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Mass Mailer Mod Error 500

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Mass Mailer Mod Error 500
Hi, I've just installed the Mass Mailer mod and have run into a little problem. The script works fine up until I hit the submit button. After that I just get a server 500 error.
I tried putting breaks in the mailer sub but even if try to print out something in the very first line of the sub, it doesn't appear.

Is there anything obvious that i should be looking at first. I'm pretty sure that I've got the webmailer.cfg file right - I'm sure that you've heard that before though.

Any ideas are welcome as I've hit a brick wall.
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
I install the mass mailer mod too, but i get the internal server error message after i press the set password button on the first screen. Do you know what might be causing this?
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
1) Check the Perl path.

2) Check to make sure that the password file was created.

3) Check to make sure that you have the correct ABSOLUTE paths in the variable configurations.

4) Check the syntax of the file via telnet using the following codes:

Code:
cd /cgi-bin/dbman/

AND THEN

Code:
perl -c mailer.cgi

(Provide the syntax error you receive in this Topic.)

5) Make sure that the directory where you selected the password file to be built is set to 777 (rwxrwxrwx).

6) Make sure that the permission of the mailer.cgi file is set to 755 (rwxr-xr-x).

If all else fails, save your Mass Mailer files as text files, upload them to a publicly accessible directory in your WEB SERVER, and then provide the URLs to these text files.

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee....
Former Handle: Eliot
Anthro TECH, L.L.C
anthrotech.com
* Check Resource Center
* Search Forums
* Thinking out of the box (codes) is not only fun, but effective.


Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
Hi, Eliot, I checked everything you told me to, but i still get the internal server error mesage when i press the set password button. I uploaded my files as text you can see them at http://208.56.119.244/txts/webmailercfg.txt
http://208.56.119.244/txts/webmailercgi.txt
Help me please
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
Well, I really do believe that it is a permission problem...since if you had the correct permission - 755 (rwxr-xr-x), you would get cgi error messages that reports back errors in required libraries or other errors.

Make sure that the webmailer.cgi script is set to 755 and that your password directory (yep) is changed to 777, so that the password file can be written to it (as stated in the README file).

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee....
Former Handle: Eliot
Anthro TECH, L.L.C
anthrotech.com
* Check Resource Center
* Search Forums
* Thinking out of the box (codes) is not only fun, but effective.




[This message has been edited by AnthroRules (edited April 20, 2000).]
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
Eliot,
Sorry for not getting back earlier but i've been away. I've checked everything that you mentioned. Yes the password file is being created.

One question though - I'm pretty new to linux. The absolute path that I supplied is something like /work/sites/mysite. I believe that this is a symbolic link however. Does this affect it?
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
 
Quote:
One question though - I'm pretty new to linux. The absolute path that I supplied is something like /work/sites/mysite. I believe that this is a symbolic link however. Does this affect it?

That is the symbolic path, you need to use the ABSOLUTE PATH to your dbman directory.

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee....
Former Handle: Eliot
Anthro TECH, L.L.C
anthrotech.com
* Check Resource Center
* Search Forums
* Thinking out of the box (codes) is not only fun, but effective.


Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
Eliot,
Thanks for all your help. I have one minor problem still that is really got me stumped though.

When I press the submit button, the browser comes up with a download box and asks me whether I wish to download webmailer.cgi. Huh??

I also have the $complexconfirm=1 set, but when I look at the code it generates (In the webmailer.cgit that it wants me to download) IT only contains the following

Code:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Mass Mailer: Mailing Success!</TITLE>
</HEAD><BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
<CENTER>
<TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="400">
<TR><TD VALIGN="TOP">
<B><FONT FACE="verdana, arial, helvetica">
<FONT COLOR="#FF0000">Mass Mailer</FONT> Status: Mailing Success!</FONT></B>
<P>
<FONT SIZE="-1" FACE="verdana, arial, helvetica">
Your message has been successfully sent on
Apr-28-2000 @ 12:00:55 pm.
</FONT>
</TD></TR></TABLE></CENTER>
</BODY></HTML>

Any ideas?
Thanks
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
What changes have you made to the script???

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee....
Former Handle: Eliot
Anthro TECH, L.L.C
anthrotech.com
* Check Resource Center
* Search Forums
* Thinking out of the box (codes) is not only fun, but effective.


Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
Thanks for your reply Eliot. I've managed to fix the problem with the download prompt by re-uploading the stock script. But it still does not give me the 'complex' confirmation page.

