Enabling CGI Module Support and Execution

Using Watson Explorer Engine with all supported versions of the Microsoft IIS web server requires that support for unspecified CGI modules be enabled in the IIS Web Server.

Procedure

Start the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
In the Connections pane, select your server, and then from the center pane, select ISAPI and CGI Restrictions.
From the Actions pane, click Open Feature.
From the Actions pane, click Edit Feature Settings.
Ensure that Allow unspecified CGI modules is selected. If it is not, select that option and click OK to save your changes and close the window.

What to do next

Installing and using Watson Explorer Engine with IIS also requires that execute rights be enabled for CGI applications so that your IIS web server can run executable files that are in the www\cgi-bin subdirectory of the directory in which you installed Watson Explorer Engine.

To enable execute rights:

IIS 6.0 on Windows 2003 Server Systems:
1. Select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager
2. Drill down to and right-click on the vivisimo virtual directory (or whatever virtual directory you created from Creating a Virtual Directory in an IIS 6 Web Server) and select Properties.
3. In the Execute Permissions section, select Scripts and Executables, and click Apply.
4. Depending on other web-based applications that are installed on your system, you might also need to enable .EXE CGI extensions. To enable these extensions:
  1. Select Web Service Extensions.
  2. If the All unknown CGI extensions web service extension is not marked as Allowed, select it and click Allow. A confirmation window displays, identifying this option as a potential security risk. Click Yes to confirm that you understand the risks and you want to enable these extensions.
IIS 7.0 and higher on Windows 2008 and later systems:
1. Open IIS Manager:
  - For Windows 2008 systems: Select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
  - For Windows 2012 systems: From the desktop, hover your cursor in the upper- or lower- right corner of the screen to show the charms. Click the Start charm, and then click the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager tile.
2. In the Connections pane, expand the entry for your computer system, expand Sites, and select the default site, which is the site in which the Watson Explorer Engine virtual directory (vivisimo) is created.
3. Double-click the Handler Mappings feature.
  - If the state of CGI-exe is Enabled, no additional configuration is necessary. Proceed to Completing the Installation Process (All Platforms).
  - If the state of CGI-exe is Disabled, select it and click Edit Feature Permissions from the Actions pane. The Edit Feature Permissions window displays.
    Select Execute and click OK to enable applications with the .exe extension to execute in response to CGI requests. If Execute is disabled, select Script > Execute, and then click OK.

Important: When you install Watson Explorer Engine and integrate it with an existing Microsoft Windows IIS server, the installation process grants write permission to all users on all Watson Explorer directories that can be written to. Administrators can then further restrict write access to the Watson Explorer Engine files and directories manually.