raspbian

This article explains how to run GeneWeb 7 as a cgi service on a home hosted webserver running on a Raspberry Pi. Finding a Linux web hosting provider that allows the flexibility needed to run GeneWeb 7 as cgi is neither easy nor cost efective. A Rasppberry Pi connected to your home internet connection is a viable alternative, in both flexibility and cost.

This tutorial assumes that you have sucessfully connected your Raspberry Pi to your home network so that it can be accessed from the internet, i.e. the outside world. This is done by a process called modem port forwarding. Specific instructions on how to do this vary according to the brand and model of your router. Do a search online - surely someone has done before.

Throughout this article, the IP address referred as 12.12.123.123, the ged file "jones.ged" and site domain name "mygeneweb.info" are meant to be examples and should be replaced as appropriate.

Preparing the Raspberry Pi

Download an ISO file of <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Raspian Lite ISO</a>. On a Mac, use <a href="https://www.balena.io/etcher" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">balenaEtcher</a> to format and flash ISO image directly from the zip file on to a micro SD card. Copy also the "wpa_supplicant.conf" and "ssh" files to the micro SD card (<a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/headless.md" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">see for further information</a>).

Start the Raspberry Pi and secure the installation by changing password for the user 'pi' and create a new password for root. Update system with sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade. If using the latest version of Debian (Buster) the following may be required: sudo apt-get update --allow-releaseinfo-change.