Here's my config file

Code:
#############################################################
# Stand Alone Mass Email Program, v.2.1 (Beta)
# Configuration File
# File: webmailer.cfg
# (C)2000 Anthro TECH, L.L.C
# http://www.anthrotech.com/
#
# If you have any questions or problems using this script, please post
# your message on the Gossamer Threads Support Forum, which is located # at:
#
# http://www.gossamer-threads.com/scripts/forum/
#
###############################################################

#############################################################
# CONFIGURATIONS
#############################################################

#############################################################
# Directory path to your where your .db file is located.
# DO NOT PUT A TRAILING SLASH
#
# Example for UNIX:
# /mnt/guide/web/myaccount/cgi-bin/dbman
#
# Example for NT:
# C:/InetPub/wwwroot/myaccount/cgi-bin/dbman
#############################################################

$db_path = "/work/virtual/ics/root/cgi-bin/address";

#############################################################
# This is the name of your .db file.
# Example: default.db
#
# $db_file_name = "test.db";
#############################################################

$db_file_name = "default.db";

#############################################################
# MAIL PROGRAM CONFIGURATIONS
#
#This sub-section is for configuring your sendmail or SMTP
# Configurations. If you are using SMTP, then you must set
# the following variables:
# $smtp = 1;
# require $mailer_path . "/Mailer.pm";
# $mailer_path = "";
# $smtpserver = "mydomain.com";
#
# UNIX Example for $mailer_path (NOTE: No Trailing Slash):
# $mailer_path = "/mnt/guide/web/myaccount/cgi-bin/sendmail";
#
# NT Example for $mailer_path (NOTE: No Trailing Slash):
# $mailer_path = "C:/InetPub/wwwroot/myaccount/cgi-bin/sendmail";
#
# You will also need to download the Mailer.pm module if you
# do not have it on your server. This module can be downloaded
# at perl.com, cpan.com, or gossamer-threads.com.
#
# If you are using Sendmail, then you must set the following
# variables:
# $sendmail = 1;
# $mailprog = "";
#
# UNIX Example for $mailerprog:
# $mailer_path = "|/usr/sbin/sendmail -t -eoq";
#
# NT Example for $mailerprog:
# $mailer_path = "|C:/Winnt/system32/blat.exe -t -eoq";
#
# NOTE: You must set either $sendmail or $smtp to 1 depending
# on which mail program you are using. The other variable you
# are not using, make sure that you set it to 0. Also make sure
# that you rem out (comment out) the other variables you are
# not using by adding a # character to the front of the $ sign.
#############################################################

#############################################################
# SMTP
#############################################################

# $smtp = 0;
# $mailer_path = "/path/to";
# require $mailer_path . "/Mailer.pm";
# $smtpserver = "mydomain.com";

#############################################################
# SENDMAIL
#############################################################

$sendmail = 1;
$mailprog = "|/usr/local/bin/sendmail";

#############################################################
# ADMINISTRATIVE EMAIL ADDRESS.
#
# Make sure that you have a character between the user
# account and @ sign, like the following example:
#
# $admin_mail = 'myaccount@mydomain.com';
#
#############################################################

$admin_mail = 'johnwgriff@hotmail.com';

#############################################################
# EMAIL FIELD IN DATABASE
#
# This is the number of the Email field in your database file.
# Just put the number of the field before the semi-colon,
# like the following example:
#
# $mailfield = 5;
#
#############################################################

$mailfield = 2;

#############################################################
# USER FIELD IN DATABASE
#
# This is the number of the particular field that you want
# to send email messages to. Just put the number of the
# field before the semi-colon, like the following:
#
# $confirmfield = 3;
#
# You must add the following field to your %db_def hash in
# the default.cfg file.
#
# ReceiveMail => [15, 'alpha', 0, 5, 1, 'Yes', 'Yes|No'],
#
# Then you will have to create this field as a %db_select_field
# or %db_checkbox_field or %db_radio_field, like the following:
#
# ReceiveMail => 'Yes,No'
#
# You will also have to add this field in your sub html_record
# and sub html_record_form, so that your users can specify
# their permission to receive email updates.
#
##############################################################

$confirmfield = 9;

##############################################################
# TEXT BOX CONFIGURATIONS
#
# This variable sets attributes of the text box.
#
# Example:
#
# $maxlength = "400000";
# $cols = "75";
# $rows = "30";
#
##############################################################

$maxlength= "4000";
$cols = "50";
$rows = "20";

##############################################################
# MAIL FOOTER SIGNATURE FILE
#
# This is the ABSOLUTE path and file where your mail footer signature
# file is located. This is appended to all email messages
# sent to your email subscribers.
#
# This ONLY works for SENDMAIL option.
# At this time, it does not work for SMTP option.
#
# UNIX Example:
# $mailfooter = "/path/to/private/mailer.txt";
#
# NT Example:
# $mailfooter = "C:/InetPub/wwwroot/account/private/mailer.txt";
##############################################################

$mailfooter = "";

