Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions are used frequently by service providers or resellers to allow users access to upload their FrontPage-created sites. Microsoft has added new features in Windows Server 2003 to ensure that the extensions can be made more secure and robust.
FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 use the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) or the Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI), which are Web server extension mechanisms. Communication between a client computer and a Web server running FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 uses HTTP. The Web server computer does not need file-sharing access, and neither FTP nor Telnet access is required. In addition, the FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 do not use proprietary file system calls.
This section provides the administrator with a troubleshooting guide, new security features, and generic configuration settings that apply for most hosting scenarios.
Consider the following information about the Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions:
FrontPage Server Extensions work in conjunction with Internet Information Services (IIS) on the Windows platform, and with the Apache Web Server on UNIX that has been updated with the FrontPage Security Update.
FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 is an update to the FrontPage Server Extensions 2000; there is very little difference in architecture between the two releases.
It is important that you are running the latest version of FrontPage Server Extensions that is delivered with Windows Server 2003.
For Windows 2000 and IIS 5.0, see Downloads for FrontPage on the Microsoft Office Web site to download the most current version of FrontPage components.
You must configure the FrontPage Server Extensions on each Web server that will host content managed by FrontPage 2002 before your customers can use the FrontPage 2002 client to publish content.
In a typical Windows-based Hosting deployment, you install FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions either through the basic operating system installation or by using software distribution.
FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions and the FrontPage Client
The FrontPage 2002 client (and earlier versions of FrontPage) enable users to create intranet and Internet Web sites quickly and easily. When used in conjunction with Web servers running the FrontPage Server Extensions 2002, users can incorporate sophisticated server-side features in the Web sites they create. While the FrontPage client can be used to create content that is published to the Web site through FTP, the presence of FrontPage Server Extensions provides added Web site functionality. Chief among these is seamless content publishing directly from the tool that is used for content creation, but there are other valuable additions, such as usage analysis features. You attain higher levels of functionality and capability when you use the client and Server Extensions together.
The following figure provides an overview of the FrontPage client and Server Extensions authoring process.
.gif)
Figure: FrontPage 2002 authoring process
Although FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 supports older versions of the FrontPage client, such as FrontPage 2000 and FrontPage 97, these clients cannot access some of the advanced functionality. However, they can deploy content to the Web server.
FrontPage-based Web authoring and administration functionality is available from any computer that has a level-4 browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, or Netscape Navigator 4 or later. Authoring and administration are also available from a SharePoint Services–compatible client program, such as the Microsoft Office 2000 or the Microsoft Office XP suite of application clients.
Choose FTP or Front Page Server Extensions
As an alternative to using FrontPage, you can upload content to a Web server using FTP. Service providers commonly offer FTP capability to their customers, though typically it is the more advanced subscriber that is interested in using a tool like FTP.
You need to take a prudent approach to providing FTP for content authoring because FTP is not nearly as robust as HTTP, especially from a security perspective. Earlier sections describe the security issues associated with using FTP as a content management tool, and why the Windows-based Hosting reference architecture does not recommend the simultaneous use of FTP and FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions in a shared hosting environment. The use of FTP as a content publishing mechanism is discussed in more detail earlier in this section.
You can also use Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV), an implementation of HTTP 1.1, or FrontPage WebFolders as an alternative to FTP to author content, although WebDAV is not available for non-HTTP services, such as FTP sites. The Windows-based Hosting reference architecture does not address WebDAV or WebFolder implementations, nor the potential impact Web folders may have on the performance or security of a hosted solution. The same Windows-based Hosting recommendations that apply to FTP also apply to direct authoring mechanisms, such as WebDAV and server message block (SMB)–based file share access.
Folders Created by FrontPage Server Extensions 2002
The following figure in shows the directory hierarchy that is recommended in Web hosting.
.gif)
Figure: Directory structure for a centrally managed, shared Web hosting deployment
.gif)
NOTE
When you install FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 and extend a new Web site to use FrontPage Server Extensions, additional folders are created that are not shown in this figure. These folders typically start with an underscore in the folder name. Do not modify the folder structure that FrontPage Server Extensions create because FrontPage Server Extensions manages these folders and their security settings. They are required to support many FrontPage Server Extensions features.
.gif)
IMPORTANT
FrontPage Server Extensions assigns specific permissions and, in some cases, sets the inheritance properties for the subdirectories it manages. If you modify the access control entry (ACE) values set by FrontPage Server Extensions on one of the FrontPage directories, the ACE is reset to the default settings when the FrontPage repair process runs.
Integration with Windows SharePoint Services
The following figure in shows the directory hierarchy that is recommended in Web hosting.
When you install FrontPage Server Extensions in the Administrative Tools, a shortcut named SharePoint Administrators is also installed. Thus, the deployment steps included in this section refer to this interface, though you may not actually be using Windows SharePoint Services.
Windows SharePoint Services version 2.0 can co-exist on the same server with FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions without difficulty. However, they cannot be extended on the same site or virtual server. Windows SharePoint Services are quite different from FrontPage Server Extensions, although they both utilize FrontPage as a client.
IMPORTANT
If you have customers using FPSE to manage a Windows SharePoint Services version 2.0 site, you need to maintain a Windows SharePoint Services version 2.0 environment for those customers unless you plan to migrate their sites to Windows SharePoint Services version 3.0. Integration with FPSE is not supported with Windows SharePoint Services version 3.0. For more information, see Customer Site Management.
Best Practices for FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions
Typically, you will gain the best results from FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 if you install and use it out-of-the-box. There may be exceptions to this recommendation specifically around security, or you may encounter a special purpose case in your hosting environment that requires a different configuration.
Follow these best practice guidelines with strict discipline:
Always use FrontPage or the Server Extensions administration tools to manage permissions on a Web site, and do not circumvent the very complete and detailed security model that FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 applies. This is particularly important with the security it places on content folders. If you change the folder permissions using another tool, you will break the security model and the Web site will be insecure. Changing the permissions may also cause FrontPage clients to be unable to access and deploy content to the server.
Never change the default FrontPage Server Extensions performance settings; the default performance configurations are optimal and changing these settings can result in Web site authoring problems.
Never nest virtual servers. (Nesting virtual servers is putting one virtual server under another virtual server. For example, if the default Web site is C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot, a nested virtual server is C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot\nested.) This is a bad configuration and FrontPage will try to prevent you from creating this type of configuration.
Install and Configure FrontPage Server Extensions 2002
Before you extend a Web site with FrontPage Server Extensions, you should review the Admin Guide for SharePoint Team Services (STS) on the Microsoft TechNet Web site. Web hosting discusses administrative tasks for both SharePoint Services and Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions 2002, and includes possible configuration options. Examples of common options that you can configure include:
For more information about FPSE configuration options and recommendations for service providers, review the following pages: