CGI and Command Line Scripts

Programs on the server performing actions such as rendering, saving and renaming topics.

These scripts are located in the bin and tools directories. This topic describes the interfaces to some of those scripts. All scripts in the bin directory can be called from the CGI (Common Gateway Interface) environment or from the command line. The scripts in the tools directory can only be called from the command line.

CGI Scripts

Details on CGI scripts located in the bin directory.

Note that a blank in the 'Default' column means that the parameter is not required, and has no default. required means the parameter is required, and has no default. text in italics describes default behaviour if no value is given.

General Information

CGI environment

In the CGI environment parameters are passed to the scripts via the URL and URL parameters. Environment variables are also used to determine the user performing the action. If the environment is not set up, the default user is used (usually guest).

Command-line

You must be have the bin directory on the perl path to run the scripts from the command line. To avoid issues with file permissions, run the scripts as the web server user such as nobody or www.

Parameters are passed on the command line using '-name' - for example,

$ cd /usr/local/foswiki/bin
$ save -topic MyWeb.MyTopic -user admin -action save -text "New text of the topic"

All parameters require a value, even if that is the empty string. Note that parameters passed on the command-line should not be URL-encoded.

When calling a tools script from the command line, you normally need to be cd'd to the =bin directory e.g.

$ cd bin
$ ../tools/mailnotify -q -nonews -nochanges -Main -System

Common parameters

All the scripts accept a number of common parameters. The first two components of the URL after the script name are taken as the web and the topic, respectively. Standard URL parameters are:

Parameter	Description	Default
cover	Specifies temporary skin path to prepend to the skin path for this script only (see Skins)
debugenableplugins	During debugging it can be useful to selectively disable all but a subset of plugins. This parameter allows the caller to specify a comma-separated list of plugins that should be enabled.
foswikioriginalquery	The original query that was being made before a redirect for user confirmation was required.
foswiki_redirect_cache	Foswiki sometimes caches long lists of parameters that must survive over a sequence of browser redirects. This parameter identifies one of these caches. The parameter value is a "magic number" that uniquely idenitifies a file in the working/tmp directory. These files have a very short lifetime, and are destroyed when the cache is read.
logout	requests the LoginManager to log the current user out (this happens at the begining of the request so will terminate any other operation requested)
refresh	If the Foswiki page cache is in use, setting this parameter will invalidate the cache. Valid values are on and all. See PageCaching for more information on the page cache.
response	Used as part of the request validation process.
skin	Overrides the default skin path (see Skins)	value of the SKIN preference
t	While the t parameter is not actively used by any scripts, it is used when building links to scripts such as edit, to ensure that each edit link is unique. This stops the browser from trying to use a cached reply from a previous call to the script.	generally set to current time, in seconds
topic	Overrides the web.topic path given in the URL (specify Web.TopicName)
user	Command-line only; set the name of the user performing the action. Note: this usage is inherently insecure, as it bypasses webserver login constraints. For this reason only authorised users should be allowed to execute scripts from the command line.
validation_key	part of cross-site scripting protection. Any request sent from browsers that might change data stored on the server must carry a key that indentifies the source of the request.

attach

Despite the name, this script doesn't actually attach a file to a topic - for that, use upload. This script is part of the transactions sequence executed when a file is uploaded from the browser. it just generates the "new attachment" page for a topic.

Parameter	Description	Default
filename	Name of existing attachment (if provided, this is a "manage attachment" action)	this is a "new attachment" action

changes

Shows all the changes in the given web.

The changes script can receive one parameter:

Parameter	Description	Default
minor	If 0, show only major changes. If 1, show all the changes (both minor and major)	show major changes

The main difference between invoking this script and using WebChanges is that WebChanges is based on a %SEARCH%, while this script reads the changes file in each web, making it much faster.

NOTE: The result from changes script and the topic WebChanges can be different, if the changes file is deleted from a web. In particular, in new installations the changes script will return no results while the WebChanges topic will.

configure

configure is the browser script used for inspection of, and changes to, the site configuration. None of the parameters to this script are useable for any purpose except configure. See configure.

edit

The edit script understands the following parameters, typically supplied by HTML input fields.

A major role of the edit script is new topic creation. Parameters that are mainly relevant to new topic creation are marked with

Parameter name	Description	Default
action	If action=text, then hide the form. If action=form, then hide the normal text area and only edit the form.	edit both
breaklock	If set, any lease conflicts will be ignored, and the edit will proceed even if someone is already editing the topic.
contenttype	Optional parameter that defines the application type to write into the CGI header. May be used to invoke alternative client applications	text/html
formtemplate	Name of the form to instantiate in the topic. Set to none to remove any existing form.
notemplateexpansion	Do not expand any macros in the template topic. (see New topic creation below)	expand
onlynewtopic	If on, error if the topic already exists	edit existing topic
onlywikiname	If on, error if the name of a topic being created is not a WikiWord	allow non-wikiword names
redirectto	If the user continues from edit to save, and if the save (or cancel) process is successful, save will redirect to this topic or URL. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL. Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).
rev	Lets you specify a specific revision to use as the basis of the edit.	latest
template	Allows you to specify a different skin template. Overrides any setting of EDIT_TEMPLATE.
templatetopic	The name of the template topic, copied to get the initial content for a new topic. (see New topic creation below)
text	Set the text to be edited. If this parameter is not given, the text is taken from the existing topic (if it exists)
topicparent	Sets the parent topic.
<any name>	This can be used in two ways; first, if the topic has a form with a field called <any name>, it will set the value of that field. Second, it can be expanded in the topic text during topic creation - see New topic creation below

Skin notes:

The EDIT_TEMPLATE preference (or the template parameter) can be used to override the default 'edit' template on a per-web or per-topic basis.

The action parameter works by loading the editform.tmpl or edittext.tmpl templates in place of the standard edit.tmpl. If an EDIT_TEMPLATE has been defined, then it replaces edit, e.g. if EDIT_TEMPLATE=specialed and action=form then the template used will be specialedform

In most skins that are based on the default templates (such as Pattern skin) you can easily change the Edit and Edit WikiText buttons to append the action parameter, by setting the preference EDITACTION to the value text or form. (You can always get back to editing the whole topic by removing the action parameter from the URL browser Location window, and reloading the edit window).

New topic creation :

The string AUTOINC followed by one or more digits anywhere in the topic name will be converted to a number such that the resulting topic name is unique in the target web. However this doesn't happen until the topic is saved.

When a new topic is created using edit, the topic isn't actually created until the edit is saved. The content of the new topic is initialised according to the parameters you pass.

• templatetopic - defines the full name (web.topic) of a topic to use as a template for the new topic. The template topic is copied and, unless notemplateexpansion is set, the following macros are expanded in the topic text: URLPARAM, DATE, SERVERTIME, GMTIME, USERNAME, WIKINAME, WIKIUSERNAME, USERINFO.
• text - use this as the text of the topic. Macros are not expanded in this text. Overrides any text set in the templatetopic.
• formtemplate - Overrides any form set in the templatetopic.
• notemplateexpansion - given by templatetopic. Use this when you want a verbatim copy of a topic.
• onlynewtopic and onlywikiname are used to control validation of the new topic name.
• <any name> - besides the form field value setting described above, when creating a new topic, %URLPARAM{" <any name> "}% in the templatetopic will be expanded to the parameter value.

login

Used for logging in with TemplateLoginManager, and for interactive validation of operations that require user confirmation.

Parameter	Description	Default
foswikiloginaction	If 'validate', the login script is being used for interactive validation of an operation. Otherwise it is being used for login.
foswiki_origin	URL that was being accessed when an access violation occurred. the login process will redirect to this URL if it is successful
remember	If set, this will cause the user's login to be retained even after their browser is shut down.
sudo	promote login to internal wiki admin (admins only)
password	password of user logging in
username	username of user logging in (if set, login will attempt to authenticate)
usernamestep	used to initialise the username input field in the login form (will not attempt to authenticate)

logon

Used for logging in when Web Server authentication is being used (e.g. ApacheLoginManager). The script does nothing; it is purely a placeholder for triggering the login process. The webserver must be set up to require a valid user to access this script, thus triggering the webserver login process.

manage

Performs a range of management functions.

