[OS X TeX] [OT] getting mathtex.cgi to run

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 23.10.2008 um 20:34 schrieb Alan Munn:

> If I just put the file in the CGI folder, it fails to have  
> sufficient permissions to create two temp directories.  I fixed  
> this (dangerously, I suspect) by doing sudo chmod u+s mathtex.cgi,  
> but then I get the error that it can't run the latex program.   
> (This is generated by the script itself, so the script is  
> working).  At first I thought that the problem was building the  
> script with /usr/texbin/latex etc. as the relevant path, so I  
> rebuilt it with the full path (/usr/local/texlive/2007/bin/i386- 
> darwin/latex) but that still didn't fix the problem.

There is a very easy solution: re-compile mathtex.cgi with -DCACHE= 
\"path/\" and path is /var/tmp/... The optimal path would start with / 
var/tmp/folders.`id -u` – but the command id -u would have to be  
executed at run-time!


Mathtex.c has the lines:

#if !defined(CACHE)  		
   #define CACHE "mathtex/"		/* relative to mathtex.cgi */
#endif
#if !defined(CACHELOG)	  	
   #define CACHELOG "mathtex.log"	/* default cache log file */
#endif

so by default it creates the directory /Library/Webserver/CGI- 
Executables/mathtex and in it the default LOG file mathtex.log. You  
could help mathtex.cgi you could:

	sudo mkdir /Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex
	sudo chmod 777 /Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex
	sudo touch /Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex/mathtex.log
	sudo chmod 666 /Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex/mathtex.log
	sudo chown -R www /Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex

This way the directory /Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex  
would be open for all and everyone could delete or change the file / 
Library/Webserver/CGI-Executables/mathtex/mathtex.log.

Apache runs with uid set to www, I think. When mathtex.cgi inherits  
this then the directory could be made 775 and the LOG file 664, but  
this is a guess, *not* allowing everyone to do everything.


The last option is to make the programme setuid bit, i.e., sudo chmod  
+s mathtex.cgi. This would make the programme run under the uid of  
the LOG file owner, i.e., www, the owner of /Library/Webserver/CGI- 
Executables/mathtex and the owner of the Apache process (I think).  
And this should resolve all permission problems ...

--
Greetings

   Pete

There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX.  
We don't believe this to be a coincidence.
				- Jeremy S. Anderson