# Brian needs MoveableType Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686 "2003-09-25T04:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/1 "2003-09-25T04:25:53Z")
Hi! Recently I found the urge to create a Weblog for myself, and attempted to install Moveable Type in some webspace I have. Unfortunately, no matter where I tried (I attempted both my college space and my ISP space), I got 403 errors when I tried to execute any of the scripts. I doublechecked all my permissions and directory paths, and made sure my webserver had the proper software installed, but it didn’t help! Could some kind SDMB-er help me out here? The address is [http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/](http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/) if that will assist anyone. Thank you so much! Brian ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/2 "2003-09-25T04:33:27Z")
All I get is an “index of” FTP page. Which is a BAD thing. You need an index.html or similar page. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/3 "2003-09-25T04:36:58Z")
Eeek! The link is the wrong one. It should be [http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/](http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/) instead. Anything I try and execute there nails me with a 403 error. (I’ll put up and index page right now, but it won’t be very pretty.) ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/4 "2003-09-25T04:41:07Z")
I don’t know how far into it you are, so I don’t know what to suggest. What step of the installation documentation are you on? [http://www.movabletype.org/docs/mtinstall.html](http://www.movabletype.org/docs/mtinstall.html) ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/5 "2003-09-25T04:42:26Z")
I’ve finished uploading everything and editting the CFG file. I simply cannot execute any of the MT scripts. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/6 "2003-09-25T04:43:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Netbrian \* > \*\*Eeek! The link is the wrong one. It should be [http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/](http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/) instead. Anything I try and execute there nails me with a 403 error. > > (I’ll put up and index page right now, but it won’t be very pretty.) \*\* It doesn’t need to be pretty, as long as it blocks access to your files. Do the same with all other folders. I looked at the new URL. 403 means the permissions of your CGI scripts aren’t set right, usually. Using your FTP client CHMOD the relevant .cgi files to 755. Also make sure the path to perl is correct. Your host can verify that. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/7 "2003-09-25T04:45:30Z")
Did you set the permissions of the files? Setting permissions lets the server know who to allow to load the files. If you are not set to execute, read, write, then you’ll get a 403 (Forbidden). Just to warn you, MT was a nightmare to install for it. Both times I did it, it took a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/8 "2003-09-25T04:45:51Z")
Did you set the permissions of the files? Setting permissions lets the server know who to allow to load the files. If you are not set to execute, read, write, then you’ll get a 403 (Forbidden). Just to warn you, MT was a nightmare to install. Both times I did it, it took a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/9 "2003-09-25T04:50:57Z")
I did. Everything I’ve set has permissions at 755, just like the installation said. I doubled check it just now, and it was exactly as I was told to do. This is really why I’m so perplexed. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/10 "2003-09-25T04:55:32Z")
I’m probably not getting anywhere here, but you tried accessing [http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/mt/mt-test.cgi](http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/mt/mt-test.cgi) right? If it didn’t work, maybe you used the wrong url to access? Perhaps by accident, you didn’t put a “mt” folder in the cgi-bin? Sorry, I can’t think of anything else. :-\ ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/11 "2003-09-25T04:56:44Z")
**EDIT: I posted the wrong url** I’m probably not getting anywhere here, but you tried accessing [http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/mt/mt-load.cgi](http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/mt/mt-load.cgi) right? If it didn’t work, maybe you used the wrong url to access? Perhaps by accident, you didn’t put a “mt” folder in the cgi-bin? Sorry, I can’t think of anything else. :-\ ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/12 "2003-09-25T04:57:52Z")
Check the path to Perl. The beginning of the .cgi file should read: #!/usr/bin/perl or #!/usr/bin/ or #!/usr/bin/local/perl If neither of these works, let me know and I’ll expand things. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/13 "2003-09-25T05:08:45Z")
icephoenix: Thank you for your help, and I had forgotten to put such a folder in the CGI directory. Unfortunately, I continue to get the 403 Error when attempting to access any files in the MT directory. QED: I’m sorry, but how does one find out where the Perl directory is on my server? I don’t have shell access, and their support page doesn’t say. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/14 "2003-09-25T05:21:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Netbrian \* > \*\*QED: I’m sorry, but how does one find out where the Perl directory is on my server? I don’t have shell access, and their support page doesn’t say. \*\* When you set up the account, they should have specified the path to perl. Try the three I specified; those are the most common. If not, contact the owners of your webserver. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/15 "2003-09-25T05:24:07Z")
[http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/mt-check.cgi](http://www.nwlink.com/~trautman/cgi-bin/mt-check.cgi) The file at that url is supposed to check if you have Perl in the right place, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/16 "2003-09-25T05:27:05Z")
All right. I tried the three you specified and had no luck, I shall contact the technical support in hopes that they shall be able to assist. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/17 "2003-09-25T06:30:05Z")
Okay, I got the information on the location of Perl on both servers that I use. Unfortunately, it seems that the script was looking in the right place to begin with, and I still get this error. Does anyone have any other ideas of what might be wrong? I’m sorry to be such a bother! ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-needs-moveabletype-help/203686/18 "2003-09-25T06:44:49Z")
At this point I highly suggest posting at the MT forums. I’ve posted a few problems I’ve had in there and both were solved.