Note: The manage script can only be called via the HTTP POST method. Make sure you specify method="post" if you call the manage script via a form action. It is not possible to call manage from an <a href ...> link.

Parameter	Description	Default
action	One of create, createweb, changePassword, resetPassword, bulkRegister, deleteUserAccount, editSettings, saveSettings, restoreRevision	required

action=create

Alternative entry point for creation, via edit, of a new topic, used by screens that support several actions using manage.

Parameter	Description	Default
topic	Name of topic to create (can be web.topic)	required

Other parameters are the same as for edit.

action=createweb

Create a new web

Parameter	Description	Default
baseweb	Name of the web to copy to create the new web	required
newtopic	Value of %TOPIC% within the web creation message. Optionally used in some skins to signify a non-default home topic.
newweb	Name of the new web	required
nosearchall	Value for NOSEARCHALL	''
webbgcolor	value for WEBBGCOLOR	''
websummary	Value for WEBSUMMARY	''

action=editSettings

No parameters

action=saveSettings

Parameter	Description	Default
originalrev	Revision that the edit started on	latest
redirectto	If the savesettings process is successful, save will redirect to this topic or URL. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL. Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).	redirect to the web.topic from the URL path
text	Text of the topic	required

All other parameters may be interpreted as form fields, depending on the current form definition in the topic.

action=bulkRegister

See BulkRegistration.

Parameter	Description	Default
logtopic	Topic to save the log in	same as topic name, with 'Result' appended
overwritehometopics	Whether to overwrite existing home topics or not	do not overwrite

action=changePassword

Change password, email address, or both, of a user.

Parameter	Description	Default
email	new email address
oldpassword	current password	required, unless current user is an admin
password	new password
passwordA	new password confirmation	required if password is given
username	login name of user to change password/email for	required

password, =passwordA and email are optional. If neither or password and passwordA is set, then the user password is left unchanged. If email is unset, their email is left unchanged.

action=resetPassword

Reset the password for a single or multiple users

Parameter	Description	Default
introduction	message to be sent alongside the reset, most often used to announce to the user that they have been given an account.
loginname	list of usernames to reset	required

This is used by BulkResetPassword and ResetPassword. Only administrators can provide a list of LoginNames, non-admins can only provide a single LoginName.

BulkRegistration provides the means to create multiple accounts but it does not announce those accounts to the users who own them. BulkResetPassword is used to assign the passwords, the Introduction is used to explain why they are receiving the mail.

action=deleteUserAccount

Unregisters (removes) the currently logged-in user.

Parameter	Description	Default
password	Users' password	required

action=restoreRevision

Alternative entry point for edit, used by screens that support several actions using manage. Parameters are as for =edit.

action=addUserToGroup

add a user / list of users to a group

Parameter	Description	Default
create	create the group if it doesn't exist	0
groupname	groupname to change	required
username	list of usernames/wikinames to add to group	required

action=removeUserFromGroup

remove a user / list of users to a group

Parameter	Description	Default
groupname	groupname to change	required
username	list of usernames/wikinames to add to group	required

oops

This script is mainly used for rendering pages containing error messages, though it is also used for some functional actions such as manage pages (move topic etc).

oops templates are used with the oops script to generate system messages. This is done to make internationalisation or other local customisations simple.

The oops script supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Description	Default
def	Can be set to the name of a single definition within template. This definition will be instantiated in the template wherever %INSTANTIATE% is seen. This lets you use a single template file for many messages. For an example, see oopsmanagebad.tmpl.
paramN	Where N is an integer from 1 upwards. These values will be substituted into template for %PARAM1% etc.
template	Name of the template file to display	oops

preview

This script is deprecated. Its functions are covered by the save script.

rdiff

Renders the differences between version of a topic

Parameter	Description	Default
context	number of lines of context
render	the rendering style {sequential, sidebyside, raw, debug}	DIFFRENDERSTYLE, sequential
rev1	the higher revision	latest
rev2	the lower revision	latest
type	history gives a history, diff rev1 against rev2, last latest to previous	diff

The context parameter is only respected if the back-end store supports context diffs.

register

Parameter	Description	Default
action	register or verify or approve	required

Note: The register script can only be called via the HTTP POST method except when the action is verify. Make sure you specify method="post" if you call the register script via a form action. It is not possible to call register from an <a href ...> link. The verify action is an exception as it is used to verify registration by clicking a href link from an email.

Parameter	Description	Default
addtogroups	Accepts a comma-separated list of group names to add the user to.
code	(verify= only) Activation code, verifies a pending registration
create	If on, and a group being added to does not exist, create it.
email	New user's email address	required
firstname	New user's first name	required
lastname	New user's surname	required
loginname	New user's login name	required
password	New user's password
wikiname	Wikiname of user being registered	required
<any name>	Any other parameter passed during registration will normally be passed on into the new user's home topic, or ignored.

rename

Used for renaming webs, topics and attachments.

Parameter	Description	Default
action	renameweb or renameother	renameother
confirm	if non-0, requires a second level of confirmation
referring_topics	(internal use only) list of topics that refer to the web or topic being renamed
redirectto	If the rename process is successful, rename will redirect to this topic or URL. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL. Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).	the renamed topic

action="renameweb"

Rename a web.

Parameter	Description	Default
newparentweb	new parent web name	existing parent
newsubweb	new web name

action=renameother

Rename a topic or an attachment.

Parameter	Description	Default
attachment	Attachment to move
currentwebonly	if non-0, searches current web only for links to this topic	search all webs
newattachment	New name for attachment	same as attachment, if given
newtopic	new topic name	required
newweb	new web name	required
nonwikiword	if on, a non-wikiword is acceptable for the new topic name	off
template	template for error when an attachment doesn't exist, deleteattachment for when deleting an attachment

Note: The rename script can only be called via the HTTP POST method. Make sure you specify method="post" if you call the rename script via a form action. It is not possible to call rename from an <a href ...> link.

resetpasswd

This script is deprecated. Its functions are covered by the manage script.

rest

This REST (Representational State Transfer) script can be invoked via http in the same way as the other scripts (see Invocation Examples, below) to execute a function that is associated to a "subject" and a "verb" (see below). These functions are usually registered by plugins using the Foswiki::Func::registerRESTHandler method. The rest script will print the result directly to the browser unless the endPoint parameter is specified, in which case it will output a redirect to the given topic.

The rest script supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Description	Default
endPoint	Where to redirect the response once the request is served, in the form "Web.Topic". If not given, the REST script must generate a valid response.
password	See username
username	If TemplateLogin, or a similar login manager not embedded in the web server, is used, then you need to pass a username and password to the server. The username and password parameters are used for this purpose.

REST scripts that require a topic context must use the standard topic parameter to pass the topic name, as the URL path is used to identify the REST funtcion. If not defined, then the topic context in REST handlers will be Main.

The function is free to use any other query parameters for its own purposes.

The rest script should always require authentication in any site that has logins. Otherwise there is a risk of opening up major security holes. So make sure you add it to the list of authenticated scripts if you are using ApacheLogin.

Invocation Examples

The rest script assumes that it will be called with URL in the form:

http://my.host/bin/rest/<subject>/<verb>

where <subject> must be the WikiWord name of one of the installed Plugins, and the <verb> is the alias for the function registered using the Foswiki::Func::registerRESTHandler method. The <subject> and <verb> are then used to lookup and call the registered function.

<subject> and <verb> are checked for illegal characters exactly in the same way as the web and topic names.

As an example, the EmptyPlugin has registered a function to be used with the rest script under the subject EmptyPlugin and the verb example.

The URL to call this function from a browser would be:

• https://nkwiki.de/foswiki/bin/rest/EmptyPlugin/example?debugenableplugins=EmptyPlugin

alternatively, to run it from the commandline:

• cd foswiki/bin ; ./rest /EmptyPlugin/example debugenableplugins=EmptyPlugin

Note that for Plugins to register REST handlers, they must be enabled in configure.

Retrieving passed values

Additional parameters can be recovered via the query object in the $session, for example with the url:

http://my.host/bin/rest/MyPlugin/update?web=foo

The url parameters can be processed using:

my $query = $session->{request};
my $web = $query->{param}->{web}[0];

save

The save script performs a range of save-related functions.