##############################################################
# SENT CONFIRMATION SCREEN
#
# These variables allow you to choose between a simple confirmation
# screen, which shows you only a message that the emails have
# been sent OR a complex message that includes all the emails
# that your message was sent to.
#
# For setting up purposes, it is wise to set this variable
# to 1 to show all the emails and see if your script is set-up
# properly. If you have a large number of subscribers (e.g., 1,000 or
# more), it would be wise to turn this option to 0 due to browsers
# timing out.
#
# Example:
# $complexconfirm = 1;
#
##############################################################

$complexconfirm = 1;

##############################################################
# PASSWORD FILE
#
# This is directory where the password file where your administrative
# password will be kept and used to send email messages.
#
# This should be the ABSOLUTE PATH to the directory with
# NO TRAILING SLASH.
#
# Example: $passfile = "/path/to/private";
#############################################################

$passfile = "/work/virtual/ics/root/cgi-bin/mailer/pass";

################################################################
# FLOCKING
#
# If you are run the script and receive File Locking (flock)
# errors, remove the number 2 from between the quotes.
# Then it would appear: $LOCK_EX = "";
###############################################################

$LOCK_EX = "";

##############################################################
# DOMAIN REFERRERS
#
# This allows you to specifies domains that can use this
# script.
#
# Example:
# @referers = ('www.mydomain.com','member.mydomain.com','mydomain.com');
##############################################################

@referers = ('www.sydney.net');

#############################################################
# NAME OF SCRIPT
#
# This is the complete URL to your mass mailer script.
#
# Example:
# $cgiurl = "http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/dbman/webmailer.cgi";
#
#############################################################

$cgiurl = "http://www.sydney.net/ics/cgi-bin/mailer/webmailer.cgi";

#############################################################
# End Configurations
#############################################################

Have I done something wrong?
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
Please ignore the last posting. I realised I just pasted a 'cached' version of the .cfg file. Here is the real one.
Thanks

Code:
#############################################################
# Stand Alone Mass Email Program, v.2.1 (Beta)
# Configuration File
# File: webmailer.cfg
# (C)2000 Anthro TECH, L.L.C
# http://www.anthrotech.com/
#
# If you have any questions or problems using this script, please post
# your message on the Gossamer Threads Support Forum, which is located # at:
#
# http://www.gossamer-threads.com/scripts/forum/
#
###############################################################

#############################################################
# CONFIGURATIONS
#############################################################

#############################################################
# Directory path to your where your .db file is located.
# DO NOT PUT A TRAILING SLASH
#
# Example for UNIX:
# /mnt/guide/web/myaccount/cgi-bin/dbman
#
# Example for NT:
# C:/InetPub/wwwroot/myaccount/cgi-bin/dbman
#############################################################

$db_path = "/work/virtual/ics/root/cgi-bin/address";

#############################################################
# This is the name of your .db file.
# Example: default.db
#
# $db_file_name = "test.db";
#############################################################

$db_file_name = "default.db";

#############################################################
# MAIL PROGRAM CONFIGURATIONS
#
#This sub-section is for configuring your sendmail or SMTP
# Configurations. If you are using SMTP, then you must set
# the following variables:
# $smtp = 1;
# require $mailer_path . "/Mailer.pm";
# $mailer_path = "";
# $smtpserver = "mydomain.com";
#
# UNIX Example for $mailer_path (NOTE: No Trailing Slash):
# $mailer_path = "/mnt/guide/web/myaccount/cgi-bin/sendmail";
#
# NT Example for $mailer_path (NOTE: No Trailing Slash):
# $mailer_path = "C:/InetPub/wwwroot/myaccount/cgi-bin/sendmail";
#
# You will also need to download the Mailer.pm module if you
# do not have it on your server. This module can be downloaded
# at perl.com, cpan.com, or gossamer-threads.com.
#
# If you are using Sendmail, then you must set the following
# variables:
# $sendmail = 1;
# $mailprog = "";
#
# UNIX Example for $mailerprog:
# $mailer_path = "|/usr/sbin/sendmail -t -eoq";
#
# NT Example for $mailerprog:
# $mailer_path = "|C:/Winnt/system32/blat.exe -t -eoq";
#
# NOTE: You must set either $sendmail or $smtp to 1 depending
# on which mail program you are using. The other variable you
# are not using, make sure that you set it to 0. Also make sure
# that you rem out (comment out) the other variables you are
# not using by adding a # character to the front of the $ sign.
#############################################################

#############################################################
# SMTP
#############################################################

# $smtp = 0;
# $mailer_path = "/path/to";
# require $mailer_path . "/Mailer.pm";
# $smtpserver = "mydomain.com";

#############################################################
# SENDMAIL
#############################################################

$sendmail = 1;
$mailprog = "|/usr/sbin/sendmail -t";

