Question: Personal Hosting Service with Dynamic Application

Advanced feature discussion, beta programs and unsupported "Labs" features.
3 posts Page 1 of 1
by ivan.lugo.sonic » Sun Jun 21, 2020 1:48 pm
Hello!

I started using the personal hosting service a while ago and have a nice little domain setup. However, I seem to be in the stuck case of not really knowing exactly how to use it effectively. I'm a software developer by trade and know the ropes when it comes to the mobile realm, but I feel like I'm really missing the basics here.

For some context, I'd like to write up a simple personal blog with all the fancy stuff one would expect, which wouldn't be so hard to do with static content. I've slapped together HTML and CSS before with crude-depictions of what could be said to be Javascript for good measure, but at the moment, I'm trying to be a little fancier with something dynamic. Ideally, I'd like to be able to use some sort of running application (Python + Flask, Kotlin + Ktor, etc.) that I can run on the hosting machine and have it serve up pages dynamically, take in form responses, that kind of thing. Still just basic HTML/CSS, but programmatically served.

However, I don't really know.. how to do that in this case. It looks like I have a directory I can put stuff into which ends up being served when I hit my domain, but I don't know how to go about listening to that traffic. In fact, I'm more than a little ashamed I'm not even sure if what I'm describing is a good way to think about what I'm trying to do.

So that's about it - thoughts? Is this a use case best served in some other way?

A great many thanks in advance for your time and patience, wherever and whoever you are, in helping a struggling dev!

Quick edit: I'm at the point where I have shell access enabled, have myself setup to pull code down from a remote repo and run some basic Python scripts. Beyond that, `INDEX.HTML` is my only code.
by apl » Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:08 am
I think you're talking about running CGI scripts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Gateway_Interface
See
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/p ... amming.htm
for a general introduction to doing this in python, and
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2282
for some discussion about getting things set up here.

One other thing: while the shell server has python 2.7 and 3.6, it looks like the hosting server is running the python 2.3.4, dated 2004. Depending on what you're trying to do, you might need to ask someone from sonic to install a newer version.

Andy
by ivan.lugo.sonic » Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:46 pm
Andy - I really, REALLY appreciate your digging through history and finding those nuggets. I've never explored CGI, and I can't wait to learn enough to be dangerous with that too. Super cool.

I'll keep this post updated for a while with more questions and status. I want to try getting _something_ running, just to figure it out for one, and two, to see just how possible it is to avoid the BigCloud(TM) services.

And while we're here: Hey Sonic Folks! What's the chance we could update that Python version? If only for the sake of keeping that security wheel turning and from gathering rust. I imagine this is complicated - if we've got other folks running, that'd be absolutely breaking. Still, what are the odds?
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