Parameter	Description	Default
action_addform	Redirect to the "change form" page.
action_cancel	exit without save, return to view
action_checkpoint	save and redirect to the edit script, dontnotify is on
action_delRev	Administrators only delete the most recent revision of the topic - all other parameters are ignored. You have to be an administrator to use this, and not all store implementations will support it.
action_preview	preview edited text
action_quietsave	save, and return to view, dontnotify is on
action_replaceform	Redirect from the "change form" page.
action_repRev	Administrators only replace the text of the most recent revision of the topic with the text in the text parameter. text must included embedded meta-data tags. All other parameters are ignored. You have to be an administrator to use this, and not all store implementations will support it.
action_save	default behaviour; save, return to view
dontnotify	if non-0, suppress change notification
edit	The bin script to use to re-edit the topic when action is checkpoint	edit
editaction	When action is checkpoint, add form or replace form..., this is used as the action parameter to the edit script that is redirected to after the save is complete.
editparams	The parameter string to use to edit the topic when action is checkpoint
forcenewrevision	if set, forces a revision even if Foswiki thinks one isn't needed
formtemplate	if defined, use the named template for the form (will remove the form if set to 'none')
newtopic	If templatetopic is given, and this parameter is set to 1 and the topic does not exist, will clear the initial topic text.
onlynewtopic	If set, error if topic already exists
onlywikiname	If set, error if topic name is not a WikiWord
originalrev	Revision on which the edit started.
redirectto	The save process will redirect to this topic or URL if it is successful. (Typically this would be the URL that was being viewed when edit was invoked). The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL. Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).	topic specified in URL path
template	The template to use to re-edit the topic when action is checkpoint
templatetopic	Name of a topic to use as a template for the text and form (new topic only)
text	New text of the topic
topicparent	If 'none' remove any current topic parent. If the name of a topic, set the topic parent to this.

Any errors will cause a redirect to another page, either an oops page to report the error, or a login if the save is not authorized.

The string AUTOINC followed by one or more digits anywhere in the topic name will be converted to a number such that the resulting topic name is unique in the target web.

When the action is save, checkpoint, quietsave, or preview: 1 The new text is taken from the text parameter, if it is defined, * otherwise it is taken from the templatetopic, if it is defined, (new topic only) * otherwise it is taken from the previous version of the topic, if any, 1 The name of the new form is taken from the formtemplate, if defined * otherwise it is taken from the templatetopic, if defined, (new topic only) * otherwise it is taken from the previous version of the topic, if any, * otherwise no form is attached. 1 The value for each field in the form is taken from the query, if it is defined * otherwise it is taken from the templatetopic, if defined, (new topic only) * otherwise it is taken from the previous version of the topic, if any, * otherwise it defaults to the empty string.

Merging is only enabled if the topic text comes from text and originalrev is > 0 and is not the same as the revision number of the most recent revision. If merging is enabled both the topic and the meta-data are merged.

Form field values are passed in parameters named 'field' - for example, if I have a field Status the parameter name is Status.

Note: The save script can only be called via HTTP POST method. Make sure you specify method="post" if you call the save script via a form action. Example:

<form name="new" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH{save}%/Sandbox/" method="post">
    ...
</form>

It is not possible to call save from an <a href ...> link.

search

This cgi script has been deprecated. When called, it will redirect to the WebSearch topic, and the parameters will be passed on.

statistics

Refresh the WebStatistics topics in range of webs.

Parameter	Description	Default
logdate	YYYYMM to generate statistics for	current month
webs	comma-separated list of webs to run stats on	all accessible webs

for example:

1. from browser https://nkwiki.de/foswiki/bin/statistics updates all user webs
2. from browser https://nkwiki.de/foswiki/bin/statistics?webs=Userweb,Sandbox updates Userweb,Sandbox
3. from browser https://nkwiki.de/foswiki/bin/statistics/System updates System
4. from command line bin/statistics updates all user webs
5. from command line bin/statistics -webs=Userweb,Sandbox updates Userweb,Sandbox
6. from command line bin/statistics System.WebHome updates System

see SiteTools for updating statistics using cron.

upload

Uploads an attachment to a topic. The HTTP request is expected to be in multipart/form-data format.

