Frequently Asked Questions

The NearlyFreeSpeech.NET FAQ (*)

Customization (*)

What canonical name redirection settings are available?

How do I enable directory indexes for my site?

How do I create a website for the sole purpose of forwarding visitors to another website?

When should the rewrite log be used?

How do I change the text displayed for missing pages and other errors?

What should my site's canonical name be?

What is a per-alias document root?

What path should I use for .htpasswd files?

How do I restrict which IP addresses can access my site?

How do I control redirection of HTTP visitors to HTTPS?

Can I set up more than one alias for my site?

How do I make my site fast and scalable?

What is a run script?

How do I change the server type my site uses?

How do I set up a custom server process?

To set up a custom server process, follow these steps:

  1. Make sure your site's Server Type allows daemon processes.
  2. Create a Run Script that starts your custom process.
  3. On the Site Information panel for your site, in the Daemons box, choose the "Add a Daemon" button.On the Add Daemon panel, enter information about your daemon process:
    • Tag: A unique (within your site's daemon processes) alphanumeric tag to identify this daemon.
    • Command Line: The correct path to your run script.
    • Working Directory: The current directory when the daemon is started. When using a run script, ignore this and include a cd command in your script instead. The correct working directory is dependent on the software you are running.
    • Run Daemon As: Web servers should always be run as the "web" user and support servers should typically be run as the "me" user.
    • The "Add Daemon" button will add the new daemon. The system will attempt to start it automatically within about a minute.
  4. Watch the Site Information panel to see if the daemon process starts and use its log file to debug any issues.

If (and only if) your custom process is a web server intended to handle incoming requests, you will also need to create a proxy:

  1. On the Site Information panel, in the Proxies box, use the "Add a Proxy" button.
  2. Enter the correct information required by your daemon process:
    • Protocol: What protocol the system should use to communicate with your daemon process.
    • Base Path: Which part of the site should be directed to the daemon process. Must begin and end with a forward slash.
    • Document Root: What to replace the Base Path with when directing requests to your daemon process. Must begin and end with a forward slash. Some daemons need this to be based on the process's working directory (e.g., "/"). Others, including PHP-FPM, require an absolute path to the directory or routing script (e.g., "/home/protected/my-daemon/routing-script.php/").
    • Target Port: The TCP port number (in the range 1024 to 65535) where your daemon process listens for requests. The correct port number depends entirely on your daemon process.
  3. Test and debug the proxy.

For additional information about this process and a complete example, please see the Django how-to on our blog.