Create an index.html page (using WORD or other software) and upload it to directly under the Sites folder of your CS X account.

 

The URLs of your web pages on CS X server

  • The Sites folder of your CS X account has the URL http://compsci.biola.edu/~YourUserName. Accordingly you can access a web page XXX.htm under the Sites folder of your CS X account as http://compsci.biola.edu/~YourUserName/XXX.htm.
  • Exercise 2: Try to access the index.html page you uploaded earlier from your web browser.

 

How to directly connect to the MySQL server on the CS X server through phpMyAdmin

  • As a very handy alternative to using the mysql client program to interact (through the command line) with the MySQL server, phpMyAdmin is written in PHP to provide a convenient web interface to interact with the MySQL server. We have phpMyAdmin installed on the CS X server and you can do all the MySQL tasks by interacting with the MySQL server installed on the CS X server through phpMyAdmin. 
  • You can get to the phpMyAdmin installed on the CS X server by  http://compsci.biola.edu/mysql/. Provide your username and password through the web interface to connect to the MySQL server on the CS X server. Two empty databases test and YourUserName are already created there and you can create addition tables in them.
  • Exercise 3: After you get connected, select the test database that is already created for you there and create a new product table with this structure. Try to add records into this table and submit queries regarding this table through the web interface provided by phpMyAdmin.

 

How to use PuTTY to log into the CS X server and work with the server as a UNIX environment

  • Mac OS X server is essentially a UNIX clone, and at times it is useful to log in and interact with it through the command line. You can do this by using PuTTY. (If not available from your computer, you can download PuTTY from the PuTTY website and double click on the download ed executable to run it.)
  • PuTTY’s interface looks pretty much like that of the Site Manager of FileZilla, which you have played with above. You can set up the connection to the CS X server under PuTTY almost like what you have done under the Site Manager of FileZilla. After providing your username and password, you can then log into the CS X server and work with it through the command line.
  • Exercise 4: Quickly go over the following UNIX tutorial (by the Physics Dept, U. of Edinburgh) to understand the basic UNIX commands and apply some of them to work around the system.
  • Exercise 5: You can also find the details regarding the use of a UNIX command (and at times installed programs too) by man nameOfCommand. For example, type man mysql to see the details regading the use of the  mysql client program. Then try to use the mysql client program to connect to the mysql server installed on the CS X server by: mysql –u yourUserName –p. This should allow you to connect to the MySQL server installed on the CS X machine, and work with the MySQL server in the way you did in Lab#2 to Lab#4.

 

 

 

 

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Lab #5.2: Create your first PHP-MySQL applcation

 

Purpose: In this lab, you’ll (i) create 3 tables required in a very simple online-book store application in your own MySQL account on the OS X server and (ii) host your web interfaces and php script files on your own sites folder on the server to make the simple online bookstore running on the CS X server machine.

 

Exercise 6: Play with these web pages 1 and 2 or 3 (search_generic.htm) to see how you can

·       insert a new book into the books table in a database through this insertion of new books web page, and

·       search for books based on ISBN, Author, Title by querying the database through this online catalog query  or this alternative web page (search_generic.html).

 

Exercise 7: Play with these web pages 1 and 2 or 3 to see how you can

·       Upload this bookstore.sql script to the root folder of your OS X account

·       Login into your own MySQL account on OS X server, use the test  database, and create three tables described in bookstore.sql by either manually typing in the SQL commands or just run the command: source bookstore.sql.

·       Download and examine the related html and php scripts files used in Exercise 6 into your own computer..

·       Modify the php scripts there to connect to your own MySQL account by using your own user name, password, and your own test database instead those in the php scripts.

·       Upload the revised PHP script files and the original html files into your own sites folder.

·       Access (from the Internet) those html pages you just upload to insert new book and to search for books based on ISBN, Author.

 

 

Useful online references: