WebMO Help - Installing WebMO on Windows

Installation Instructions for Windows

These instructions are for installing a copy of WebMO the first time. To upgrade an existing WebMO configuration, refer to the WebMO upgrade instructions instead.

  1. Pre-requisites.
    1. Perl
      • WebMO 20:
        Download and install Strawberry Perl for Windows
        By default, perl will be installed to C:\Strawberry
        Verify installation by opening a command window and typing
        perl -e "print 'Hello World!'"
        which should display
        Hello World!
      • WebMO 19:
        Download and install ActiveState Perl for Windows ("ActivePerl") version 5.26.3.2603
        By default, perl will be installed to C:\Perl
        Verify installation by opening a command window and typing
        > perl c:\Perl\eg\example.pl
        which should display
        Hello from ActivePerl!
    2. Apache
      Download and install Apache for Windows from ApacheHaus, for example
      Apache 2.4.41 or Apache 2.4.41 x64
      By default, apache will be installed to C:\Apache*, which is where WebMO expects it
      You may need to unblock network access to this program after installation
      Verify operation of the webserver by browsing to
      http://localhost/
      which should display
      It works!
    3. Windows computational chemistry program(s)
      WebMO supports Gaussian, Mopac, NWChem, PC-Gamess (Firefly), Q-Chem, Tinker, and WinGamess. Detailed installation instructions are available on the Computational Chemistry Pre-Compiled Binaries for Windows support page. You must be able to run your computational chemistry program from the command line before WebMO can support it!
  2. Run Apache as a Windows service.
    For WebMO usage, Apache must be run as a system service, not just as a normal user process.
    Install Apache as a Windows service. Open a new command prompt as administrator, and enter the following:
    > cd \Apache24\bin
    > httpd -k install
    Open the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services, and double-click Apache2.4. Set the Startup type to "Automatic" to ensure Apache starts every time you boot your PC.
    Start the Apache Windows service. Either restart your PC, or start Apache in this session by entering:
    > net start Apache2.4
    Alternatively, set the Startup type to "Manual" and launch Apache as a service whenever you choose using the command "net start Apache2.4".
  3. Obtain a WebMO license.
  4. Download "WebMO for Windows" to your Windows PC.
  5. Extract the WebMO distribution.
    Right-click on the downloaded file and select "Extract all..."
  6. Run the setup script.
    Navigate into to the extracted distribution and then into the WebMO.install directory
    Double-click setup.pl
    Note: If double-clicking on setup.pl displays the file in a text editor, eg, Notepad, you need to associate .PL files with Perl. This can be done with right clicking setup.pl, choosing Open With..., and then selecting Raspberry or ActiveState perl. Alternatively, running the setup script by typing "perl setup.pl" on the command prompt should work.
  7. Follow the directions that are given in the setup script, accepting the default installation directories if appropriate:
    • Enter WebMO license number when prompted
    • Path to Perl binary: C:/Perl/bin/perl.exe
    • HTML directory: C:/Program Files {version}/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.X/htdocs/webmo
    • HTML URL: /webmo/
    • CGI directory: C:/Program Files {version}/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.X/cgi-bin/webmo
    • CGI URL: /cgi-bin/webmo
    • User directory: C:/Program Files {version}/WebMO
    After the distribution files are copied, the command line portion of WebMO setup is complete.
  8. Follow the URL given at the end of setup process (http://localhost/cgi-bin/webmo/login.cgi) and continue with the on-line WebMO configuration
    • Login as user 'admin' with an empty password
    • Reset the admin password when prompted
    • Register your copy of WebMO when prompted
    • If the registration process fails (e.g., due to no internet connectivity), login again from the URL at the end of the setup process as user 'admin' with the new password
    • Click on 'Interface Manager'
      • Click the 'Enable interface' icons to enable any computational chemistry packages that you have installed on your system
      • Click the 'Edit interface' icon and make any neccessary changes in the interface configuration
      • Click 'Submit' to commit the changes
      • Click 'Return' and 'Return to Admin' to return to the WebMO administration page
    • Click on 'User Manager'
      • Click the 'New User' button
      • Specify a Username and Password
      • Click 'Submit' to create the user
      • Click 'Return to User Manager' and 'Return to Admin' to return to the WebMO administration page
    Setup is complete. Click the 'Logout' button to logout of the WebMO administration page
  9. Login as the WebMO user that you created. In the job manager, click 'Create New' to run a test job.
  10. If you have not yet installed any computational chemistry programs on your computer, see the separate support pages for installing binaries. Then enable, configure, and test these packages as described above.
  11. Questions or feedback?
    Please visit the WebMO Support Forum or send email to support@webmo.net.

Uninstalling WebMO

To uninstall WebMO, see the uninstalling WebMO instructions

Troubleshooting

If you expereince any problems, please refer to the WebMO troubleshooting page