Parameter	Description	Default
changeproperties	if non=0, this is a property change operation only - no file will be uploaded.
createlink	if non-0, will create a link to file at end of topic
filecomment	Comment to associate with file in attachment table
filepath	local (client) path name of the file being uploaded. This is used to look up the data for the file in the HTTP query.
hidefile	if non-0, will not show file in attachment table
noredirect	Normally the script will redirect to 'view' when the upload is complete, but also designed to be useable for REST-style calling using the 'noredirect' parameter. If this parameter is set it will return an appropriate HTTP status code and print a message to STDOUT, starting with 'OK' on success and 'ERROR' on failure.
redirectto	URL to redirect to after upload. The parameter value can be a TopicName, a Web.TopicName, or a URL. Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure, and is ignored if noredirect is specified. (Miscellaneous {AllowRedirectUrl}).	topic specified in URL path

Tips

• You can use a tool like curl to upload files from the command line using this script.
• You can call upload easily from XmlHttpRequest in Javascript.

Note: The upload script can only be called via HTTP POST method. Make sure you specify method="post" if you call the upload script via a form action. It is not possible to call upload from an <a href ...> link.

view

Used for viewing topics.

Parameter	Description	Default
contenttype	Allows you to specify a different Content-Type: (e.g. contenttype=text/plain)	text/html
raw	on - show the text of the topic in a scrollable textarea. debug - as on, but also shows the metadata (forms etc) associated with the topic. text - show only the source of the topic, as plain text (Content-type: text/plain). Only shows the body text, not the form or other meta-data. all - show only the source of the topic, as plain text (Content-type: text/plain), with embedded meta-data. This may be useful if you want to extract the source of a topic to a local file on disc.
rev	Revision to view (e.g. rev=45)	latest
SEARCH<hex number>	Identifies a result set that is being paged through
section	Allows to view only a part of the topic delimited by a named section (see VarSTARTSECTION). If the given section is not present, no topic content is displayed.
template	Allows you to specify a different skin template, overriding the 'view' template the view script would normally use. The default template is view. For example, you could specify /foswiki/bin/view/System/CommandAndCGIScripts?template=edit. This is mainly useful when you have specialised templates for a Wiki Application.

For historical reasons, the view script has a special interpretation of the text skin. This skin cannot be redefined.

viewfile

Used for viewing attachments. Normally, a site will publish the attachments (pub) directory using a URL. However if it contains sensitive information, you will want to protect attachments using AccessControls. In this case, you can use the viewfile script to give access to attachments while still checking access controls.

Parameter	Description	Default
filename	name of attachment	required
rev	Revision to view	latest

Instead of using the filename parameter, you can append the attachment name to the end of the URL path (after the topic) e.g. https://nkwiki.de/foswiki/bin/viewfile/Webname/TopicName/Attachment.gif

Tool Scripts

Details on command line scripts located in the tools directory.

geturl.pl

This is a very simple script to get the content of a web site. It is marked as deprecated and might be removed (or enhanced) in a future release. Its functions are covered by the standard wget and curl commands.

• Usage: geturl.pl <host> <path> [<port> [<header>]]
• Example: geturl.pl some.domain /some/dir/file.html 80
• Will get: http://some.domain:80/some/dir/file.html

rewriteshebang.pl

Simple script to rewrite the #!/usr/bin/perl shebang lines specific to your local Perl installation. It will rewrite the first line of all your cgi scripts so they use a different shebang line. Use it if your perl is in a non-standard location, or you want to use a different interpreter (such as 'speedy').

tick_foswiki.pl

This script executes a number of non-essential regular administration tasks that will help keep your site healthy and happy, such as removing expired sessions and lease files.

It is intended to be run as a cron job or a scheduled task once a week. Example crontab entry:
0 0 * * 0 cd /usr/local/foswiki/bin && perl ../tools/tick_foswiki.pl

Note: The script has to be run by a user who can write files created by the webserver user.

Extensions, such as the MailerContrib, also install tool scripts. Check the documentation of the extension for details.

---

Related Topics: AdminDocumentationCategory, DeveloperDocumentationCategory