Your Physics account includes the ability to create a home page on our servers. You can create the actual HTML documents in whatever editor you choose; then you just need to upload the files to the correct location on the server and ensure that the file permissions are set correctly to allow the web server to read the files.
Step 0: Create some HTML files
Using your favorite editor or web development tool, create some HTML files to post. At a minimum, you must create at least an index.html file (the default file that the server will display when a user tries to view your home page). You can also post image files, PDFs, etc. (as long as you don’t exceed your disk quota!).
Step 1: Ensure that the web page directory exists under your account
Connect to one of the GNU/Linux machines, either via SSH or using a graphical SFTP client such as Fetch. In your home directory, check to ensure that the public_html directory exists; if not, create it. To do this via the command line, type:
mkdir ~/public_html
Step 2: Set the correct directory permissions
Depending on your account settings, you might need to change the permissions of your home and web page directories in order to allow the web server access to the files. To set these permissions via the command line, use the following commands:
chmod o+x ~
chmod o+x ~/public_html
(This step is harmless if the permissions are already correct.)
If you are using a graphical client such as Fetch, look for a “Get Info” type of command to discover how your client presents the file permissions. You will need to set (enable) the “execute” permission for “other users;” the exact phrasing might vary, but should be something along those lines.
If you create any subdirectories under the main public_html directory, they also must have these same permissions set.
Step 3: Upload up your files and set file permissions
Once the public_html directory exists and has its permissions correctly set, you can simply copy your web page files into that directory, using SCP or a graphical file transfer tool of your choice. As with the directories, you will also need to ensure that the files have the correct permissions set (although note that the required permissions are different from the requirements for directories). From the command line:
cd ~/public_html/
chmod o+r filename
(Where filename is the name of the file or files that you have copied or created in the directory.) If you are using a graphical client to set the permissions, you will need to enable “read” permission for “other users.”
Step 4: Check out your awesome site
To view your home page in all its glory (or lack thereof, depending), point your browser to:
http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~username/
(Where username is a placeholder for your actual login name.)