PCAccessFree (Windows Version)

Convert your personal computer (Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11) into a File Server/Manager, Content Management System, et cetera.

Created using Perl (CGI, Mojolicious, DBI, DBIx::Perl), Bootstrap, and MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL programming languages.

Synopsis

First Time - One Time Actions

Install/Setup `Internet Information Services`
Install/Setup `Perl`
Install required `Perl Modules`
Setup Perl Handler in `Internet Information Services`
Install `Git For Windows`
Install/Download `PC Access Free` using `git clone`

For a quick start, see `/install.md`

After first time - Subsequent Actions

Update `PC Access Free` using `git pull`

cd C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree
git clone

If you modified anything in folder `PCAccessFree,` do

cd C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree
git stash
git clone

Install/Setup Internet Information Services (IIS)

Search/open 'Turn Windows features on or off'

Select all .NET frameworks
Select all features in Internet Information Services
Select Internet Information Services Hostable Web Core
Click OK
Wait for installation to complete, restart your PC if asked to

Install Perl

Use install.ps1 to install .msi packages. See install.md for details.

Download/install Perl from Strawberry Perl

https://strawberryperl.com/download/5.32.1.1/strawberry-perl-5.32.1.1-64bit.msi

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run the following command.

cpan CPAN CGI DateTime DBI DBIx::Class Cpanel::JSON::XS EV IO::Socket::Socks Role::Tiny Future::AsyncAwait Log::Log4perl Mojolicious  Mojolicious::Plugin::RemoteAddr

After the completion of the above command, test with

mojo version

which should produce an output similar to the following

PS C:\inetpub\wwwroot\PCAccessFree> mojo version
CORE
  Perl        (v5.32.1, MSWin32)
  Mojolicious (9.22, Waffle)

OPTIONAL
  Cpanel::JSON::XS 4.09+   (4.25)
  EV 4.32+                 (4.33)
  IO::Socket::Socks 0.64+  (0.74)
  IO::Socket::SSL 2.009+   (2.069)
  Net::DNS::Native 0.15+   (n/a)
  Role::Tiny 2.000001+     (2.002004)
  Future::AsyncAwait 0.52+ (0.54)

You might want to update your Mojolicious to 9.23!
PS C:\inetpub\wwwroot\PCAccessFree>

Setup Perl handler mapping in IIS

Search/open IIS as Administrator
Expand Sites
Select Default Web Site
Double click Handler Mappings on the right side
Edit feature permissions
Select Execute
click OK
Click Add Script Map
Request Path: *.cgi
Executable: C:\Strawberry\perl\bin\perl.exe "%s" %s
Name: Perl For PCAccessFree
Click Request Restrictions
Mapping Tab: Invoke handler only if request is mapped to: File
Verbs Tab: All verbs
Access Tab: Execute
click OK multiple times - Yes to all

Video

https://youtu.be/hsmAqw08-aQ

Set User for IIS

Fix for permission denied error when saving settings via nologin.cgi:

Open IIS as Administrator
Under 'connections,' select 'default web site' under 'Sites'
Under 'actions,' click 'basic settings'
Click 'connect as'
select 'specific user'
Click 'set' and provide a valid username/password for your first windows user account
Click OK to Save
OK Again to exit

Now, go back to 'nologin.cgi' and edit/save 'system_functions' again.

This time, you should not see 'permission denied' if you followed above instructions correctly.

Install Git

Download/Install Git for Windows

https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/download/v2.35.1.windows.2/Git-2.35.1.2-64-bit.exe

Get/install PC Access free on your computer

Download/install app from any of the following public repositories

In PowerShell, with administrative privileges, run one of the following commands

• cd C:/inetpub/wwwroot

• git clone https://github.com/bislink/PCAccessFree.git

• git clone https://bislinks.visualstudio.com/PCAccessFree

• git clone https://gitlab.com/bislink/pc-access-free.git

Install nodejs

Use install.ps1 to install .msi packages. See install.md for details.

Please download/install https://nodejs.org/dist/v16.14.2/node-v16.14.2-x64.msi

Install jQuery, Bootstrap via npm

For versions below 0.7.9

As of 0.7.9, no need to do this step as jquery/bootstrap are part of git pull.

(On a PowerShell with administrative privileges, run)

cd C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree/public
npm install @popperjs/core jquery bootstrap bootstrap-icons

Test/Run PC Access Free App

PC Access Free runs on your browser

Open your favorite browser and open the following URL in a new tab:

http://localhost/PCAccessFree/nologin.cgi

(Set/enable features)

Only for versions below ``

This step has been automated via nologin.cgi. No need to do it manually.

So, just open http://localhost/PCAccessFree/nologin.cgi to edit these settings.

Alternatively, you can save the following lines as they are in C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree/lib as system_functions.txt

cookie_domain=localhost
cookie_expiry=+3M
css_js_url=//localhost/
enable_browser_info=1
enable_cookie_secure=1
enable_date_folder=1
enable_server_info=1
language=en-us
password_dir=C:/inetpub/PCAF22
script_web_dir=C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree
server_port=80
user_pref_home_dir=C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree
web_root=C:/inetpub/wwwroot
web_root_url=//localhost

After saving the changes, in case the default username.t file is not created:

See permission denied section above.

Open File Explorer and create directory PCAF22 in C:/inetpub

This step also has been automated.

cd C:/inetpub;
mkdir PCAF22

OR

cd C:/inetpub;
New-Item -Path "C:/inetpub/PCAF22" -ItemType "directory" -Force`

create a file named username.t in C:/inetpub/PCAF22

Add a single line in the following format and save it:

username|pas2W0rd|C:/inetpub/wwwroot|http://localhost

Make sure you do not save file with .txt extension but with .t extension.

open the following url in a new tab in your favorite browser:

http://localhost/PCAccessFree/index.cgi

Log in with the credentials you just created.

Have fun using PC Access Free on your laptop/pc

How to update to latest version?

Open PowerShell as Administrator
cd C:/inetpub/wwwroot/PCAccessFree
git pull

PC Access Free - Optional Customizations

See CUSTOMIZATION.md