An Intranet on your Mac - Wazza's Web Stuff

1. Pre-requisites - HardwareYou need a Macintosh computer. <strong>An</strong>y Macintosh computer with MacOS X installed will be suitable for use as a school <strong>Intranet</strong> server.If you already have a “spare” Mac, then your <strong>Intranet</strong> will cost youalmost nothing, other than your time to set it up.If you don’t have a Macintosh computer, you can find a suitablemachine on eBay for anything from $50 to $500. Even the older“Indigo” iMacs will suffice for this purpose. A basic Mac will do the job -so long as it has a functioning Ethernet port.As always, newer is better - and more RAM is a good thing.2. Pre-requisites - SoftwareThese notes describe the <strong>Intranet</strong> setup process using Mac OS X 10.6,though all previous versions of Mac OS X are similar to setup for websharing, with only minor variations in the GUI between some versions.These notes also describe how to create an <strong>Intranet</strong> site using iWeb -part of iLife. Again, there are various versions of iLife, with somedifferences between them.These notes are written using iLife ’09. This is not essential, and earlierversions of iLife, or other web publishing software can also be used tocreate and publish your site. However iWeb is very easy to use, andcan be purchased relatively cheaply.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 2

3. Setting up your Computer(The technical stuff!)3.1. Setting an IP AddressTo easily access your <strong>Intranet</strong>, the computer hosting the <strong>Intranet</strong>site must be allocated a ‘fixed’ IP address, rather than anaddress allocated by DHCP, which may change over time.3.1.1. Power up the computer, and log on as an Administrator.3.1.2. Check that the computer is connected to the network withan Ethernet cable.3.1.3. Go to System Preferences > Network.3.1.4. Verify that the Ethernet connection is active - check for thegreen “light” and the word “Connected”.3.1.5. Use the pop-up menu on the right to choose a Manualconnection for the IPv4 configuration.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 3

3.1.6. Enter the appropriate information for the network settings.(Check with your network administrator for a suitable“spare” fixed IP address on your network.)3.1.7. Click on the Apply button.3.2. Activate Web Sharing3.2.1. Go to System Preferences > Sharing.3.2.2. Tick to activate Web Sharing.3.2.3. On the right of the screen you will be advised that your webaddress is http://10.x.x.x/Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 4

4. Create an <strong>Intranet</strong> User for Your <strong>Intranet</strong> SiteIt is useful to host your <strong>Intranet</strong> as a discrete account on your ‘server’.This also creates the possibility of splitting your <strong>Intranet</strong> up into multiple‘sites’ - Principal, Canteen, Year 6, LOTE, etc.4.1. Open System Preferences > Accounts.4.2. Create a new user, called <strong>Intranet</strong>.Give the <strong>Intranet</strong> user Administrator privileges.4.3. Log off as the computer Administrator, and log as the newlycreated <strong>Intranet</strong> user.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 5

5. Create an <strong>Intranet</strong> SiteYou can create an <strong>Intranet</strong> site from scratch using a web-editingapplication, or you can get started using a pre-made template.The template used in these notes as an example has been createdwith iWeb, and can be downloaded from:somewhereps.wazmac.comFollow the instructions included with the template to copy the iWebdomain file to the <strong>Intranet</strong> user’s Library > Application Support > iWebfolder before continuing.5.1. Log on as the <strong>Intranet</strong> user, and open iWeb.5.2. The pre-made template that you have downloaded (or the sitethat you have created) will open as your default site.5.3. If you are using the pre-made template, click on the school nameat the top of the Home page to edit the title of the page.Save your changes5.4. Click on the name of the site in the left pane of iWeb.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 6

5.5. In Site Publishing Settings > Publishing (in the right pane ofthe window) choose Local Folder from the pop-up menu.5.6. In Site Publishing Settings > Folder Location (in the rightpane of the window) identify the folder where your site will bepublished. Choose the default option of the <strong>Intranet</strong> user’s Sitesfolder.5.7. In Site Publishing Settings > Website URL (in the right pane ofthe window) enter the address of your web site.This will be in the form of:http://yourIPaddress/~username/where the IP address is the address of the computer hosting thesite.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 7

6. Publish your site6.1. Return to your web site, by clicking on a page within the site, inthe left pane of the iWeb window.6.2. Click on the Publish Site button at the bottom of the window.6.3. A progress bar will indicate the progress of the publishingprocess.6.4. You will be advised that your site has been published.Click the OK button.Publishing the site (with minimal changes) will enable us tocontinue with the setup process and to see that the <strong>Intranet</strong> isfunctioning correctly.You will no doubt need to return to iWeb to further customise thesite for use in your school.6.5. When the publishing process is complete, Quit iWeb.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 8

7. Visit your <strong>Intranet</strong> site7.1. Launch Safari, or another browser, and enter the IP address ofyour <strong>Intranet</strong> server, and the <strong>Intranet</strong> user’s short name, in theform:http://10.x.x.x/~intranet/7.2. You will see your new <strong>Intranet</strong> site.7.3. Now go to another computer on the network (Windows or Mac)and enter the same address - you should see your site appearon the screen.(Remember that the computer that hosts your <strong>Intranet</strong> site mustalways be running for the site to be available.)7.4. Congratulations - you are now a web publisher!!!Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 9

8. Configuring other computers on the networkFor a school intranet to be effective, it must be easily accessible byeveryone in the school.Ideally, the school <strong>Intranet</strong> site should be the default Home page ofeveryone’s browser.To make this site the “default” site that appears when anyone openstheir web browser, set the <strong>Intranet</strong> address to be the browser’s Homepage....8.1. In Safari, go to Preferences and set the Home Page address:In Firefox, go to Preferences and set the Home Page address:In Internet Explorer (Windows), go to Tools, Internet Options:8.2. With some planning, your <strong>Intranet</strong> can become a “gateway” torelevant Internet sites for staff and students.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 10

9. Other Ideas9.1. Multiple Sites & PublishersThe web address of your site includes your short username onthe computer (/~intranet).If you have created other users on the computer, they will havetheir own <strong>Intranet</strong> addresses, accessible using the same format.So, thinking strategically, this means that you could have userscalled principal, or library, or science, or canteen, or year6, etc,each with their own web site.9.2. Links to other UsersTo make a link to those other users (above) from your main<strong>Intranet</strong> site, include their full address as a link:eg http://10.26.0.222/~principalMaybe another person (or Class) in the school has setup theirsite on another computer....eg http://10.26.0.222/~year69.3. The Root AddressThe method we have discussed in these notes is designedaround having individual users, each with their own web site.But the “computer” can also have it’s own site, known as the“root” site. In our example, this would be http://10.26.0.222The location to publish your site so that it can be seen at thisaddress is:Macintosh HD > Library > Web Server > Documents(You need administrator access to the computer to publish to thislocation).You can also setup a “redirect” at this address to automaticallysend all requests to your main <strong>Intranet</strong> user’s site.Wazza’s QuickStart - A School <strong>Intranet</strong> on any Mac. 11