CGI scripts are pieces of software that can do many useful things for your website; for example, a CGI script can create a chat room or shopping cart.
The Simple CGI Wrapper creates a special folder, called /scgi-bin, inside the /public_html directory. When you add scripts to this folder, your web server knows to handle them as CGI scripts.
You can access information about the simple CGI wrapper in the CGI Center by clicking the appropriate link. CGI scripts will need to be placed in/public_html/scgi-bin for cPanel to handle them as CGI scripts. Once a script has been placed in this folder, it will run whenever a visitor uses a web browser to view, as an example, http://www.example.com/scgi-bin/examplescript.cgi. CGI scripts can also be embedded in a webpage using the <action> tag.
Please note that every CGI script will have unique setup needs; be sure to consult the script’s installation instructions. For example, URLs and variables may need to be defined. You can do this using cPanel’s File Manager, or from the command line interface (CLI). (To use the CLI, you will need SSH access to the web server as well as a command line text editor.)
Note: Your web host may provide a feature called suEXEC that lets it run CGI scripts, making the Simple CGI Wrapper unnecessary for your website. Contact your web host or review the terms of your agreement to find out whether this is the case.
