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Viewing Server System Info with mt-check.cgi

This stand-alone script checks for all the required and optional Perl modules and reports on the status of each.

Viewing the mt-check.cgi script is the easiest way to check the details of the server environment to determine if the prerequisites libraries/modules are present such that Movable Type can be installed.

Once the Movable Type files are properly uploaded to the server, the mt-check.cgi script should be accessible at a url similar to this (may vary based upon server setup):

http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-check.cgi

The message “Movable Type System Check Successful” will appear at the bottom of the screen if the server has all the necessary libraries/modules for installing Movable Type.

If the system check fails to complete, then the missing Perl libraries/modules must be installed before accessing MT.

Note: Movable Type’s install wizard also runs an initial system check which will notify as to the status of the server.

If Movable Type has been successfully installed, the output of mt-check.cgi can be viewed in the app under System Overview > System Information.

Warning: because the mt-check.cgi script displays server details which could be useful to a hacker

If you are using Movable Type 5.02 or later, the direct access to mt-check.cgi is disabled after the installation. You can confirm from System Information or access to the cgi directly by the step below.

  • Rename “mt-check.cgi” to “mt-check-unsafe.cgi”.
  • This will allow you a direct access to the URL (mt-check-unsafe.cgi) for 10 minutes.
  • Once having confirmed the system information, don’t forget to rename it back to “mt-check.cgi” though it would be disabled automatically after 10 minutes.

If your are still using older version of Movable Type, it is recommended that this script be removed or renamed. If renamed, use the CheckScript directive so that Movable Type knows where the script was moved.

Perl Error

If a current version of Perl is not installed, the following message will be displayed:

The version of Perl installed on your server (CURRENT-VERSION) is lower than the minimum supported version (5.8.1). Please upgrade to at Perl 5.8.1 or higher.

Ask your web hosting provide to install Perl on your server.

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2 Comments

Dyfrin on January 7, 2010, 8:13 a.m. Reply

To get the script to display properly in alternate directories (not cgi-bin) then edit the conf file and ensure the

AddHandler cgi-script .cgi

is enabled.

Then you need to enable cgi in individual directories <directory /web/path/movabletype5> Options ExecCGI </directory>

Garey on August 31, 2012, 1:00 a.m. Reply

What will happen if I don’t remove the script when using one of the previous versions of Moveable type?