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Q274772: INFO: Perl Support Boundaries

Article: Q274772
Product(s): Internet Information Server
Version(s): 1.0,2.0,3.0,4.0,5.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbCGI kbISAPI kbISAPI300 kbISAPI400 kbGrpDSInetServer kbDSupport kbIIS kbiis300 kbiis40
Last Modified: 19-SEP-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Internet Information Server versions 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

Customers frequently call Microsoft support for Perl issues, particularly when
they are running Perl scripts on Internet Information Server (IIS). The only
product that Microsoft ships that has any sort of Perl capabilities is the
Microsoft Windows NT Resource Kit, and the Perl lanugage is not supported.
Therefore Microsoft's ability to help customers with Perl issues is limited.
This article defines Microsoft support boundaries for Perl issues.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Because Microsoft does not support the Perl language itself, Microsoft offers no
help with writing Perl, fixing bugs in Perl script, or setting up or configuring
Perl. However, Microsoft does support the environments in which Perl runs. For
example, the resource kit implementation of Perl runs Perl script as a Common
Gateway Interface (CGI) application. Because Microsoft supports the CGI
interface, which includes setting environment variables for the CGI process and
communicating with the CGI through standard input (STDIN) and standard output
(STDOUT), Microsoft Product Support can work with customers whose Perl script is
not working because the CGI environment variables do not appear properly or who
are having problems with input and output (I/O).


If a customer needs Perl support, a full-featured implementation of Perl is
available from and supported by ActiveState. For more information, see the
following Web site:

  http://www.activestate.com

Sample Scenarios:

The following are some of the problems that customers may encounter with Perl
scripts:

- None of the customer's Perl scripts work.

  This is an installation or configuration question, and Microsoft can only
  provide limited support.

- The customer has a problem with how to call a Perl function within the
  script.

  This is a Perl language or syntax problem, and is not supported by Microsoft.

- The customer's Perl script does not work when it is run as a CGI program.

  If no Perl scripts work, the problem is a setup or configuration issue, and
  Microsoft can only provide limited support. If only one particular Perl
  script is failing, a problem may exist with the IIS CGI environment.
  Microsoft Product Support help to determine whether the problem exists in the
  CGI environment or in the Perl code. However, this may take some research
  with the customer. The customer must understand the Perl script code and be
  able to perform normal debug actions, such as determining where the code is
  failing.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information on confirming the proper installation and execution
of Perl CGI scripts, click the article number below to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q245225 Configuring and Testing a PERL Script with IIS 4.0 and 5.0

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbCGI kbISAPI kbISAPI300 kbISAPI400 kbGrpDSInetServer kbDSupport kbIIS kbiis300 kbiis400 kbiis500 
Technology        : kbiisSearch kbiis500 kbiis400 kbiis300 kbiis200 kbiis100
Version           : :1.0,2.0,3.0,4.0,5.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

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