#############################################################
# ADMINISTRATIVE EMAIL ADDRESS.
#
# Make sure that you have a character between the user
# account and @ sign, like the following example:
#
# $admin_mail = 'myaccount@mydomain.com';
#
#############################################################

$admin_mail = 'johnwgriff@hotmail.com';

#############################################################
# EMAIL FIELD IN DATABASE
#
# This is the number of the Email field in your database file.
# Just put the number of the field before the semi-colon,
# like the following example:
#
# $mailfield = 5;
#
#############################################################

$mailfield = 2;

#############################################################
# USER FIELD IN DATABASE
#
# This is the number of the particular field that you want
# to send email messages to. Just put the number of the
# field before the semi-colon, like the following:
#
# $confirmfield = 3;
#
# You must add the following field to your %db_def hash in
# the default.cfg file.
#
# ReceiveMail => [15, 'alpha', 0, 5, 1, 'Yes', 'Yes|No'],
#
# Then you will have to create this field as a %db_select_field
# or %db_checkbox_field or %db_radio_field, like the following:
#
# ReceiveMail => 'Yes,No'
#
# You will also have to add this field in your sub html_record
# and sub html_record_form, so that your users can specify
# their permission to receive email updates.
#
##############################################################

$confirmfield = 9;

##############################################################
# TEXT BOX CONFIGURATIONS
#
# This variable sets attributes of the text box.
#
# Example:
#
# $maxlength = "400000";
# $cols = "75";
# $rows = "30";
#
##############################################################

$maxlength= "4000";
$cols = "50";
$rows = "10";

##############################################################
# MAIL FOOTER SIGNATURE FILE
#
# This is the ABSOLUTE path and file where your mail footer signature
# file is located. This is appended to all email messages
# sent to your email subscribers.
#
# This ONLY works for SENDMAIL option.
# At this time, it does not work for SMTP option.
#
# UNIX Example:
# $mailfooter = "/path/to/private/mailer.txt";
#
# NT Example:
# $mailfooter = "C:/InetPub/wwwroot/account/private/mailer.txt";
##############################################################

$mailfooter = "";

##############################################################
# SENT CONFIRMATION SCREEN
#
# These variables allow you to choose between a simple confirmation
# screen, which shows you only a message that the emails have
# been sent OR a complex message that includes all the emails
# that your message was sent to.
#
# For setting up purposes, it is wise to set this variable
# to 1 to show all the emails and see if your script is set-up
# properly. If you have a large number of subscribers (e.g., 1,000 or
# more), it would be wise to turn this option to 0 due to browsers
# timing out.
#
# Example:
# $complexconfirm = 1;
#
##############################################################

$complexconfirm = 1;

##############################################################
# PASSWORD FILE
#
# This is directory where the password file where your administrative
# password will be kept and used to send email messages.
#
# This should be the ABSOLUTE PATH to the directory with
# NO TRAILING SLASH.
#
# Example: $passfile = "/path/to/private";
#############################################################

$passfile = "/work/virtual/ics/root/cgi-bin/mailer/pass";

################################################################
# FLOCKING
#
# If you are run the script and receive File Locking (flock)
# errors, remove the number 2 from between the quotes.
# Then it would appear: $LOCK_EX = "";
###############################################################

$LOCK_EX = "";

##############################################################
# DOMAIN REFERRERS
#
# This allows you to specifies domains that can use this
# script.
#
# Example:
# @referers = ('www.mydomain.com','member.mydomain.com','mydomain.com');
##############################################################

@referers = ('www.sydney.net');

#############################################################
# NAME OF SCRIPT
#
# This is the complete URL to your mass mailer script.
#
# Example:
# $cgiurl = "http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/dbman/webmailer.cgi";
#
#############################################################

$cgiurl = "http://www.sydney.net/ics/cgi-bin/mailer/webmailer.cgi";

#############################################################
# End Configurations
#############################################################
Quote Reply
Re: Mass Mailer Mod Error 500 In reply to
I don't know what to tell you other than that your hosting company may have a cap on CPU usage and the listing of the complete list of email addresses is timing out.

I did notice when testing this script with 1,500 email addresses that it timed out around 1,000. If you have a large number of email addresses, then this could be your problem. I would recommend switching off the complex report variable to 0.

BTW: Two things:

1) It is better to copy your files as text files, upload them to your server, and provide a URL to this text files. Scrolling through a large set of codes is frustrating.

2) Please be specific about the particular Mod you are using...There are two "mass" mailing scripts: a) Mass Mailer, and b) Web Mailer.

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee....
Former Handle: Eliot
Anthro TECH, L.L.C
anthrotech.com
* Check Resource Center
* Search Forums
* Thinking out of the box (codes) is not only fun, but effective.